Postal carriers lead annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive across northern Indiana

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- Postal carriers across the country delivered more than mail Saturday as part of the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, the nation’s largest single-day food collection effort.

Here at home, organizers at the Middlebury Food Pantry expected to collect between 10,000 and 15,000 pounds of food donations.

“It happens every year, the Saturday before Mother’s Day, and we really look forward to it because it’s May,” said Pam Bingaman, executive director of the Middlebury Food Pantry. “School’s going to end here at the end of May, kids are going to be home needing a little more food at home.”

Local food banks said the timing is critical as demand increases during the summer months, when children no longer receive meals at school. Organizers also said regular donations have slowed as families take less trips to donate due to rising gas prices.

“We get volunteers from everywhere,” Bingaman said. “We really enjoy having younger folks come in. But you know what? My mother-in-law’s here — she’s 92.”

In Middlebury, “buddy bag teams” followed postal carriers along their delivery routes to collect donations directly from neighborhoods, allowing donations to come in without interruptions to mail delivery. 

“They’re going to drive the same route as the letter carriers,” Bingaman said. “It makes it easier on our mailmen.”

In South Bend, volunteers used a similar system known as “sweepers” to gather donations and transport them to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.

“Our highest has been 120,000,” said Oscar Gibson, warehouse manager at the Food Bank of Northern Indiana. “Our goal every year is 100,000 pounds.”

Once donations arrived at the food bank, volunteers unloaded and sorted food for distribution across the region. 

Former Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw also joined volunteers helping with the effort.

“All the food that we are collecting in St. Joseph County stays in St. Joseph County,” Gibson said.

Currently, Middlebury Food Pantry is reporting over 14,000 pounds of donations received.

The Food Bank of Northern Indiana will continue to accept donations from postal workers through Monday.