Mail carriers look to stamp out hunger

A nationwide food drive is expected to bring in more than 70 million pounds of food

SEAL BEACH – Frank DeGrave walked briskly from door to door, dropping off and picking up.

The mail cart he was pushing – which on any other day empties as the hours pass – quickly filled to capacity.

DeGrave is one of 300,000 mail carriers nationwide who participated in the 16th annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign, reportedly the country's largest one-day food drive.

The National Association of Letter Carriers partnered with local food banks Saturday with a goal of collecting more than 500,000 pounds of food from Orange County residents.

Residents were asked to put grocery bags with canned and nonperishable items next to their mailboxes to be picked up.

Donations were then boxed by volunteers and shipped to food banks such as Community Action Partnership and Second Harvest Food Bank for distribution.

About 70 million pounds of food was collected across the country last year. About 550,000 pounds of that came from Orange County.

DeGrave, a 23-year veteran postal worker, has participated in the event since its inception.

He was responsible for collecting in Seal Beach's Leisure World. The area, he said, has always been generous.

Every few houses, a bag was left for pickup, and many residents came to the door to personally send off their contributions.

Leisure World resident Carol Jones, 68, apologized for not being able to give more.

"I'm not sure if this is the best house to come to because I don't cook," Jones said laughing. "Last year I just went out and bought stuff."

DeGrave took her shopping bag, filled with a few canned items and some dry pasta, and placed it in his cart.

By the time he completed the first leg of his Leisure World route his van was full.

"I've never experienced this before," DeGrave said. "I can't believe we got this much food in about an hour."

A full van is great news for local food banks.

Mark Lowry, director of Community Action Partnership's food bank in Orange County, said they are struggling to combat higher food costs and a drop in donations from big contributors.

"Food staples such as milk, eggs and flour costs have just gone up dramatically in the last 12 months," Lowry said. "That most dramatically affects low-income residents."

The food bank in 2005 collected 17 million pounds of food and in 2006 they clocked in with 15 million pounds for the year.

"What we've seen is a huge decrease in food coming from the government and the food industry," Lowry said. "Our last remaining partner is the individual."

Food banks are most in need of items such as canned meat, fruits, vegetables and cereals.

But there is one item they may be able to cross off their lists thanks to DeGrave's trip to Leisure World.

"Prunes," DeGrave said. "Prunes are a really big thing around here."

Contact the writer: 714-704-3730 or jfletcher@ocregister.com