Largo, FL (PRWEB) April 26, 2011

On Thursdays, the lines at the St. Petersburg Free Clinic are out the door and down the sidewalk. It’s the busiest day of the week for the clinic, yet inside the stockpile of food is running low, like many community food pantries across the country every spring.

The Florida-based St. Petersburg Free Clinic alone serves more than 22,000 individuals annually and distributes 1.6 millions pounds of food, free of charge, to 53 partner agencies such as food pantries, shelters, child services, and residential programs.

The 6,000 square foot warehouse is nearly bare, but not for long. In May, the National Association of Letter Carrier’s (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger event will once again replenish the St. Petersburg Free Clinic, along with food pantries, churches and organizations throughout the United States.

On May 14, postal carriers around the country will collect non-perishable food from customers along their routes and deliver the food to local food banks.

To help alert the public to this need Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, will feature the event on some 40 million Valpak envelopes distributed across the United States as a donation to support the cause. Other sponsors include Campbell’s, the United Way, USPS, NRLCA, AFL-CIO, Feeding America, Uncle Bob’s Self Storage and grocery stores around the country.

To participate, Valpak encourages consumers to fill up a bag (or more) with items such as soup, cereal, peanut butter, tuna, and other non-perishable items. Letter carriers will pick up donations left at the mailbox on Saturday, May 14. As a reminder, the public can look for their blue Valpak envelope or the grocery bag left by their mail carrier. In addition to the in-kind donation worth more than $1 million, Valpak franchisees across the nation will support the cause by holding food drives at their offices and participating advertisers’ stores.

Valpak is also hosting a campaign on Facebook and will donate $1 for each new Facebook “like” on its wall at http://www.facebook.com/valpak up to $5,000.

“Hunger is a reality for people in every community across America,” said Jim Sampey, Chief Operating Officer for Valpak. “By making it easier for people to donate food, the NALC is making a big difference in the fight to stop hunger. Valpak is proud to support the NALC and promote Stamp Out Hunger again this year.”

The NALC food drive began 18 years ago, noting the severe shortage of food that families encounter in the summer months. Because many children receive food from school programs, families are hit extra hard when children are out of school for the summer. In addition, late spring is often the time when food banks are struggling, as the donations received during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays have long been depleted.

Last year, the NALC Stamp Out Hunger food drive set a record of 73.4 million pounds in non-perishable donations, bringing the total over its 17 year history to 982.7 million pounds. In 2011, letter carriers have been challenged to break through the 1 billion-pound level. The need is even greater this year, as cited by a survey conducted by Feeding America, “more than half (55 percent) of food banks reported that they or the agencies who help distribute the food they provide have had to turn people away in the last year.”

About Valpak®
Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, is owned and operated by Cox Target Media, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group. With nearly 180 franchises throughout the United States and Canada, The Blue Envelope® delivers savings and value to nearly 40 million households each month. Annually, Valpak will distribute some 20 billion offers inserted in more than 500 million envelopes. Valpak also offers digital solutions with http://www.Valpak.com ®, an online site for local savings, which has nearly 40 million offer views each month, as well as mobile phones, including apps for iPhone™, iPod touch®, Android™, Palm® Pre™, Blackberry® and Microsoft Windows® Phone 7 platforms. For more information, please contact 1-800-676-6878.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, is an integrated broadcasting, publishing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. With $1.8 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, four metro newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at http://www.coxmediagroup.com.