Postal carriers help 'Stamp Out Hunger'
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 5 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
Warden man injured in tractor-trailer collision with train
BRUCE — A Warden man was transported to an out-of-area hospital after the tractor-trailer he was driving was hit by a train near Bruce at about noon Tuesday. "The extent of the driver's injuries is not known at this time," wrote Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner in a media release. "Preliminary information indicates the semi-truck was traveling above the speed limit and failed to obey posted requiring traffic to yield at the railroad crossing. The train was traveling at a slow speed," Wagner said. "He was moving. He wasn't stuck on the tracks," he said in an earlier interview.
Othello man arrested for Moses Lake attempted burglary
MOSES LAKE — An Othello man jumped into Moses Lake in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid Moses Lake Police Department officers last Friday. An MLPD media release issued Wednesday said Fernando Lira, 36, was booked into the Grant County Jail on suspicion of second-degree burglary in connection with the incident. Lira allegedly attempted to burglarize a business in the 600 block of East Broadway Friday morning. The business owner discovered him and chased him off the property, the release said.
Higher revenues, expenses projected in preliminary Moses Lake city budget
MOSES LAKE — While Moses Lake city officials have reduced expenses and revenues are projected to increase by about 7.9% in the city's preliminary budget, proposed expenditures are projected to go up by about 9.5%. Assistant City Manager James Richmond emphasized the preliminary budget presented earlier this month is not cast in stone. "The projected figures are not finalized. They are requests from departments based on projected 2027 operational costs. Largely, the figures are based on guidance from the city council during the financial sustainability plan analysis," Richmond wrote in answer to questions from the Columbia Basin Herald.