Harrison Thorp 6:42 a.m.
Sunday, May 13, 2018 6:42 am
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MILTON - The National Association of Letter Carriers conducted its 26th annual national food drive on Saturday, and Beth Bloskey of Farmington was among those out on the front lines.
Bloskey is a motor route carrier in Milton, and said by the end of Saturday Milton mail carriers would have picked up some 1,600 pounds of nonperishable food from town residents who left food in their mail boxes to help feed the needy.
While Bloskey was working unloading and loading her mail and food at her car in the Milton Post Office parking lot, Madelyn Sanfacon of Milton showed up to personally deliver her contribution.
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| SPECIAL DELIVERY - Madelyn Sanfacon of Milton delivers her food donation in person on Saturday at the Milton Post Office on White Mountain Highway. |
Rochester, Lebanon and other surrounding towns also participated in the massive food collection day, the country's largest single-day food drive.
The amount of food collected by Rochester mail carriers totaled 8,026 pounds, a Rochester poster official said on Saturday evening.
The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.
Hunger affects about 50 million people around the country, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans. Pantry shelves filled up through winter-holiday generosity often are bare by late spring. And, with most school meal programs suspended during summer months, millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.
All of the food collected on Saturday will go to local food banks.
Since the first national Food Drive in 1993, the Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has collected more than 1.5 billion pounds of food; last year's drive brought in a record 80 million pounds.