20th Annual NALC Stamp Out Hunger Set for May 12

LARGO, Fla., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 12 postal carriers around the country will collect non-perishable food from customers along their routes and deliver the food to local food banks.  The National Association of Letter Carriers' (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger campaign – the country's largest one day food drive, will once again replenish food pantries throughout the United States.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120501/CL98787)

To help alert the public to this need, Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, featured the event on 39 million Valpak envelopes distributed across the United States as a donation to support the cause. Other sponsors include Campbell's Soup Company, USPS, United Way, AARP, Feeding America, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, AFL-CIO and Uncle Bob's Self-Storage.

In addition, starting today, Valpak is featuring the "What's Important to You" campaign on Facebook and will donate 25 cents for each new Facebook "like" at www.facebook.com/valpak, up to $10,000 to Feeding America, and a chance for Facebook "friends" to win $2,500 to support a project or cause important to them in their communities.

Valpak encourages the public to participate by filling 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 12.

"It's tragic that hunger is a reality for people in communities across America," said Jim Sampey, Chief Operating Officer for Valpak.  "The NALC is making a big difference in the fight against hunger, and Valpak is humbled to support and promote Stamp Out Hunger and remind those that can to donate."

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 at participating advertisers' stores.

The NALC food drive began 20 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 collected 70.2 million pounds in non-perishable donations. 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." 

For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, visit www.helpstampouthunger.com or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, and follow the drive at www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.

About Valpak®
Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, is owned and operated by Cox Target Media, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group, Inc. With nearly 170 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 www.Valpak.com®, an online site for local savings -- which has nearly 70 million offer views each month, as well as apps for most smartphones. For more information, please contact 1-800-676-6878.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies.   With $1.7 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.   CMG operates in more than 30media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 18 million radio listeners.  For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.  

Media Contact:
Marsha Strickhouser
727-399-3175
[email protected]

SOURCE Valpak