This past Saturday, May 13th, the Vision-e Team at our South Carolina branch volunteered their time to participate in Stamp Out Hunger 2017, the largest single-day food drive in the nation.
Mail carriers in more than 10,000 cities take time every year to collect non-perishable food donations from participating postal customers for the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Rural letter carriers, other postal employees and volunteers all help make this annual food drive possible and have delivered more than one billion pounds of food the past 24 years.
Upon collecting the donations, mail carriers then drop them off at local food banks, shelters or food pantries, where it is available for anyone in need.
One in 6 people in our region are at risk of going hungry. Of these, one-third are not income eligible for SNAP and other federal nutrition programs. This means they rely on access to healthy, nutritious food from pantries and kitchens, like that of Greer Relief.
Greer Relief has been fighting hunger and homelessness in our area for decades and the Vision-e Team was proud to help them on one of their biggest days of the year by distributing donated food.
In total, the drive brought in about 36,300 pounds of canned goods. Items collected were distributed to 3 Greer Non-Profits: Greer Relief, Greer Community Ministries, & Daily Bread Ministries. Greer Relief received 12,100 pounds of food, which translates into about 16,133 items.
Caroline Robertson, Executive Director at Greer Relief, said “Greer is such a giving community.” The Vision-e Team got to see first hand on Saturday that she is right! Vision-e is so proud to be a part of such a generous and compassionate neighborhood as we continue to give back to the community where we live and work.
“It was great to help them out, but even greater to learn the needs and become aware for how we can better help in the future.”
-Jonathan Hairgrove, Strategic Partner Manager at Vision-e
“It was empowering to see that our community can come together and provide for those in need. I am excited to continue making an impact!”
-Hope Jeffers, Customer Success Specialist at Vision-e
“This food drive is huge for this community. We see a significant increase in need for food during the summer months. Many of those we serve have children who receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch at school. Once the school year is over, providing 3 full meals instead of 1 or 2 can really put a strain on already tight budgets. Not to mention the higher utility bills that inevitably come from the high heat. This food drive goes a long way toward getting us through the summer months when donations are typically lower and demand is high.”
-Evan McLeod, Donation & Volunteer Coordinator at Greer Relief
