Ocean City Post Office Food Drive Delivers on Helping Families

By MADDY VITALE The Ocean City community joined to help others in need with the annual Postal Food Drive on Saturday, which brought in tons of food. Letter carriers in Ocean City, in partnership with the local branch of the U.S. Postal Service, collected food from residents who left the items in their mailboxes, to be donated to the Ocean City Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard. Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard coordinator Regina Ralston said the Ecumenical Council was so pleased by the generosity of the residents. Ralston said in total 5,000 pounds of food, which equals two and a half tons, was donated to the worthy cause. All of the food donations will be used to serve the clients of the Ocean City Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard and any resident who may be in need. "The Ocean City Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard thanks everyone who helped with the successful food drive,” Ralston said Sunday. “These donations allow us to stock our shelves and help us continue to serve those in need in our community.” The Ecumenical Council of Ocean City is a faith-based organization made up of members whose mission it is to help feed and clothe those in need. The Food Cupboard is inside St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, at Eight Street and Central Avenue. It is run completely by volunteers and through donations from the community to help families in Ocean City throughout the year. More than 50 volunteers organize cans of food and other nonperishable items. On Saturday, the letter carriers delivered the items to the food cupboard, where a team of volunteers worked to organize the food. “Over 50 volunteers worked Saturday afternoon at the Food Cupboard to receive the donations,” Ralston said. “That included unloading the mail trucks, weighing, sorting and shelving the food.” Volunteers included regular Food Cupboard workers, students, retirees, members of the local churches and members of the local business community, she added. Canned vegetables, fruit cups, cans of soup, macaroni and cheese, snack cups and paper products and toiletries were among the many items donated. Ralston said she will be busy Monday sorting and stocking shelves with the generous donations to help people in need. She gave a special thank you to the people who she made the food drive such an overwhelming success. “Special thanks to the Ocean City Post Office letter carriers, St. Peter's Church, Acme at Eighth Street, Ocean City’s Public Works, Mayor Jay Gillian and all of the volunteers and especially the generosity of the residents of Ocean City," Ralston said. The food drive was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service carriers in Ocean City. For more information about the Ocean City Ecumenical Council visit https://www.ocecnj.org/ or go to the Ecumenical Council’s Facebook page. A postal worker picks up donations from residences Saturday.