By Leslie Yager
This year’s 22nd annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive was the largest yet for Greenwich food pantry Neighbor to Neighbor.
Over 43,000 lbs of food were collected, surpassing last year’s record of 33,500 pounds.
Howard Dinnerstein and Sonny Migliaccio, who coordinated the food drive credited the cooperation of all Greenwich post offices this year for the increase in donations.
This was the first year that all food collected within the Town of Greenwich stayed local.
Neighbor to Neighbor Executive Director Nancy Coughlin expressed her gratitude to the National Association of Letter Carriers leadership in the Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich post offices.
“This is by far our largest food drive each year, and there are plenty of folks right here in Greenwich who will benefit from it. This drive embodies the spirit of Greenwich, of giving back.”
Neighbor to Neighbor provides free food to over 1,000 Greenwich residents every month and clothing to residents of Greenwich, Stamford and Port Chester.
School-aged children can receive a “Summer Supplement,” which aims to bridge the gap left by the lack of free or reduced price school-based meals during the summer months.
“We are so grateful to the letter carriers as well as more than 30 volunteers who spent the day with us unloading vans and sorting food,” said Coughlin.
Kings Food Market in Old Greenwich provided the blue bags that were distributed to residents’ mailboxes prior to the drive.
Each bag provided a code for discounts at Kings for those shopping on May 16th, 17th and 18th. Kings supports Neighbor to Neighbor in a variety of ways through its Act Against Hunger initiative.