Stamp Out Hunger This Saturday, May 8th

As all of you know, I love food. The only thing I love more than food is making sure it goes to people who need it. I worked for Food Bank of the Rockies for three years doing my best to make sure that the local pantries, soup kitchens, sandwich lines and after-school snack programs got the food they needed to help their clients. People who get food from a food shelf or soup kitchen are your neighbors, the children on your child's soccer team, your co-workers, the person who made your lunch today. Hunger is everywhere. In fact 45% of those who receive food assistance are working adults, who have a harder and harder time making ends meet, and 40% are children. What most people don't know is that there is simply not enough food for these programs to supply as much as a family needs. What's more, many of the items you need most are seldom donated in large quantities, so food drives like Stamp Out Hunger bring in important staples like tuna, spaghetti, cereal and peanut butter.
Here's how you can help: go to your mailbox. Today, with my usual ads and bills, there was a grocery bag and a postcard for Stamp Out Hunger. Take time to think about what your family needs for one meal, one week or one month. People receiving food assistance are ordinary people like you and me. They eat Hamburger Helper. They pack lunches to take to school and work. They feed their children what you feed your children. Tonight I am going to the grocery store, and for every item I buy, I'll buy a duplicate one for donating to Stamp Out Hunger. I speak from my experience with all the wonderful programs in Colorado and in general, the items needed most are:
Canned meat and fish
Peanut butter
Healthy snacks***
Helper meals***
Canned soups
Spaghetti Sauce
Canned 100% Juice
Canned Fruits and Vegetables
Pasta or Rice***
Cereal or Oatmeal***
***for these, make sure you get them in boxes. The postal carriers will pick up literally TONS of food on their routes, and then they go into huge bins. Anything in "delicate" packaging gets torn and crushed by the heavy cans, and gets thrown away.
Please remember that only non-perishable items can be donated. Please DO NOT "clean out" your pantry. Expired items will be thrown away. Besides, if you don't want it, and wouldn't feed it to your family, probably no one else would either.
On Saturday Morning, place your items next to your mailbox and your carrier will collect them. This food goes to hungry people in your community within only a few days, and makes a world of difference. Please consider giving to Stamp Out Hunger this weekend.
Much Love always,
Kelli