Volunteers urge Princeton residents to leave nonperishable food at mailboxes for May 9 Stamp Out Hunger drive

At its regular meeting, the Princeton City Council heard from volunteers organizing the national Stamp Out Hunger Mail-Carrier Food Drive and local food-pantry staff asking residents to leave nonperishable food at their mailboxes on Saturday, May 9. Debbie Van Cleve, speaking for the local postal effort, said the drive is the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual one-day event and that carriers pick up donations left at mailboxes and bring them to the pantry.

Vanessa Hoffedetz of the Bureau County Food Pantry described local needs and logistics: the pantry received 8,690 pounds last year and volunteers hope to exceed 10,000 pounds this year, which the organizers estimate would provide roughly 8,333 meals. Hoffedetz said the pantry serves about 1,500 unduplicated households and about 3,000–4,000 household visits when duplicates are counted; roughly 85% of clients are from the Princeton area and about 32% are seniors on fixed incomes.

Council members asked what items are most useful; Hoffedetz recommended staple, nonperishable, nutritious foods — cereal, peanut butter, jelly, canned vegetables and fruit — and asked residents not to leave perishable items at the curb. Volunteers described collection-day logistics: drivers and volunteers should meet at the post office at 8:00 a.m. to be assigned routes; donations are gathered through midmorning and returned to the pantry for sorting in the following weeks.

Organizers asked for volunteers and for students in need of service hours to contact the pantry; Hoffedetz provided a contact number during remarks. The council gave the volunteers a round of applause before moving on to the regular agenda.