Press Release
Community generosity will help stock shelves during high-demand summer months
VERONA, Va. (May 8, 2025) –The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, is the local beneficiary of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive—the nation’s largest single-day food drive—on Saturday, May 10. This longstanding effort allows residents across the Food Bank’s 25-county service area to contribute non-perishable food donations by leaving them at their mailboxes for collection by local letter carriers.
Last year’s drive helped surpass 2.5 million pounds of food collected over the campaign’s lifetime (since 1994), to help support families and individuals in bringing home food to their families. This year, the Food Bank hopes to continue that impact, ensuring well-stocked shelves as summer approaches—a time when many children lose access to school meals.
“The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is a meaningful way for neighbors to support one another,” said Michael McKee, CEO of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. “Every donation—large and small—plays a role in helping ensure families have access to nourishing food. The generosity and kindness of the letter carriers and the community show how working together we are solving hunger, every day.”
Community members are encouraged to participate, Saturday morning, by placing non-perishable food donations (no glass, please), at their mailboxes for pickup by their letter carriers. Volunteers stationed at Post Offices throughout the region will help sort and distribute food to the Food Bank’s branches in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Verona, and Winchester or its partners.
A full list of the most needed food items can be found at www.brafb.org/event/soh2025/
Community members can also support the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and help the letter carriers address hunger in the community, by making a financial donation here: give.brafb.org/SOH.
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Media Opportunity: Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and letter carrier representatives will be available during the event. To schedule an interview, please contact Les Sinclair at lsinclair@brafb.org or 434-962-5403. Other media assets are linked here.
About the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization serving Western and Central Virginia. Founded in 1981, the Food Bank serves 25 counties and 8 cities through distribution centers in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Winchester, and its headquarters in Verona. Each month (July 2023 – June 2024), the Food Bank supports an average of 148,200 guest visits, reaching record numbers of Virginians through a network of nearly 400 community partners—food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and program sites. As a partner food bank of Feeding America®, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank pledges to continue innovating and adapting to secure, store, and distribute more food to more individuals, families, children, and seniors experiencing hunger. For more information, visit www.brafb.org.
About the National Association of Letter Carriers
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) represents city delivery letter carriers across the country. Its 293,000 members make it the largest of the four unions representing employees of the United States Postal Service. Founded by Civil War veterans in 1889, NALC is among the country’s oldest labor unions.
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