FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

Roadrunner Food Bank

CONTACT: Sonya Warwick

Direct: 505-349-8678

Cell: 505-269-4775

STAMP OUT HUNGER^® FOOD DRIVE

COLLECTS MORE THAN 120,000 POUNDS OF FOOD

Albuquerque, NM - May 13, 2008 – This past Saturday, May 10, members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) with support from the US Postal Service and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, picked up 121,798 pounds of food from postal customers throughout the metro area.  The food collected by letter carriers was given to Roadrunner Food Bank who will distribute to partner agencies and regional food banks throughout New Mexico.  Within the metro area, postal customers left sturdy bags containing non-perishable food items for letter carriers to pick up.  Hundreds of volunteers pitched in to help sort the food at eleven post office substations.

Valerie Chacon, local Food Coordinator for the National Association of Letter Carriers said, “This food drive is something the letter carriers are dedicated to doing every year.  We take pride in participating because many of our customers are recipients of the drive itself.  It is very personal to us and we are more than happy to do whatever we can to help take care of our community.  Our community is like an extended family to us.”   

Melody Wattenbarger, Executive Director of Roadrunner Food Bank said, “We are so grateful for our partnership with the letter carriers.  Their hard work and diligent efforts touch the lives of many people they never meet.  Thank you also to the thousands of individuals who thought of those in need and left a food donation this past weekend.”

This year’s food drive brought in roughly six percent less than last year.  Wattenbarger explained, “From year to year food drive numbers can fluctuate and change.  Given the rising costs of gas and food prices, we know that families may have tighter budgets. We are happy that so many people continue to support us and help feed the hungry in New Mexico.”

In its 16th year, the Stamp Out Hunger! effort is the nation's largest single-day food drive, with letter carriers collecting more than 836 million pounds of food from postal customers since its inception.  Roadrunner Food Bank is New Mexico’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger in New Mexico. For additional information about us, please visit our website at www.rrfb.org or contact Sonya Warwick at 505-349-8682 or via e-mail at sonya@rrfb.org.

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Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico is New Mexico’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger.  Through its statewide network of 600 partner agencies and six regional food banks, Roadrunner Food Bank distributes more than 16 million pounds of food annually to approximately 240,000 New Mexicans in need.  Every dollar donated yields $12 worth of food.  Roadrunner Food Bank is the only New Mexico member of America’s Second Harvest—the Nation’s Food Bank Network.  In the 28 years since it was founded, Roadrunner Food Bank has distributed more than 165 million pounds of food statewide.  For more information about Roadrunner Food Bank and its programs visit www.rrfb.org