Post Office Food Drive Needs Volunteers
Post Office Food Drive Needs Volunteers
By Dottie Evans
Planning is underway for the 11th annual Letter Carriersâ Food Drive to be held Saturday, May 10, and carriers and clerks at the Newtown, Botsford, and Hawleyville post offices are gearing up to make it the most successful event ever.
âLast year we got 12,000 pounds of donated items. This year weâre hoping for even more. During these hard times, we know people can use all the help they can get,â said Newtown postal worker Robert Frangione on Tuesday.
Mr Frangione is organizing the food drive with the help of Newtown Postmaster Paul Marciniak.
Postal workers are asking that town residents put out plastic bags of canned food, nonperishable food items, boxes of dried food, and various household or baby goods next to their mailboxes by 9 am on the day of the drive. Letter carriers on the route will pick them up as they deliver the mail.
âAll the food will go to Newtown and Sandy Hook residents who are in need. The town is providing a truck to carry it to the FAITH Food Pantry and Social Services Department,â Mr Frangione said.
Additional volunteers from the community are needed to help sort and box the food as it comes back to the post offices.
âWe already have Girl Scout Pack 809, Cub Scout Pack 170, and the Cal Ripken Babe Ruth Baseball League, but we could use more,â Mr Frangione said.
Donations have already come in from local businesses, such as Dunkinâ Donuts, My Place Restaurant, Carminuccioâs, Georgeâs Pizza, and The Newtown Florist.
Mr Frangione is hoping that residents will donate not only canned goods and cereal, but also shampoo and laundry detergent in plastic bottles, toothpaste, diapers and baby cereal, as well as gift certificates from the local Big Y and Stop & Shop grocery stores.
âWe donât want glass jars or bottles since they might break in handling,â he added.
Anyone who would like to help with the Saturday, May 10, food drive, particularly in the afternoon between 1 pm and 6 pm when the items are being sorted, should call Mr Frangione at 426-4271 or 270-9951.