Second Harvest Food Bank/ Orange County and US Letter Carriers to Collect Food

April 15, 2009 - PRLog -- For more information call:
Mark Wetterau
949-653-2900


Second Harvest Food Bank and Letter Carriers Team Up For Food Drive

April 14, 2009 (Tustin, CA)— The current economic recession is not leaving Orange County untouched as far as requests for food assistance are concerned. During the first three months of this year requests for help are up almost 40% across the county. To help meet the demands for food, The Second Harvest Food Bank and the US Letter Carriers are teaming up May 9th for the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive to collect food for those in need in Orange County.    A large portion of the food collected that day will be delivered to the Second Harvest Food Bank warehouse in Irvine, where it will be re-distributed to agencies across the county striving to keep up with increased demands for assistance.

   The increase in requests includes many seeking food assistance for the first time. Among those seeking help are newly unemployed, residents who have lost homes in foreclosures, and many who have had pay reductions due to the current recession. “This is unprecedented in the way the food insecurities have cut across all age, income and ethnic groups,” said Mark Wetterau at Second Harvest Food Bank. “We are seeing people that until a few months ago had good jobs and nice homes and are now in need of assistance to feed their families” , Wetterau said.

   Second Harvest Food Bank officials estimate that one out of every six people in the county are at risk of hunger at any time. They add that nearly half of those are children. Seniors on fixed incomes, many families depending on a minimum wage earner, and those unemployed make up a large percentage of those now facing food insecurities.

   On May 9th residents are being asked to leave nonperishable food items by their mailboxes.  The letter carriers will pick up the food that day and deliver it to the Second Harvest Food Bank.  Last year the carriers collected 427,226 pounds of food. To meet the increased needs this year, the Letter Carriers and Second Harvest are asking for increased donations across the county to collect more than 500,000 pounds of food.  The food is then redistributed to those in need by agencies in the county that provide assistance. Second Harvest Food Bank supplies food to more than 400 such agencies in Orange County.

   Orange County residents are being asked to mark the May 9th food drive on their calendars, and donate to help those in need.  For more information on the May 9th Letter Carriers food drive, or how you can help eliminate hunger in Orange County,  contact the Second Harvest Food Bank at 949-653-2900, or visit www.feedoc.org.

About Second Harvest Food Bank
The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is dedicated to alleviating hunger, developing programs to increase awareness of the hunger problem and providing an opportunity for volunteerism and community involvement. For 25 years, Second Harvest Food Bank has led the effort against hunger in Orange County, delivering more than 245 million pounds of donated and surplus food to Orange County’s needy. For every dollar donated to Second Harvest, $12 in food can be purchased to meet the need. This helps meet the food needs of the more than More than 456,000 people that face food insecurities each month, more than half of those are children.  Second Harvest Food Bank works with more than 400 agencies in Orange County alone to feed those that are need of food.

For more information on all the programs at Second Harvest Food Bank, the agencies they partner with, or to find out more about volunteering or donations, visit www.feedoc.org.

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The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is dedicated to alleviating hunger, developing programs to increase awareness of the hunger problem and providing an opportunity for volunteerism and community involvement.
For 25 years, Second Harvest Food Bank has led the effort against hunger in Orange County, delivering more than 245 million pounds of donated and surplus food to Orange County’s needy. Second Harvest Food Bank works with more than 400 agencies in Orange County alone to feed those that are need of food. For more information on all the programs at Second Harvest Food Bank, the agencies they partner with, or to find out more about volunteering or donations, visit www.feedoc.org.