MASON CITY – local volunteers will be collecting food at the Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank this Saturday to mark Stamp Out Hunger Day.
This Saturday the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) in Mason City and Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank volunteers will collect food donations in order to provide assistance to the thousands of North Iowans who are struggling with hunger. Celebrating its 24th anniversary this year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive, having collected more than one billion pounds of food since its inception as a national food drive in 1993.
Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank volunteers will be driving two of their commercial vans and picking up food donations during the day to assist local letter carriers. “We want to let people know that they they may see individuals other than their letter carrier picking up food donations” commented local food bank volunteer Ozzie Ohl.
Last year local letter carriers in Mason City collected more than 9,000 pounds of food. This Saturday the nation’s 180,000 letter carriers and local Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank volunteers will collect food donations left at the mailboxes of generous Americans in Mason City and deliver them to Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank
Wonder what foods are great to donate to the food drive? Here are a few of the most needed non-perishable food items requested by the food bank: canned chicken, tuna, peanut butter, beef stew, beef ravioli, spaghetti & meatballs, mixed vegetables, peas, potatoes, mixed fruit, peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, tomato pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, pork & beans, chili beans, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, chicken noodle soup, instant potatoes, stuffing, Pasta helper meals, spaghetti, Macaroni & Cheese, macaroni & cheese, Cereal, coffee, ketchup, sugar, flour, salad dressing, mayo, Non edible items toilet tissue, bars of soap, toothbrushes, & toothpaste.
Food bank spokesperson Ozzie Ohl added “We are very appreciative of the generosity that North Iowans have shown through the years. We only ask that people not include glass products with their donations. In years past we have had quite a bit of broken glass.”
