Letter Carriers Deliver Again in Food Drive

On a daily basis, come rain or shine, the men and women in blue--postal blue, that is--deliver everything from junk advertisements to costly bills.

But once a year, the legions of Ventura County’s letter carriers get a chance to deliver something that so many seem short of these days--hope.

With the help of thousands of charitable residents, letter carriers nationwide collected and distributed thousands of tons of food Saturday during the annual Letter Carriers Food Drive.

In Ventura County, the food will be distributed to organizations providing relief to needy people and families.

“It’s always a surprise to find out how many people come out to help,” said Camarillo Postmaster Alex Gonzalez, who helped unload bags of food in the post office parking lot.

Established five years ago, the Letter Carriers Food Drive is organized by the postal service and supported through the generosity of residents along postal routes who leave items in their mailboxes.

Last year, letter carriers collected 73 million pounds of food across the country, with more than 100,000 pounds collected in Ventura County alone.

Throughout the day, Gonzalez and other volunteers helped unload the fleet of trucks that arrived laden with bags of groceries.

In addition to the usual cans of tuna and boxes of pasta, residents donated such things as beef stew, chocolate, toothpaste and even cat food.

Even with more than 7 tons of food collected last year in Camarillo, few volunteers doubted that number would be surpassed this year.

“That’s the best thing about this,” said Bill Moritz, a volunteer from St. Columba’s Episcopal Church. “The food just keeps coming.”

The more than 50 tons of food collected across the county in communities such as Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley will be funneled directly to more than 200 organizations.

Jim Mangis, executive director of Food Share, said he expects the drive to generate about 55,000 pounds of food for his organization. And while that is just a drop in the bucket compared to the 6 million pounds of food the agency distributes each year, it’s an important event.

“It’s not a tremendous amount of food, but what’s important about this is the kind of food we get,” he said. “It’s not the kind of stuff we can get every day.”

Ordinarily, Mangis said the organization, which feeds as many as 33,000 people a day in the county, distributes the basics in foodstuffs such as rice, beans, bread and cheese.

However, with the Letter Carriers Food Drive the organization is able to deliver such items as cereal, vegetables, sugar, sweets and hygiene products.

“It’s a tremendous boost for not only our mission, but for the people who need it the most,” he said.