Annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive brings truckloads of food to Dayton Food Pantry

The Dayton Post Office helped collect more than 364 bags of food for the Dayton Food Pantry on May 14.

Every year on the second Saturday of May, letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America collect the goodness and compassion of their postal customers, who participate in the Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive — the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

Dayton Food Pantry director Alie Trier and pantry volunteers collected the bags from the post office — they needed three pick up trucks to get it all.

“We are still sorting through the awesome donations from this wonderful community,” Trier said.

With 49 million people facing hunger every day in America, including nearly 16 million children, this annual food drive is one way to help.

Residents of the Dayton area work with Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties in volunteer service to keep the pantry going.

From the Pantry site on the corner of Highway 50 at 4 Enterprise Way in Dayton, emergency food boxes are provided from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and monthly food boxes are provided for the Dayton Senior Center Homebound list. Food is packed and delivered Fridays for local students through a school “Food for the Weekend Backpack Program.” The pantry offers its primary food distribution once a month at Sutro Elementary School.

For more information, call 775-246-7834.