![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Stamp-Out-Hunger2014a-300x152.png\" "\\"Stamp-Out-Hunger2014a\\"")
School will be out soon, and the need for food assistance will grow in Lehigh Acres.<\/p>\nSchool will be out soon, and the need for food assistance will grow in Lehigh Acres.<\/p>\n
So the timing is right for the nation\u2019s largest single-day food drive, \u201cStamp Out Hunger,\u201d set for this coming Saturday.<\/p>\n
This is the one day when letter carriers collect nonperishable food that has been left by mailboxes.<\/p>\n
Currently, In Lee County, 14.8 percent of adults and 26.3 percent of children don\u2019t always know where their next meal is coming from.<\/p>\n
The food drive\u2019s timing is crucial. Food banks and pantries often receive the majority of their donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. By springtime, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.<\/p>\n
Just leave a nonperishable food donation in a bag by the mailbox on Saturday, and the letter carrier will do the rest.<\/p>\n
Food collected in Lehigh Acres will be distributed by the\u00a0Lehigh Community Services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter carriers make it easy to donate, and, as a result, thousands of our neighbors in need receive food,\u2019\u2019 said Al Brislain, president and CEO of the Harry Chapin Food Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cLetter carriers are committed to ensuring that all Americans, especially children, do not go hungry,\u201d said Kitty Swanson, customer relations coordinator for postal service.<\/p>\n
Sciascia agreed the need is great and the time is right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s way too many unemployed and way too many hungry, this is a way to give it a shot in the arm,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Pitch in for letter carriers\u2019 drive<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0What:\u00a0Letter carriers in Lee County are gearing up for the 22nd Stamp Out Hunger annual national letter carrier food drive, the one day when letter carriers collect nonperishable food left by mailboxes.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0When:\u00a0Saturday<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Items to donate:\u00a0Virtually any kind of food may be donated in unopened, non-breakable containers. Items especially in need are peanut butter, tuna, rice, beans, and canned meats, fruits, vegetables and soups.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0To volunteer:\u00a0Volunteers are needed to assist letter carriers with their pickups on Saturday. Contact Kitty Swanson at 573-9638. Volunteers are also needed to assist with food sorting on Saturday. Call LCS at (239) 369-5818<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
School will be out soon, and the need for food assistance will grow in Lehigh Acres. So the timing is right for the nation\u2019s largest single-day food drive, \u201cStamp Out… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":30708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}