Postal carriers help 'Stamp Out Hunger'
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 7 months AGO
Volunteer Lillian Merril unloads donated food during the ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ food drive Saturday.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | May 16, 2016 1:00 PM
MOSES LAKE — When the mail trucks arrived, the big truck started filling up fast. Not with mail — the truck belonged to the Moses Lake Food Bank, and the mail carriers collected food donations from along their routes as part of the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
It’s a one-day event where mailbox customers are asked to leave donations of non-perishable food by the mailbox. Mail carriers pick up the food as they deliver mail and bring it back to the post office, where the truck is waiting.
Stamp out Hunger is a charitable project of the National Association of Letter Carriers, according to the union’s website. The Moses Lake Post Office has been participating for at least 20 years, said Tina Kunjara, the MLPO organizer.
All donations go to local food banks, the website said. The union and its members have been sponsoring Stamp Out Hunger for 24 years, said Bruce Baker, a retired letter carrier and president of the Moses Lake local.
The 2015 Stamp Out Hunger drive collected 9,200 pounds of food, Kinjara said. A final accounting for 2016 won’t be available until later in the week. In part that’s because while it’s supposed to be a one-day event, it really isn’t.
“We get donations all week, the following week,” Baker said. “We take the food as long as people are willing to put it out.”
As the trucks pulled in the carriers unloaded cans, boxes and bags of non-perishable food, and few items that were a little hard to identify. Andi Merrill and her daughters Madalyn and Lillian volunteered to fill the truck.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
More park improvements planned for Royal City in ‘26
ROYAL CITY — Lions Park in Royal City now has a soccer field, so city officials will be working on the next phase of improvements in 2026. The first phase of upgrades to Apple Avenue also is scheduled for 2026, and both are among the projects reflected in the city’s 2026 budget. The budget was approved by Royal City City Council members Tuesday.
Sleep Diagnostic Center physician pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud
Charges involve charging Apple Health for recalled, altered CPAP devices
BREWSTER — A Brewster physician who operates a sleep diagnostic clinic in Moses Lake and Wenatchee will be sentenced March 24 as part of a Wednesday plea deal on Medicaid fraud charges.
Qualifying irrigation-only wells approved by Moses Lake council
MOSES LAKE — Public agencies and semi-public organizations will be allowed to drill individual wells to water fields and other publicly accessible green spaces under the terms of an ordinance approved by the Moses Lake City Council at the last meeting of 2025. Council members have been discussing the ordinance for about three months, following a meeting with Moses Lake School District officials.