Mail carriers help RIFA ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ in Madison County

JACKSON, Tenn. — “We are partnering with the National Association of Letter Carriers to ‘Stamp Out Hunger,'” said Lindsay Dawkins, marketing and events coordinator at Regional Inter-Faith Association.

Saturday is the National Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Jackson citizens can donate food to RIFA without leaving their driveway.

“When the summer months hit, donations tend to fall down, and so this is a great time to encourage people just to help fill our shelves again so we can help feed those hungry in our community,” Dawkins said.

All you have to do to help “Stamp Out Hunger” is grab any plastic bag you have laying around the house, fill it with nonperishable food items, hang it up on your mailbox and your mailman will pick it up when he delivers on Saturday.

This is the 26th year for the campaign. As of 2010, the National Association of Letter Carriers has collected over one billion pounds of food.

But if you don’t have a typical mailbox, you can still donate.

“If someone can’t get it to the mailbox, they can come by the office here or the north station Monday or Tuesday and we’ll take it here at the door,” said Ricky Crihfield, customer service supervisor at the post office in south Jackson.

In 2017, Madison County donated 22,000 pounds of food to the Stamp Out Hunger campaign. Thanks in part to that, RIFA was able to serve 430,000 meals to those in need last year.