PACOIMA >> When one special Saturday each May rolls around as it has for a quarter century, Canoga Park postwoman Jill Lemons takes to her route with a 35-pound mailbag.
And then returns to her truck with up to 1,000 pounds in grocery gifts during the largest one-day food drive in the world.
“I don’t need a gym,” said Lemons, who serves as president for her local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “We work out every single day. And carry for the food-insecure … for the kids.
“We’re working hard to stamp out hunger to make a difference in our communities.”
She was among the dozens of postal workers, celebrities and food bank officials to gather at Meet Each Need with Dignity in Pacoima on Wednesday to launch the national Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, now celebrating its 25th year.
• PHOTOS: Preparing for the 25th Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive at MEND in Pacoima
The drive, considered critical to filling the larders at MEND and at food pantries nationwide, will run all day Saturday, May 13. The concept is simple.
Residents are asked to place a grocery bag of nonperishable food by their mailboxes on Saturday. And U.S. letter carriers will give it the heave-ho and make sure it gets to local food banks.
Last year, the Stamp Out Hunger drove by the National Association of Letter Carriers scooped up 80 million pounds of canned goods, cereal, packaged rice and beans and more, a postal record.
In 25 years, the postal workers have collected 1.5 billion pounds of food donations.
And each year, the mail carriers hope to help the 49 million Americans – including 13 million children and five million seniors – at risk of hunger. That’s roughly one out of six residents with food insecurity.
They expect to collect 100,000 pounds for MEND, the San Fernando Valley’s largest social service agency, which provides food for 20,000 people each year.
“I’m just happy to see the word getting out about hunger,” said Ed Rose, 80, of Mission Hills, who co-founded MEND 46 years ago, as a light rain fell outside its food distribution center, where fresh loads of brussel sprouts and organic pineapples awaited delivery.
During an emotional news conference attended by more than letter carriers and postal managers, actor-producer Edward James Olmos joined actress Jeri Ryan to ask the public’s help Saturday in stamping out hunger.
“Thirteen million kids — as a mom, that hits hard,” said Ryan, best known for her role as Borg Seven of Nine on “Star Trek: Voyager,” in a tie-dye dress, breaking into tears. “This food drive helps local food banks and pantries help feed residents in the summer months.
“Oh my God, now I’m crying. Just leave a bag of food out by your mailbox: it’ll really make a difference.”
Olmos, whose father was a postman in Los Angeles for 25 years, is best known for his lead role in “Stand and Deliver,” for which he won an Academy Award nomination. Since 2013, he has served as a national spokesman for the Stamp Out Hunger drive.
“They help more than any single group in the country,” Olmos said. “If you didn’t cry, I would say you would not understand how important this is … Put your food bags out. We need your help.”
He was joined by letter carriers from Burbank, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Lancaster, Pacoima, Palmdale, Reseda and Van Nuys, as well as postal managers from as far as Victorville.
“Forty-nine million people in the nation not knowing where their next meal is,” said Harold Kelso, a postman for nearly 38 years and president of the California State Association of Letter Carriers, which number 38,000 across the state. “Those numbers are unacceptable for us.
“We should all take this seriously as a nation, as a society,” he said. “I’ve worn the letter carrier uniform with pride. But never more proudly than on those days, in the past 25 years, than when I’ve delivered (to Stamp Out Hunger).
“It’s a very special day for every letter carrier. It lifts their spirits up. We raise ourselves up, when we can lift other people, the less fortunate.”
