United Food Operation of West Virginia (UFO) has begun preparations for the National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive, which occurs on Saturday, May 13.

UFO and the Letter Carriers are asking postal patrons in the Charleston WV region to fill a grocery bag with non-perishable foods and place it next to their mailbox that morning.

Letter carriers will collect the food as they deliver mail that day. United States Postal Service workers will then deliver the food to central post office facilities, where is is consolidated and then trucked to the United Food Operation warehouse in Institute, WV. Once at the UFO warehouse, the foods are sorted and organized into allotments for participating food pantries.

On Tuesday, May 16, trucks from UFO-affiliated food pantries in Kanawha and Putnam counties will pick up the food and take it to their locations, where it is added to the stocks of food available to families in the communities they serve.

Volunteers needed May 13

On Saturday, May 13, volunteers are needed between the hours of 2:30 and 6:30 P.M. at the Main Post Office building in downtown Charleston. The volunteers assist with unloading food from the postal vehicles and consolidating it onto trailers so it can be hauled to the UFO warehouse. Food and soft drinks will be provided to volunteers helping at the at the main Post Office loading dock.

To get details about volunteering, please call 304-342-2023 or email UFO and say you would like to assist the Letter Carriers Food Drive. Any questions you have can be answered on the telephone. Alternatively, you can just show up on the afternoon of May 13 at the downtown Charleston post office loading dock off Washington Street, and the organizers will put you to work.

Food pantries meet with UFO

Representatives from UFO-affiliated food pantries in Kanawha and Putnam counties met recently with UFO officials to organize for the upcoming Letter Carriers food drive. The meeting, held at the Covestro conference room in South Charleston, was designed to help everyone prepare for the receipt of food from the collection. The Letter Carriers food drive here is among the most significant single-day events of its type in the state.

Since 1981, UFO has worked to provide food to needy families in the Kanawha Valley region. Anyone wishing to donate to money to the all-volunteer United Food Operation efforts may send a check of any amount to P.O. Box 20441, Charleston, WV 25362. Donations go to purchase food that is distributed to participating food pantries. United Food Operation, Inc. is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.