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LETTER CARRIERS FOOD DRIVE THIS SATURDAY
Monday, May 8th, 2006 -- 11:48 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
 Audio - 2:02
Every year, we tell you about the U.S. Post Office Food Drive. It's a one-day drive that happens at post offices around the country. But this year's drive will be extra special in our area for a number of reasons.
This year's food drive will be this Saturday, May 13th. Wherever you live, you're encouraged to leave boxes or bags of non-perishable food items by your mailbox. Those donations will then be given to local food pantries.
Mark Cook with the Neillsville Post Office says locals always give a lot - in fact, donations from the "54456" zip code jumped over 50-percent from 1999 to 2005 to 5,005 pounds of donations last year.
"The first years we did this, we saw a lot of older stuff. People were cleaning out their cupboards," Cook explains. "Recently, it's been better quality. We see a lot of people going to purchase a case of cans to give to the food drive. Every year, it's getting better."
Aside from leaving your donations by your mailbox in a box or bag, you can also drop them off at the post office lobby.
This year, acting Neillsville Postmaster Tammy Dunlop has brokered a deal with Marshfield's acting Postmaster - and Neillsville Postmaster - Mike Lacey.
"We've been doing so well, we decided to challenge Marshfield to a food collection contest," Cook says. Whichever post office collects the most donations per patron will win. "Their postmaster will wear a weird outfit of our choice to come over here and make a meal for us, if we win."
This Saturday's food drive is important for another reason: all the donations will go to the Clark County Office on Aging Food Pantry, which recently learned they'd be losing one of their major suppliers.
"A state agency provided them with lunch boxes for the elderly and they're losing that (this month). It's more important for our food drive to stock them up this year," Cook says.
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