Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993 TAG: 9305200475
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Just look at this," she said, motioning to the unkempt heaps of food that had the appearance of having been thrown in.
"This is overwhelming . . . tremendous," she said.
Ruby, a volunteer at the pantry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Market Street, was viewing the results of a food drive conducted by employees of the Salem Post Office.
About 10,000 pounds of food was collected in a one-day drive Saturday, said Tom Dalton, president of the Salem chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
"The response was really amazing. I wasn't expecting that much."
In the drive, all patrons of the post office were asked to donate nonperishable food to help restock the Salem food pantry, which distributes food monthly to about 300 needy families in Salem and western Roanoke County.
The idea of the food drive originated in the letter carriers' national office, and Salem was the first Virginia chapter to participate, Dalton said. About two weeks after Salem volunteered, letter carriers in Richmond also volunteered, Dalton said.
If the response in Salem is an indication, the program was a success, Dalton said. "The people were really good about donating. It was a real good day. Some mailboxes were stuffed with food. It made all of us feel really good to be doing something for the community."
Hal Johnston was helping Ruby sort food and put it on shelves.
It looks overpowering, Ruby said, "but we'll work through it."
The pantry was getting low on food, but the letter carriers' drive remedied that, she said, adding the pantry is nearly always in need of nonperishable food of all types.
Dry cereals, peanut butter, jelly and mayonnaise are hard to keep on hand, she said. These are the least donated items.
"We had no cereal [before the drive], and we had very little soup and crackers."
The pantry also was out of beef stew and low on bread. Now it has what might be described as a surplus of both.
Shelf space is at a premium. This, said Ruby, is a nice problem to have. She said window sills are being pressed into service as temporary shelves.
Dalton said the Salem letter carriers had conducted small food drives on Thanksgiving and Christmas but never before on a community-wide basis such as this.
He said all the letter carriers in Salem felt this was a worthwhile project and hope it will become an annual event.
Salem Boy Scout Troop 55 at St. Paul's Church helped the letter carriers collect the food and deliver it to the pantry.
by CNB