It’s Food Drive time again.  On May 9 the USPS mail carriers will collect food for the Bristol  Food Pantry and Jefferson Township Food Pantry.  Last year, Bristol Post Office collected over a TON of food.

Because of the down-turn of the economy, goal for this year is to collect three times as much as last year.   Although the food collected last year was pretty much gone by July, we here in Bristol are fortunate that the school, churches and several businesses in the area have been generous all year round.

To contribute, simply put your donation out on your mailbox on Saturday, May 9.  Put a reasonable amount of groceries in double plastic grocery sacks, and if it is raining cover that sack.  Hang sack on the mail box, and do not leave it on the ground.  There will be “bag buddies”, volunteers who will follow your letter carrier’s route and pick up the donations and transport it back to the pantry.  The bag buddies help your carriers complete their route in the normal amount of time instead of having to double back to the pantry to unload the groceries when their vehicle gets too full.
Donations can be delivered directly to the Post Office or to Bristol United Methodist Church  (M-F: 9-4) 201 S. Division Street (Indiana 15).  The Food Drive will get credit for all donations to the pantry the week before and the week after Mother’s Day   There will also be collection boxes at the Bristol Library and the Mor for Less Grocery store.

Needed are: Canned food especially canned fruit, Canned vegetables, canned and powdered milk, peanut butter, ketchup, grape jelly, pancake syrup.
Boxes not just cans. Dry cereal, instant mashed potatoes, pancake mix, and saltine crackers. Little extras in life: cake mix and a can of frosting, pudding, Jell-O, small envelopes of Kool-Aid, tea bags. Also, Chunky Soups, Spaghetti and Spaghetti Sauce Canned tomatoes, chicken noodle and tomato soup, baked beans, and kidney beans for chili.

Non food items, things food stamps do not buy, are really needed.  Paper products and toiletry items: paper towels, toilet paper, facial tissue, baby diapers, sanitary pads, dish and laundry detergent, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, and bath soap.

Please do not donate food that have expired dates, cans that are rusty, or boxes or bags that are torn or broken.  We are required to throw such things away. Glass bottles tend to get broken during transport.

To volunteer for the food drive, just show up at the pantry at its new location in the rear of the ODC (Old Scamerhorn Building) 101 W. Vistula Street. The workers are needed between the hours of 10 and 4, with the most need between 12 and 3.

Call 215- 8545 if you have questions.