Postal pride

Not even a mid-April snowstorm can stop Thunder Bay’s postal workers from making a special Saturday delivery.

 Letter carriers will descend on the city en masse on Saturday afternoon, collecting curbside donations of food to help stock the barren shelves of the Regional Food Distribution Agency. Carrier Cathy Stojkovic said the food drive brought in about $25,000 worth of merchandise last year, a number they hope to double in 2011.

“We want to help the city, give back to the community,” Stojkovic said. “The shelves are pretty bare and there’s a big need in this town.”

And it feels really good, she said.

“I love being here, I love doing this. It’s really exciting. It just makes you feel good to help out people in need. We’re really lucky as letter carriers to have good jobs. The economy hasn’t been very good to this city and people need help.”

Volker Kromm, the RFDA’s executive director, called it an amazing effort.

“This comes at a time when we’re short of food. Our warehouse is next to empty. We’re taking great pains to make sure we keep the food banks supplied with food. This comes at a good time. We need the food and I think the community will really benefit this time,” Kromm said.

The RFDA, formed eight years ago, supplies 28 food banks in Thunder Bay and throughout Northwestern Ontario.

Kromm said anything from their top 10 list would be great to sitting at the curb on Saturday.
“It’s basically the pastas and the pasta sauces, peanut butter, canned soups, canned meat, non-perishables,” he said. “They make a meal, so they’re logical for people to donate.”
The need is greater than ever, he added.

“There is an increase (in need)and some of our food banks are empty and as you look around you, we’ve been trying to ship out the last of our food to stock up those shelves,” Kromm said.

“Although the economy is rebounding, it’s not only the unemployed, it’s the under-employed that we find that have need. Sometimes the dollar doesn’t stretch to the end of the paycheque. You just can’t make ends meet.”

Stojkovic said carriers will be out en masse from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, but asked that all donations be at the curb by 11 a.m. as carriers won’t be making return trips.