EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) – Letter carriers across Lane County are hoping to collect 150,000 pounds of food in the next week in their annual “Letter Carrier’s Food Drive” event.
The drive kicks off Saturday, December 3rd.
The man who started the program, Mark Nelson, has been delivering mail on the same route for nearly 34 years. About a decade into the job, he realized a lot of the people were going without food. He and his coworkers jumped in to help.
“We did it all in-house the first year and we gave away three food baskets. The next year it went to six and the year after it went to thirteen,” said Nelson.
Eventually, it became too much for the post masters to take on by themselves. FOOD for Lane County stepped in to help.
“You know it's been a really lucky thing, I feel really lucky,” Nelson told NewsSource 16 along his route Friday.
Nelson’s route is about ten miles long. He has come to know all of the businesses and residents over the years, and says they are some of the best. Most people give as much as they can.
The idea of the post office holding a food drive has gone national but Lane County is one of the few that does it twice a year instead of one.
“This is one of the biggest we have,” he said. “But we have the facilities to do it.”
The food drive is especially important in Lane County because of the statistics. Oregon has the nation’s highest rate for childhood hunger, according to carriers, at 30%.
“We like collecting peanut butter because one in three people is hungry child,” said Nelson.
More than half of Lane County’s children qualify for free or reduced lunches.
Food pantries have increasingly asked for help around the community. The economy has hurt everyone. One in three local people is eligible for food box assistance.
“High protein foods, tuna, meats are good,” he said. “I always say give what you would want to eat.”
The drive has proven successful in years past, not just because of Nelson, but because of the team of people who pitch in to collect.
“Every carrier, on average, picks up about 800 pounds of food during a drive,” he said.
Over the years, the carriers have delivered almost two million pounds to the food bank. Next year, it will continue without Nelson, as he is retiring.
“The miles add up,” he laughed. “They'll be able to take care of this food drive just fine.")
Nelson said there will be other opportunities for him outside of delivering mail and he hopes some of those include helping the community in other ways besides collecting food for the hungry. Yet, he looks forward to volunteering to help with the food drive next year.
The drive kicks off Saturday, December 3rd. Those donating should bag what they are giving and put the item(s) in or on top of their mailbox. The postman will do the rest. The collection will continue next Saturday, December 10th.
