Jennifer Rice photo
Volunteers for the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive take time May 11 to sort food that is being brought into the Aurora Post Office. The communities of Aurora, Montgomery, Yorkville and Plano donated 39,000 pounds of food.

By Jennifer Rice
Managing Editor
Thursday, May 16, 2013
     If you didn’t know there was a food drive going on at the Aurora Post Office Saturday afternoon, after listening to some of the conversations — you might think you were at home in your kitchen.
     “Has anyone seen baking products?” or “Who has the container for cereal?” or “I’ve got dried beans, where do these go?”
     These comments came from volunteers of the National Association of Letter Carriers annual Stamp Out Hunger event. As containers and containers of food donated by the community was placed on the dock area of the Aurora Post Office, everything had to be sorted and organized.
     Items were organized into canned goods containers, cereal containers and pasta containers.
     “Sorting everything now helps the food pantries because they don’t have to do it,” explained Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry Director Diane Renner
     “Sorting requires a lot of room, and not all food pantries have the luxury of a lot of room.”
     During this year’s 21st annual Stamp Out Hunger event, a total of 39,000 pounds of food was collected in Aurora, Montgomery, Yorkville and Plano. Of that, Aurora collected 27,500 said National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Local 219 Trustee Mary Kluber.
     “Anything that comes in is a success. This drive is a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
     The food collected by NALC members in Montgomery, Yorkville and Plano went to support food pantries in Kendall County, while food collected by Aurora NALC members benefits local Aurora food pantries.
     Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry Executive Director Marilyn Weisner said the annual Stamp Out Hunger event helps them distribute food throughout the summer to its clients.
     “Starting in June, donations drop off dramatically and continue that way until the end of summer, so there are times during the summer we’re really struggling and we sometimes have to reduce the amount of food we give to families,” Weisner explained.
     Students from four area schools participated in the food drive, bringing in around 2,500 pounds of food.
     “Bardwell Elementary School is a huge supporter of the food drive. They always give us so much food,” Kluber said.
     She added she’s always amazed at how generous the community is. “People are always there to help others in need.”