From Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank
Pictured above: Volunteers sort donated food at the Helping Harvest warehouse.
This past weekend, Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank partnered with local letter carriers and post offices to bring in almost 82,000 pounds of food in a single day that will be distributed to area families and individuals facing food insecurity. These efforts were part of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive, held annually on the second Saturday in May.
Helping Harvest anticipates that even more donated food items from the NALC drive will trickle in over the course of this week.
On Saturday, participating postal customers left non-perishable food items in a bag near their mailbox, and their letter carrier collected and delivered the items either directly to Helping Harvest or to their post office, where items were then picked up and brought to the Helping Harvest warehouse.
As donations were delivered to Helping Harvest, dozens of volunteers began the monumental task of sorting them ahead of distributing the food to neighbors in need of food assistance. This process will continue over the coming days and weeks.
Every year since 1993, letter carriers from around the country have collected non-perishable food items along their routes and delivered food to local food banks. In Berks County, Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank receives the donated food and distributes it to neighbors facing food insecurity in its service territory of Berks and Schuylkill counties.
About Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank
Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank is the leading provider of food to people in need in Berks and Schuylkill counties, PA. Helping Harvest delivers food to over 350 partners in its service area. In 2025, Helping Harvest distributed over $21.8 million in food to neighbors in need. Helping Harvest is a Partner Food Bank of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. The mission of Helping Harvest is to provide nutritious food to people facing hunger in our communities.
About NALC’s Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
The NALC Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is a community outreach initiative that has been held annually since 1993. It is the nation’s largest one-day food drive, where letter carriers collect non-perishable food donations from postal customers and deliver them to local food banks, pantries, and shelters. The drive has collected over 1.9 billion pounds of food and is supported by various organizations, including the United States Postal Service, National Association of Letter Carriers, and others. The drive aims to help end hunger in communities by providing essential food resources to those in need.
