[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 122 (Wednesday, July 26, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         IN PRAISE OF POSTAL WORKERS WHO HELP STAMP OUT HUNGER

                                 ______


                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 1995
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment today to 
praise the efforts of a prominent group of American workers who rarely 
receive the recognition they deserve--both as representatives of the 
Federal Government and as private citizens who contribute to their 
local communities.
  These are the postal workers who touch each of our lives nearly every 
day. For many poor and elderly citizens especially, postal workers are 
the only representatives of the Federal Government that they see, and 
those citizens depend on the postal workers for contact with the world 
and many other needs.
  But postal workers assist their communities in far more ways than 
just by delivering the mail. They volunteer their time and efforts in 
countless communities across the Nation to help those less fortunate 
than themselves. On May 13, 1995, the National Association of Letter 
Carriers [AFL-CIO], with the strong support of the U.S. Postal Service 
management, conducted a food drive for needy families throughout the 
Nation. On that day, U.S. Postal Service letter carriers collected 
nonperishable food and canned goods from thousands of generous postal 
customers who left the food by their mail boxes. The collected food is 
distributed to hungry people through local food banks and emergency 
feeding centers.
  The annual drive is timed for the second Saturday in May, which is a 
time of year when food pantries usually run low on donations. This is 
the third year the drive has been conducted nationwide.
  Nationwide, the estimated total collected was more than 44.4 million 
pounds of food. This was far greater than last year's record total of 
32 million pounds. More than 1,130 NALC local branches signed up for 
the drive, covering an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 communities in all 50 
States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
  As chairman of the Democratic Task Force on Hunger and the former 
chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger, I have a strong 
interest in promoting efforts such as the postal workers' campaign to 
help the hungry. Furthermore, as the Representative from Dayton, OH, I 
want to call special attention to the postal workers in the city of 
Dayton who collected 167,000 pounds of food.
  I am proud that I participated in the drive in my district. On May 
13, I walked with Dayton Postmaster David Ashworth, letter carrier 
William Ernest, and Dan Grilliot, president of the Dayton branch of the 
National Association of Letter Carriers, as they collected food along a 
postal carrier route. We walked one of the routes in Centerville, OH, 
in my district.
  I now offer praise to the National Association of Letter Carriers, 
the management of the U.S. Postal Service, and above all, to the men 
and women of the postal service who participated in this public 
spirited campaign to help the less fortunate in our communities.


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