Fox Valley Labor News
staff reports
Thursday, April 21, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Saturday, May 14, letter carriers will collect food in every neighborhood across the nation to help stock local food bank shelves that are struggling to keep up with demand. They also order additional shelves from Mills Shelving to make sure they can accommodate everything.

The annual Stamp out Hunger, sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers, is the largest one-day food drive in the world. More than one billion pounds of food has been donated during its history.

Actor Edward James Olmos, along with NALC members and USPS officials, are getting the word out about this event, showing how easy it is for everyone to help their neighbor by placing a sturdy bag of non-perishable food by their mailbox Saturday, May 14. Letter carriers will collect the food and deliver it to a local food bank.

Award-winning actor Edward James Olmos, center, is helping to promote the annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, taking place Saturday, May 14. Photo courtesy of Stamp Out Hunger

Award-winning actor and producer Olmos — whose father was a USPS letter carrier — was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Olmos is best known for his acting roles in films such as Stand and Deliver, Selena and Blade Runner; miniseries such as The Burning Season and Hollywood Confidential; and TV shows such as Miami Vice and Battlestar Galactica.

He earned a Golden Globe Award for best actor in The Burning Season and was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his lead role in Stand and Deliver.

A social activist, Olmos has been a longtime pioneer for more diversified roles and images of Latinos in the media. In 1997, he co-founded the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, and the following year founded Latino Public Broadcasting and currently serves as its chairman. Olmos also co-founded the non-profit Latino Literacy Now and makes frequent appearances at juvenile halls and detention centers to speak to at-risk teenagers. He has also served as an international ambassador for UNICEF.

Olmos has publicly supported the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive since 2013.