The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 500 recently partnered with the Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council and United Way of the Capital Region to collect food for the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

Community members placed non-perishable food at their mailboxes for pick up by letter carriers. Local donations were taken to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank where the Labor Council’s community service team members and Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania Troops 10862 and 10616 were preparing meals for homeless families. NALC Harrisburg District collected a total of 275,982 pounds of food for area families in need.

The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive, and is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Members of Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania Troops 10862 and 10616 recently graduated from the “Rising Community Advocates” training, co-sponsored by United Way of the Capital Region and the Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council’s Community Service Committee.

This comprehensive training program focuses on recognizing and mobilizing Girl Scouts to address community service needs. Through the program, girls develop skills in community advocacy and leadership of volunteer projects to help working families in need. 

This year the class learned about safety net services by visiting the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. They learned how to prepare and execute a presentation about food insecurity to community partners. The class then distributed leaflets and flyers encouraging participation in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

In addition, the class used funds from their treasury to buy food for 100 bagged lunches that they prepared and provided to Greater Zion Baptist Church’s homeless family feeding program.

Congratulations to our 2015 class of “Rising Community Advocates”: Kayli Henninger, Tionne Hickerson, Brooke Jones, Anna Kirn, Olivia Krise, Alaysha Lewis, Yvonne Lewis, Alyssa Miller, Emma Miller, Leah Miller, Kayla Moss, Jenna White and Anaya Williams.