By Kevin Barry (NCC News)
Nov. 18, 2010, 8:00 p.m.
For 22 years, local mail carriers have been collecting food donations from houses on their mail route and delivering those donations to food pantries in the area. However, without the drive's corporate sponsor, the postal workers will have to stop their holiday drive.
Empire Vision, a low cost eyecare provider, had been sponsoring the drive, donating $1.5 million to print postcards to remind residents of the drive. With the reminders some of the drives brought in nearly 800,000 pounds of donations, compared to only 100,000 pounds in year after Empire Vision withdrew its corporate sponsorship.
Interfaith Food Consortium
"The pantries really looked forward to the fall collections because, people donated the food so it was not something they had to purchase," said Michele Jordan, the Executive Director at Interfaith Food Consortium. "It kind of filled in the gaps in their shelves. And it's really good for the holidays too."
Jordan said Interfaith and other charities are expecting more requests from local residents for food this holiday season since pantries are expecting less donations than they received in past years.
"Our main concern is the people who use the pantries and the pantries themselves," said Jordan.
Outside competition
Jordan says that collection has become harder in recent years with the emergence of other charitable organizations that members of the community to which members of the community also donate.
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