Local Letter Carriers Deliver “homerun” Donation to Food Pantry and CU Mission
MOORHEAD, MN – The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC): Branch 1051 is donating $1,500 to Churches United. The donation follows a coordinated donation effort by the Moorhead branch of the United States Postal Service (USPS), NALC and community members of over 2,500 lbs. of food to the Dorothy Day Food Pantry.
The Dorothy Day Food Pantry helped stock the cupboards of over 100 neighbors and/or their families from 12 PM to 3 PM last Tuesday afternoon. Following a steady flow of visitors, shelves were less full and many families were a big step closer towards being fed.
A little after 3 PM, the noise of a mail truck pulling into the parking lot signaled the arrival of a large donation and a little more work for the pantry staff.
Nick Gilmore is the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, local branch, 1051. While Gilmore delivers mail regularly, not all his deliveries are over a metric ton. Cart by cart, bin by bin, can by can, and box by box, 2,562 pounds were unloaded off the truck and loaded onto the shelves at the pantry.
“I was glad to see the truck was full of food... I was happy to see that is far surpassed last year,” said Gilmore.
“A donation the size that the Post Office delivered is a once-a-year type of donation, that being said, the city of Moorhead has no idea what an impact they make on our neighbors,” said Pantry Manager Shelley Corbell.
Among the many items donated was a high concentration of canned goods and non-perishable items, which Cobell says are the most sought-after items besides meat.
“We estimate that the median household takes home between 30-50lbs of food with them when they leave us. The post office delivered 2562lbs, that will feed approximately 50-80 households, which probably equals between 300-500 meals conservatively speaking. A donation like this is like hitting a home run in baseball!” said Corbell.
In addition to the food donations, the NALC donated an additional $1,500 monetary donation on Monday, May 18th. The gift comes following the food donation last week and allows even more flexibility in the potential impact for Churches United and service to the community.
“Last year we weren’t able to provide as much food and we had additional treasury funds, and we wanted it to go to a good cause,” said Gilmore.
Gilmore says that NALC hopes to donate even more in May of 2027.
The Dorothy Day Food Pantry is open to the community three days a week with hours from Noon to 3 PM on Tuesday and Thursday and 3 PM – 6PM on Wednesdays.