Letter carriers deliver – for food pantries
By Sauk Valley Newspapers - What We Think - letters@svnmail.com
An incredible thing happened Saturday in the Sauk Valley.
In the midst of a recession, local residents actually increased their giving to the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual food drive.
By how much?
In Rock Falls, donations of nonperishable food items rose to 11,503 pounds, an increase of nearly 10 percent versus last year.
In Dixon, the collection netted 13,487 pounds of food, up more than 12 percent.
In Sterling, postal workers collected 15,636 pounds, an increase of nearly 14 percent.
And then there’s Tampico. It’s not as big as the aforementioned cities, but its residents have big hearts. The local post office saw a 27 percent increase in food donations, from 500 pounds last year to 634 pounds this year.
This is the 17th time that letter carriers and the Postal Service have worked together to conduct their “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. It couldn’t be easier for residents. All they have to do is leave bags or boxes of food near their mailbox, and the postal workers do the rest. They haul it away and deliver it to local food pantries.
The drive couldn’t have come at a better time. More people are unemployed or underemployed, and they need a helping hand to put food on the table.
Although postal workers organized this campaign, it wouldn’t have gone very far without the generous response by local residents.
That’s the incredible part.
Even in a rough economy, people opened their hearts to others.
We’re proud of the postal employees for the extra “deliveries” they made on Saturday, and just as proud of the people who supplied the food items to be delivered. Nice job, everyone.
FOR PEOPLE who didn’t participate in Saturday’s food drive, but still would like to help, local food pantries would welcome your donations with open arms.
Here is a list of those pantries:
Whiteside County
FISH Emergency Pantry, 902 E. Fifth St., Sterling. Open 9-11 a.m. Monday through Friday; 815-626-1734. Drop off donations at annex to First United Methodist Church. Make checks payable to FISH, 610 Seventh Ave., Sterling, IL 61081, or drop them off at pantry.
Helping Hands, 1208 E. Fourth St., Sterling. Open 9-11 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 815-625-0864. Make checks payable to Helping Hands or First Church of the Nazarene, 411 13th Ave., Sterling, IL 61081.
St. Vincent de Paul Society, 7 W. Sixth St., Sterling. Open 1-3 p.m. Monday through Friday; 815-625-0311. Make checks payable to St. Vincent de Paul Society, c/o St. Mary’s Parish, 600 Ave. B, Sterling, IL 61081.
Trinity United Methodist Church, 205 E. 10th St., Sterling. Open 8:30-11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 815-626-7777. Make checks payable to Trinity Food Pantry, 205 E. 10th St., Sterling, IL 61081.
Sterling Township, 108 Fourth Ave. Open 9-11 a.m. Monday through Friday; 815-625-3990. Donations can be dropped off 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Make checks payable to Sterling Township, with food pantry in the memo line.
Rock River Christian Center, 1800 Prophet Road, Rock Falls. Open 1-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 815-625-4371. It also has a baby pantry with diapers. Nonperishable and frozen food is accepted 9 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. Friday. Make checks payable to Rock River Christian Center, with food pantry or baby pantry in the memo line.
American Legion Food Pantry, 215 Washington St., Prophetstown. Open 9-11 a.m. Tuesdays; 815-537-2758. Make checks payable to Prophetstown-Lyndon Food Pantry, c/o First Lutheran Church, 300 W. Third St., Prophetstown, IL 61277. Items can be donated when the pantry is open.
Tampico Food Pantry, 106 W. Main St. Open 5-5:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month; 815-438-4304. Donations can be dropped off when the pantry is open, or call anytime for a pickup. Make checks payable to Tampico Area Food Pantry, P.O. Box 626, Tampico, IL 61283, or drop them off at Central Bank.
