Postal food drive deemed huge success

Once again, island residents prove that they are willing to come to the aid of their neighbors.
The U.S. Postal Service recently held its annual food drive asking citizens to assist in feeding the hungry by leaving non-perishable food items by mailboxes to benefit local food banks. On Pine Island, all of the food collected by letter carriers and volunteers went directly to the Pine Island Food Pantry. This year’s donations greatly surpassed the expectations of Food Pantry secretary and volunteer Barb La Plante.
“In three years of our being able to do the postal food drive and keep it here on Pine Island, this year, far outweighs others,” La Plante said. “Not only did we receive more in poundage, but, also, in the number of volunteers that came forward to lend their support and hard work. Their dedication is greatly appreciated.”
According to La Plante, the one-day food drive resulted in 6,000 pounds, or three tons, of food.
“These donations will help us to continue to help those in need this summer,” La Plante said. “Summer traditionally sees a large decline in the donations we receive, but the food drive will go a long way in sustaining the Food Pantry until things pick up again in the fall.”
Food Pantry volunteers worked along-side postal personnel by working the routes to collect donations. Coordinating the volunteers who assisted in the curb-side pick up was pantry volunteer Dave Grueser.
“For the third year in a row, Dave organized and made arrangements for the pickup trucks and volunteers who helped with the deliveries,” La Plante said. “He along with the other volunteers worked very hard that day and God continues to bless the Food Pantry through the generosity of the people of Pine Island and our wonderful volunteers.”
Once the food was collected from the residential mail boxes and island Post Offices, it was delivered to the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church Life Center where the Pine Island Food Pantry is housed.
“When the food arrived at the pantry, the real work began. All of the food had to be weighed, sorted, boxed and placed on our storage shelves,” La Plante said. “This was a tremendous job and the amazing part is that we were able to accomplish this monumental task in just one day.”
The Pine Island Food Pantry serves hundreds of island families and individuals each year providing not only non-perishable food items but also fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods, meats and dairy products, personal hygiene products, paper products, cleaning items and more. The pantry is staffed by local volunteers and receives no state or federal funding. Relying solely on donations from area residents, many organizations and churches contribute to the Food Pantry and donations from individuals are collected as several island locations including the Pine Island Winn-Dixie, the Matlacha Post Office, Southwest Capital Bank, Edward Jones at he Century 21 building, the Pine Island VFW and the Pine Island American Legion.
The Pine Island Food Pantry is open on Monday and Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m. and for more information, call 246-0039.