Weather Dampens Postal Food Drive

To the Editor:

May 8 was not a banner weather day, and it clearly affected the amount of food left curbside by area residents for the Annual Postal Food Drive. All of the food collected in Newtown stays in Newtown, and the Salvation Army Food Pantry in the Social Services Department benefits directly from this drive. Though it rained during the morning hours, the sun was out in the afternoon. In spite of that, most postal workers found fewer donations left by mailboxes this year.

The Postal Food Drive is held each year in May, the day before Mother’s Day. Please mark your 2011 calendars so that you remember to put out a bag of canned and boxed goods next year at the crack of dawn. Volunteer drivers come early to help alleviate the load for the mail carriers later in the day. Please consider calling a neighbor or starting a calling chain to remind others to do the same. We accept food items on a daily basis at the food pantry, so please stop by with your donation if you missed this month’s food drive. We are located in the lower level of the police station at 3 Main Street. Please be sure that items are not damaged or expired.

There are several individuals that are called on every year to help recruit volunteers as well as help that day. Thanks to Sarah Beier, Lin Hertberg, Kitty Latowicki, Steve Odams, and Phyllis Zimmer. There are also many volunteers of all ages who return faithfully each year to help, and we appreciate each one of them. We get new volunteers every year also, and we thank each of you for coming.

The Newtown Post Office representatives are a pleasure to work with on this project. Thanks to Rich, Dave, and the countless mail carriers who participated. We also thank My Place and Carminuccio’s for donating pizzas to feed hungry volunteers and the Big Y for allowing us to use their shopping carts to move our food more easily.

We are grateful to our volunteers and to the Newtown residents who made a food donation. The number of people who use our pantry has grown due to the difficult economic times we face, and we thank you for helping to keep our shelves stocked.

Very truly yours,

Ann Piccini and

Joanne Klopfenstein

Newtown Social Services/Newtown Salvation Army Food Pantry

3 Main Street, Newtown                                                   May 17, 2010