A 5-year-old pushing carts of food back and forth, a group of teenage soccer players sorting cans and singing energetically, a father and daughter packing bottles and jars into boxes, and many hands unloading postal trucks full of donated food from households across Northampton — we saw all of this May 12 at the annual Letter Carriers Food Drive, during which the community donated more than 21,000 pounds of food to the Northampton Survival Center.
Year after year, I am amazed by the boundless energy of our volunteers and the generosity of our neighbors, not just during this food drive but throughout the year. We do our best to thank our donors and volunteers, but nothing can compare to the gratitude we receive from our clients every day. Some clients express their gratitude in words, some give us hugs, some send cards and letters, some bring us homemade treats, and some cry with relief when they realize how much food we are giving them.
If you have ever donated food, time or money, all of that gratitude goes out to you as well. You have made a difference for families who struggle to put enough food on the table. You have helped make this a caring community that we can be proud to call home. Thank you.
Sarah Pease
Florence
The writer is program director for the Northampton Survival Center.