Nobody's complaining at Lehigh Community Services about all the food strew about in boxes, and carts.
The thousands of cans and non-perishable foods are from the May 14 annual postal carrier's drive to pick up food left by Lehigh Acres residents' mailboxes.
"They're fantastic and they worked hard Saturday, picking up all that food as they delivered the day's mail to thousands of mail boxes throughout Lehigh. They started early and ended late in the day, delivering all that food to our offices on Plaza Drive," said Rae Nicely, the executive director of Lehigh Community Services.
Article Photos
MEL TOADVINE
Helping with sorting food this past week at Lehigh Community Services are volunteers Pastor Eric Skeleton, of the Church of the Nazarene, and his children, Erin, 10 and Aiden, 9. Also shown is Rae Nicely, executive director of LCS, and Valentina Ibanez, a volunteer.
The 3,000 feet of office space was filled wall to wall all that weekend and when the many volunteers came in, many of them having been there all day Saturday, they started the massive job of collecting and sorting all the food.
"I can't say enough good about the 50 or so volunteers we had who helped on May 14 and throughout last week," she said.
Nicely said the drive was a success, but noted that the amount collected wasn't as high last year when she said some 40,000 pounds of food had been picked up by carriers.
Postal carriers had left a card in each mailbox in Lehigh asking patrons to leave food out on May 14 for the hungry people who free food from Lehigh Social Services. Then a few days later, they left a plastic bag in each mailbox so folks could put food in the boxes for the May 14 pickup date.
"My guess is that we received about 27,000 pounds of foods this year. But there were many people who brought up food and said they forgot to leave food. Many brought food last week and the pounds are adding up," Nicely said.
"And I can't thank the people of Lehigh enough either for helping up.
"This food will carry us into late summer and likely into September," she said.
Lehigh Community Services hands food out once a month to those who have qualified to receive it.
Nicely said there are 3,000 or more people a month who come to get food for their families. The carriers have been carrying on this project for several years. All the food collected in Lehigh stays in Lehigh, she said.
"It was a fun day," she said. "The carriers began dropping off food at around 11 a.m. and our volunteers helped to unload the many bags of food. Then another carrier would drive up and then more.
"We all laughed because it seemed like it was competition between them - how much food each could deliver from their different neighborhoods," Nicely said smiling.
"The carriers were so proud of their accomplishments."
Nicely said when they first started separating the food, they stored all the non-perishables because they didn't want them to get crushed. "We got thousands of cans of vegetables and when asked which was the number one vegetable , she replied "green beans."
All last week, volunteers marked lines through the bar codes so the food could not be returned to a store for money. then they checked the dates on the cans and separated them in a separate bin.
A few weeks ago, it was reported that cans with out of date lines on them could not be given away.
"But they can be given away to anybody who wants them. We just don't save the ones that are all bent up or bulged because there can be problems with the food," Nicely said. Otherwise the food is okay to eat," she said.
But Nicely says she still can see what it looked like when all the food was left in every nook and corner of the offices of Lehigh Community Services.
The food is being put on shelves in the "store" at Lehigh Community Services.
"We have that second level up there and that is where it all goes and those who are eligible can pick out the food they want," she said..
"But again, I have to tell you that if it wasn't for the wonderful volunteers here at the agency and the dedicated postal carriers, this would not all be possible. It's just wonderful, so wonderful for the people who deserve food in Lehigh," she said.
Those who need food for their families can stop by the Lehigh Community Services, at 201 Plaza Drive, to fill out the needed forms.
Bring your financial information and proof of identity.
Hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m.
