June 3, 2011_nWLP 5/31/11 10:21 aM Page 4
NALC food drive totals nearly 1.4 million
pounds in Oregon and SW Washington
Despite lingering effects of an eco-
nomic recession, residents of Oregon
and Clark County, Wash., donated
1,388,904 pounds of food this year at
the 19th annual Letter Carriers Na-
tional “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.
The national event — the largest
one-day effort to combat hunger in the
country — was held May 14. National
totals were not available at press time.
However, over the last 18 years the Let-
ter Carriers have collected more than 1
billion pounds of food.
This year in the Portland metropoli-
tan area, members of the National As-
sociation of Letter Carriers Branch 82
collected 383,850 pounds of food.
When including Washington and Clark
counties, the total increases to 557,513.
Letter Carriers in Clark County are
represented by NALC Branch 1104.
The drive also relies on the backing of
the National Rural Letter Carriers As-
sociation.
“In a year with a lot of national dis-
asters — and we’re still dealing with
high unemployment — it’s pretty
amazing to collect over a million
pounds of food in one day,” said Jean
Kempe-Ware, a spokeswoman for the
Oregon Food Bank.
Kempe-Ware said the donations,
though down about 19 percent from
last year, are enough to serve more than
1 million meals for those in need.
“I just can’t express enough our
gratitude to the Letter Carriers union,
all of the sponsoring unions, all of the
volunteers, and all who donated food.
We’re very grateful,” she said.
After Letter Carriers collect the non-
perishable food items left by mail-
boxes, they bring them back to their
postal stations, where volunteers (more
than 600 in Oregon and Southwest
Washington) sort and box the items and
load them on trucks, which are then
taken to the Oregon Food Bank for fi-
nal distribution.
Nearly 1,500 local NALC branches
in all 50 states, the District of Colum-
bia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin
Islands are involved in the drive.
The U.S. Postal Service and Camp-
bell Soup Company are major support-
ers of the drive, which has received a
number of accolades over the years, in-
cluding two presidential certificates of
achievement.
Some 35.5 million people face
hunger every day in America, includ-
ing 13 million children.
Carpenters Food Bank still open
The Carpenters Food Bank is still
open and serving food boxes to the
public the third Friday each month
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the union
building on the corner of North Lom-
bard Street and Brandon Avenue (2215
N. Lombard).
“When the Carpenters merged lo-
cals earlier this year, a lot of folks
thought we closed,” said Mike Fahey,
a retired executive secretary-treasurer
of the Portland Metal Trades Council
and member of the now merged Pile
Drivers, Divers and Shipwrights Local
2416.
Carpenters Local 247, which also
was merged, owned the building and
donated basement space for storage.
The food bank has been operating out
of that location for the past 28 years.
In January, the Pacific Northwest
Regional Council of Carpenters dis-
solved 15 locals and merged them into
three locals. Local 247 is now part of
Local 157, representing construction
carpenters in Oregon and Southwest
Washington. It is headquartered in Ore-
gon City. Local 2154 is now Local 196,
based in Fife, Washington. Its jurisdic-
tion is Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
Montana, and Wyoming.
Fahey said the food bank distributes
between 450 to 650 boxes a month.
To donate cash to the food bank,
send checks to: P.O. Box 17358, Port-
land, OR 97217.
Mark your calendars for Oregon
AFL-CIO convention Sept. 25-28
Union leaders and activists, mark
your calendars for Sept. 25-28 and the
52 biennial convention of the Oregon
AFL-CIO. The biennial convention
will be held at the Hilton Eugene &
Conference Center, 66 East 6th Ave.,
Eugene.
Registration opens Sunday, Sept.
25. That evening a Welcome Party will
be held. Convention business gets un-
der way Monday morning Sept. 26.
The popular Union Label Show is
scheduled Tuesday evening, Sept. 27.
For more information, call the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO at 503-224-3169 or
from Salem call 503-585-6320.
State offers free training
for unemployed members
be better able to present their case to an
administrative law judge.
“The consequences of these hearings
can be very significant,” said presiding
administrative law judge David Ger-
stenfeld.
If your local is interested, call Ger-
stenfeld at 503-612-4280.
SALEM — The Office of Adminis-
trative Hearings is offering union locals
special training to help jobless members
better understand the unemployment in-
surance benefits hearings process and
PAGE 4
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JUNE 3, 2011