Stamp Out Hunger

The largest single-day food drive in America is coming up this Saturday, May 13, 2023. Local letter carriers are working with food banks across the country to hold the Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Saturday’s drive comes at a time when inflation is one of the roadblocks affecting millions of families and also preventing food pantries from keeping their shelves stocked to help people in need.

According to Feeding America, food banks are buying nearly as much food as they did last year but paying about 40% more for that food now. Eddie Galvan, the Program Director at the Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry, believes the pantry is paying even more than 40% for food now compared to a year ago. In the most recent consumer price index from the Labor Department, food prices in grocery stores in March were 10% higher than in March of last year. The cost of food in restaurants is almost 7% higher.

This drive is one way you can help those in Aurora who need help. Fill a bag with non-perishable food items and place it near your mailbox before your normal mail delivery time, and your letter carrier will pick it up. A lot of donations in Aurora will go directly to the Aurora Food Pantry. The pantry staff, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, feeds about 1,000 families a week.