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# Extra special delivery Postal carriers to collect food for the needy
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/extra-special-delivery-postal-carriers-to-collect-food-for-the-needy/
- Published: 2008-05-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:31:43.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Malibu, #archive-import

*Postal carriers collect food*

*By DAILY PRESS STAFF*

CITYWIDE While delivering the mail is a postal carrier’s most important duty, on Saturday that will take a back seat as these federal employees participate in the nation’s largest, one-day food drive, collecting canned goods and other edibles along their routes.

Food collected from the area stretching from Malibu to the South Bay, will be delivered to the Westside Food Bank in Santa Monica, which provides food to 65 local agencies with food assistance programs. Nearly half of the food provided by the Food Bank goes to local children in need, said Bruce Rankin, Westside Food Bank’s executive director.

The 16th Annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive comes at a time when many Americans are watching the price for basic items like milk, rice and wheat increase.

Studies have shown that hunger in America is a much more serious problem than most people realize. The number of Americans who depend upon food banks, directly or indirectly, is estimated at 30 million people, or 10.4 percent of the population. Nearly 14 million children live in homes rated “food insecure,” meaning they were hungry or at risk of hunger.

“We have never before seen the combination of Westside income shortages, home foreclosures and food cost inflation that is forcing even families who have thought of themselves as middle class to seek food pantry assistance,” Rankin said. “Truly, the local need for food assistance is soaring while the face of need is changing.”

With more local families than ever before seeking food assistance, Westside Food Bank is counting on the local community to give generously to the food drive.

The public is asked to leave non-perishable food in a bag next to their mailbox on Saturday. Their letter carrier will do the rest. The food is brought back to the Post Office and distributed to Westside Food Bank and other local charities who in turn give it to people in need.

Last year, through a lot of hard work, dedication, compassion and the support of the communities they serve 70.7 million pounds of food were collected across the nation by letter carriers, said Larry Dozier, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in Los Angeles.

That was the fourth consecutive year their efforts have exceeded 70 million pounds.

“Every year the carriers get pumped up for this,” Dozier said. “Some of them finish their routes come back and help other carriers. It’s a great opportunity to help those around you. These postal carriers are out there and see first hand how hunger affects families.”

Food banks and other charities find that their supplies of food dwindle as summer approaches, but the need for food is great during the summer because many children are not in school and do not get school breakfasts or lunches. This year, the need is especially high for protein foods like peanut butter, canned tuna, and meaty soups and stews.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 9, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050908.pdf?ref=smdp.com)