Letter Carriers’ Food Drive to Benefit Local Food Agencies:
Second Helpings and Other Groups Coordinate Area Donation Distributions
Take part in the largest one-day food drive in the country on Saturday, May 12, and your donations will support those who are hungry in the Lowcountry. The National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger annual food drive will support area agencies that help feed the hungry.
Non-perishable food that is collected on the south end of Hilton Head the day of the drive will be distributed by Second Helpings to Holy Family Catholic Church Food Pantry, Sandalwood Community Food Pantry, St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church outreach, and to the FILL THE NEED partnership with Palmetto Breeze. Second Helpings is the only local volunteer organization that collects and distributes food free of charge to soup kitchens, food pantries, and other organizations.
To participate in this worthy cause, simply set out non-perishable food before your letter carrier’s normal pick-up time (recommended time is 9 am). No special bags are needed. Paper tends to hold more food, but plastic holds up better if it is raining.
The top requested non-perishable food items are:
- Cereal
- Pasta
- Pasta sauce or spaghetti sauce
- Rice
- Canned fruits and vegetables
- Canned meats (including soup and chili)
- Peanut butter
- Macaroni and cheese
- Canned protein (chicken, tuna, salmon, turkey)
- Beans (canned or dry)
- 100% Juice
Healthy low-sodium, low-sugar items such as beans, oatmeal and other whole grains, and canola or olive oil also are welcomed. The carriers and food agencies ask that frozen food, homemade food, or home-canned items cannot be accepted. Also, food that has expired or is in glass containers should not be donated.
If your donation is not collected on May 12, the letter carriers ask that donations be placed by the mailbox on Monday, May 14.
In addition to the efforts of Second Helpings, food items on the north end of Hilton Head will be picked up by the Deep Well Project. Food items in Bluffton are delivered to Bluffton Self-Help while in Beaufort, Help of Beaufort is the recipient.
Donations are tax-deductible. For more information on the national Stamp Out Hunger food drive, check out https://www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive. In 2017, 75 million pounds of food was collected by mail carriers in all 50 states.
Second Helpings collects food valued at $4.5 million from 30 food donors and distributes to 60 agencies in Beaufort, Hampton, and Jasper counties. It is estimated that approximately 45,000 people benefit from food rescued by Second Helpings every week.
Volunteers and donations are critical to Second Helpings operations since the organization is entirely supported by grants and donations. To find out how you can get involved, go to https://www.secondhelpingslc.org/help-the-hungry.
Second Helpings is a 501(c) 3 organization. Tax ID: 57-0938469. No goods or services were received in exchange for this donation.
