He was surprised when residents gave so much food that the pick-up was too great for carriers to handle.
“By the second and third year, people were putting out bags of groceries,” said Zassenhaus, food drive coordinator for Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater. “It is so successful that carriers can’t pick all the food up themselves; we need volunteers.”
Saturday marks the 17th year that the drive has been sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service.
The Thurston County Food Bank provides plastic bags for mail customers, who are asked to fill them with nonperishable food items such as canned meats, fruits and vegetables.
Bags should be placed next to mailboxes early Saturday morning, allowing carriers and volunteers to pick up and drop off the food at the local food bank by the evening.
There are 150 to 200 volunteers helping with pick-up and behind-the-scenes work this year.
The fact that the food drive falls the day before Mother’s Day is no coincidence.
“My mom passed away 25 years ago, so I wanted to do the food drive the day before to dedicate this to her memory,” Zassenhaus said.
Another reason is that May falls right before the summer season, a time when food banks need donations the most.
“This is a time when the holiday season of giving has passed and the focus of the community is on other things, like graduations and vacations,” said Robert Coit, executive director at the Thurston County Food Bank. “Hunger simply gets lost.”
The national mail carriers’ drive is the largest one-day food drive in the nation, Coit said. Last year, a record 85,000 pounds of food was donated in Thurston County, an increase of about 40 percent from the previous year, he said.
“This food drive is critical because it lifts up hunger as an issue and provides food before summer starts,” Coit said. “The Food Bank always sees an increase in families during the summer months because school is out, which means that kids are no longer receiving free and reduced breakfasts and lunches.”
The food drive provides about 20 percent of the food given out by the Food Bank every year. Organizers expect to see an even greater amount of food given this year, despite the nation’s slumping economy. Coit predicts that about 100,000 pounds of food will be donated.
“Despite the tough things going on, I feel that we have a generous community,” he said. “This is about everyone participating and the power of numbers. For only $1, people can buy a couple cans of food and really make a difference.”
Separate drive nets 30,000 pounds of food
Public employees from 29 agencies in Thurston County collected about 30,000 pounds of food, as well as 12,000 new and used children’s books, for the 2009 Well Fed, Well Read Public Employee challenge, organizers said.
The goal of the event, put on by the South Sound Reading Foundation, is to end hunger and promote literacy. The foundation gave awards to the public employee who gave the most food and the most books.
The Department of Social and Health Services won most food and most books, collecting 9,793 pounds of food and about 2,743 books. The Washington Lottery won the ending hunger and promoting literacy award for what the foundation described as “outstanding contributions, ideas and efforts.”
Proceeds will go to the Thurston County Food Bank and the South Sound Reading Foundation.
Sarah Kehoe, The Olympian
