Iola letter carriers hope to have their hands full Saturday.
So does the Rev. Phil Honeycutt, who looks after food distributions at the Iola Area Ministerial Association’s Community Pantry, corner of Broadway and Washington streets.
On Saturday Iola’s letter carriers, including those who deliver on rural routes, will collect non-perishable food during their deliveries.
James Hunt, local carrier who heads up the drive, said non-perishable food should be placed in plastic bags and left near the mail box.
“The shelves are looking a little bare,” said Honeycutt of the pantry. “We’re hoping for the carriers to give us a big hand on Saturday. We need everything.”
He said protein-rich items, such as beef, pork, hot-dogs and chicken, were in short supply. Those things can’t be collected by letter carriers, but they may be brought to the pantry on Saturday.
“We’ll have people at the pantry at 10 a.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. for anyone who would like to bring in a donation,” Honeycutt said. “People may not know it, but if they’re butchering, we can take packages of meat from them.”
The pantry is open for distributions and donations 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. each Tuesday and Thursday.
THE NATIONAL Association of Letter Carriers began food drives in the early 1990s, with Iola members aboard from early on. Record collection in Iola to date was 5,155 pounds in 2012.
The drives occur in late spring because that’s when pantries frequently are in need of food infusions. Food donations increase in fall and winter, to coincide with benevolence prompted by Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but then fall off in late spring and summer.
The NALC will have all hands on board Saturday. As carriers bring food to the post office, it will be weighed and then taken to the pantry.
