Mail Carriers Collect Food for the Needy

After delivering the usual array of junk mail and credit card bills to a house along her east Ventura route, letter carrier Julie Becker stooped to pick up a box of food on the front porch.

“Wow, look, canned tomatoes and stuffing and black beans . . . mmmm, I love black beans,” the five-year postal veteran said, sorting through the contents of the box.

Becker was one of hundreds of postal carriers throughout Ventura County who took part Saturday in the 1993 Letter Carriers Food Drive.

The drive is part of a nationwide effort by the National Assn. of Letter Carriers, the U.S. Postal Service and the AFL-CIO to help food banks across the United States, said association spokesman Drew Von Bergen. Nationwide, more than 1,000 post offices were expected to participate, Von Bergen said.

In Ventura County, the food collected by letter carriers in Ventura, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Simi Valley, Santa Paula, Moorpark, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks will be donated to local food banks. Food Share, an Oxnard food bank that serves about 252 organizations in the county, will be one of the major beneficiaries.

“This is the first time we’ve been included and we’re really excited,” said Jewel Pedi, Food Share’s executive director. “It’s the part of the year when food banks get a little low, so this is really needed.”

Food Share planned to send crews to post offices to pick up the donations and take them back to their Oxnard warehouse, Pedi said.

Meanwhile, the food pickup drive gave Becker a break from the usual routine of her 12 1/2-mile route. “Let’s see, Hamburger Helper, salt, coffee . . . hey, this is pretty fun.”