Postal Food Drive Nets Record Haul

Orange County residents responded in record numbers to this year’s National Assn. of Letter Carriers food drive--pouring more than 474,000 pounds of nonperishable goods into local food banks.

The total haul collected May 9 by postal workers and letter carriers was up 112,000 pounds over last year, drive spokeswoman Terri Bouffiou said.

Letter carriers across the nation collected canned goods and other nonperishable items the same day to help offset the traditional summer slump in donations to local food banks. State and national figures were still being tallied, but Bouffiou said Orange County had a banner year.

Last year, the lowest in the drive’s seven-year history, postal workers collected 362,000 pounds of goods. In 1996, workers collected 435,000 pounds of goods--a substantial increase over 1995’s 404,000 pound total.