About the Letter Carriers Food Drive

• Since 1995, the Long Island NALC has collected more than 15.6 million pounds of food to help Long Islanders in need.
• In 2007, more than 858,000 pounds of food were collected by postal workers and distributed to agencies serving hungry people on Long Island. It was the largest food drive in the country.
• This tremendous food drive is spearheaded by the Long Island National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), along with the United States Postal Service, United Way of Long Island, Island Harvest – Long Island’s source authority on food rescue, Long Island Cares – The Harry Chapin Food Bank, The Interfaith Nutrition Network and Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

About Hunger on Long Island

• Approximately 259,000 Long Island residents turn to local food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for help each year.
• An estimated 93,000 children on Long Island go to bed hungry, or are at risk of hunger, each night.
• In any given week, an estimated 44,000 people receive emergency food assistance on Long Island from soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
• More than 780 nonprofit agencies on Long Island receive food from Long Island Cares and Island Harvest. 
• This is a difficult time for many people in our community. With job layoffs, a turbulent economy, and increased living costs, more families are turning elsewhere for support. Local agencies are seeing a tremendous increase in the need for support through mental health services, vocational training, day care, senior services and more.
• What’s important to understand about hunger on Long Island is that many of the Long Islanders who are utilizing food banks, soup kitchens, and food pantries, are working people. Long Island’s current economy is causing working families to have to make difficult choices, such as choosing between food and medicine, or food and heat. Gas and oil prices are at an all-time high, housing is unaffordable and taxes are increasing. Families on Long Island are struggling to make ends meet...
• The food support services of Long Island Cares and Island Harvest enable nonprofit agencies to save money on the high costs of food that they provide to their clients. The “saved” funds can then be directed towards strengthening their programs and services.

How You Can Help

Donate. It’s Easy. Long Islanders are asked to leave non-perishable, food items on Saturday, May 10 next to their mailboxes for collection by their letter carriers, or bring food donations to their local post offices.

Volunteer. Letter carriers collect nearly one million pounds of food from homes across Long Island helping to stamp out hunger. This food is then brought to a warehouse to be weighed, sorted, packed and shipped to fill local soup kitchens, pantries and shelters. This task is a huge undertaking which is why we need as many volunteers as possible on May 10 and from May 12 to 15. See how you can sign up to volunteer.