On Saturday, Second Harvest of South Georgia and the National Association of Letter Carriers teamed up to participate in the nation’s largest single-day food drive.

By Saturday evening, Second Harvest’s four branches had collected more than 172,000 pounds.    This annual food drive, now in its 22nd year, began as a regional effort and now is a nationwide event that provides assistance to millions of Americans struggling to put food on the table.   

“We still have to pick up from many of the smaller branches across the region. We expect that total to rise substantially,” said Eliza McCall, chief marketing officer of Second Harvest.

“We’re grateful for the community’s support again this year.  With each of these thousands of pounds of food, we feed hope for tomorrow, connecting our community and making a tangible impact on the problem of hunger each and every day.”

One in four south Georgians struggle with hunger daily, including one in three children. Rates of hunger in the region and greater than any other part of Georgia; Georgia also ranks fourth highest in childhood hunger nationally. 

Through the network of more than 425 partner agencies we distributed more than 18.5 million pounds of food last year to families, children, and senior citizens in need through a variety of programs including the Food Bank, Kids Café, Mobile Food Pantry, Farm to Family and Teachers Harvest.

This annual event relies heavily on volunteer participation from groups like Moody AFB, partner agencies like St. Peter AME and Trinity Presbyterian in Valdosta, as well as teams from local businesses.  Valdosta State Farm agent Kelly Barr not only sponsored the event but came out and rolled up her sleeves to help.

“In the past, I’ve donated to Stamp Out Hunger, but this year I wanted to be get more involved.  It’s important to me as a wife and mom to see that families are fed, and it’s a core value of State Farm to serve others.  Good neighbors care for each other, and I’m thrilled to be here,” said Barr.

Second Harvest of South Georgia serves 30 counties and is the largest rural food bank in Georgia.  Headquartered in Valdosta, the organization has locations in Albany, Douglas, and Thomasville.  Through the network of over 425 partner charities and through our programs, Second Harvest distributed more than 18.5 million pounds of food in 2013 to children, seniors and families struggling with hunger.

For more information on how to help alleviate hunger in South Georgia, visit www.feedingsga.org. 

The National Association of Letter Carriers is the union of city delivery letter carriers working for the United States Postal Service founded in 1889. Today, the NALC maintains its tradition as a vibrant union of over 300,000 members in all 50 states and other U.S. jurisdictions. For more information, visit http://nalc.org/commun/foodrive/index.html.