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Stamp Out Hunger with Kathy Meador

Stamp Out Hunger is Saturday, May 11! Kathy Meador, a retired letter carrier, shares why this day is so important to her.

Kathy Meador Stamp Out Hunger is our biggest food drive of the year, and Kathy Meador is its biggest supporter.

For ten years, she served as a Nashville letter carrier and was a champion for Stamp Out Hunger, a one day food drive where postal workers pick up nonperishable food donations at the mailboxes they serve.

“Being a letter carrier, you’re in the neighborhoods, so you see where needs are,” Kathy said. “It’s heartbreaking that in this land where we have so much that there are people that go to bed hungry every night.”

Kathy led the charge for Nashville’s first Stamp Out Hunger food drive in 1994. Expectations were low, but the community delivered and donated tens of thousands of pounds of food.

After seeing how much good could be accomplished in just one day, Kathy was hooked.

COMMUNITY GIVING

In the following years, Kathy was the driving force behind Stamp Out Hunger in our 46 county service area.

When tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee in 1998, she was concerned about low turnout.

Stamp Out Hunger

“I was worried that time, because there had been so many food drives since the tornado. I thought that everyone’s going to be spent,” Kathy said.

That year, Stamp Out Hunger raised an unprecedented 1.3 million pounds of food.

It was the first time the food drive exceeded 1 million pounds, and the Tennessee Tower lit up to celebrate the achievement.

STAMP OUT HUNGER

Kathy has seen our community’s generosity up close, and she believes, “If people are aware of the need, a majority of those people are going to step up and help.”

So, here’s the need.

One in eight people—and one in six children—face hunger in Middle Tennessee. That’s about nearly 400,000 of your neighbors, who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Last year, Stamp Out Hunger raised 218,757 pounds of food, which equals over 180,000 meals. Help us surpass last year’s total, and provide more meals for those in need!

To participate in Stamp Out Hunger, simply place a bag (or two!) of nonperishable food near your mailbox on Saturday, May 11, and a letter carrier will pick up your donation during their route.

Kathy Meador

Every pound of food donated in your county will stay in your county, so you can be sure you’re helping to feed your neighbors in need.

“When you see the sheer quantity of food come in, you know it’s worth the work,” Kathy said. “It’s a labor of love.”

Join Kathy and support Stamp Out Hunger by leaving a bag of nonperishable food by your mailbox on May 11!

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