Residents Have One More Day to Help Stamp Out Hunger

There is still time to donate to the annual food drive sponsored by the (NALC). Nonperishable food items can be brought to a drop box in the lobby of the through 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. The self-service lobby is open 24/7.

Letter carriers across the country collected bags of food items that residents placed near their mailboxes or on their porches Saturday, but donations were down compared to last year in West Bloomfield and surrounding communities.

According to Mike Kijewski, the letter carrier who coordinated the drive for the West Bloomfield Post Office, about 15,000 pounds of food were collected Saturday, down from 24,000 pounds in each of the previous three years. He said the average number has been closer to 20,000 pounds per year since the program began 19 years ago.

Kijewski thought the drop in donations this year might have been due to the fact that people were reluctant to leave bags of food out in the rain, which continued during much of the day.

However, residents also reported difficulties. Township Senior Planner Sara Roediger commented on Patch, "I put food out on my porch last Saturday in a bag clearly labeled food drive, and my mail carrier didn't take the bag. Instead, I brought the food to the ongoing West Bloomfield food drive located at that also goes to Gleaners."

Last year, more than 77 million pounds of food was collected nationwide during the Stamp Out Hunger drive.

Donations collected by the postal workers are distributed to Feeding America, one of the sponsors of the drive. The food is then given to several of the organizations' network members, which include local food banks such as Gleaners Community Food Bank of Detroit, Food Gatherers of Ann Arbor and Forgotten Harvest of Oak Park.

Local retailers are also involved in the fight against hunger. In addition to donating its unsold baked goods and other items to local food banks, Fresh Food Market is conducting its All About Children (ABC) food drive through May 18.

Donations are accepted at all Busch’s locations, including the West Bloomfield store.

, which has stores in West Bloomfield and throughout Metro Detroit, sponsors a variety of programs that benefit food banks, such as Gleaners, and other charities. An example is Good Deeds in the Making, a program that contributes profits from the sale of select prepared food items to various organizations.

“In its nearly 70-year history, Hiller’s Markets has been as dedicated to the community it serves as it is to its grocery business,” said Michael Hiller, the company's director of finance.

Representatives from local food banks stress the importance of supporting area food drives, especially in the wake of the economic downturn that still affects many families and individuals.

“We are a community in crisis,” said John Owens, director of communications for Forgotten Harvest. “One in five people in Metro Detroit are at risk for hunger. Anything we can do to help, as individuals or in groups, is truly appreciated.”

Anne Schenk of Gleaners said the Stamp Out Hunger drive is the organization’s single largest source of food donations. She said items containing protein, such as canned meats or tuna, are needed.

“We’re grateful to the letter carriers,” she said. “If everyone pitches in a little bit, we can make a huge difference.”

Statistics provided by the NALC and some of the food banks estimate that 50 million people in the United States do not have enough food; of those, 17 million, or one out of every three, are children.