The Community Food Bank of San Benito County could get a big boost with the help of mail carriers and customers on Saturday.
County postal carriers are joining those nationwide for a food drive, and customers are asked to leave groceries by their mailboxes.
According to an announcement from the food bank:
San Benito County carriers are joining U.S. Postal Service workers nationwide this Saturday, May 14, in a nationwide food drive. Everything collected through the Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Aromas and Paicines post offices will go to Community Food Bank.
Hollister area carriers are supplying grocery bags to many addresses, but it’s not necessary to have an “official” bag to participate. Groceries left by the mail box before postal delivery Saturday will find their way back to the local Food Bank. The bags carriers are distributing were all donated by the Hollister Nob Hill and Safeway stores.
“It’s only through neighbors helping neighbors that we can continue to serve the community,” said Mark Paxton of the Food Bank. “Our friends at local post offices have made this drive an annual tradition, and it yields a vital windfall for us each spring. There’s not likely to be another group of people that understands its community better than postal workers, who visit homes and businesses six days each week. They clearly understand the significance of pitching in the way they do.”
Last year, Community Food Bank connected 1 million pounds of groceries to local families, and last March alone, 5,234 people were served.
If you want to help your neighbors in the community, just leave bagged, non-perishable and unopened groceries near your mailbox first thing Saturday morning. They’ll be picked up and returned to the post office, and Community Food Bank will collect them there.
For further information, call the Food Bank at (831) 637-0340.
