Westfield proclaims May 9, 2026 Letter Carriers Food Drive Day, honors retired carrier

The Westfield City Council read a proclamation April 27 declaring Saturday, May 9, 2026, as Letter Carriers Food Drive Day and recognized retired carrier and Westfield resident Don Dwiggins for his work organizing local postal food drive efforts.

Don Dwiggins described the local program’s history and scale. "So, it's it's been going on a long time, about 34 years," Dwiggins said, adding that in earlier years volunteers folded about 8,000 bags and that "we did this year over 65,000 bags" in the broader mail-out effort. He said local Open Doors volunteers typically collect about 30,000 pounds of food on pickup day in recent years and that hundreds of local volunteers help process donations.

The proclamation noted the drive is a longstanding partnership between the National Association of Letter Carriers and local food banks and that donations collected locally remain in local communities. The proclamation text read on the record mentioned the U.S. Postal Service partnership and cited that the national drive has collected more than 1.82 billion pounds of food since its inception, and it encouraged residents to place nonperishable food items near mailboxes for pickup on May 9.

The council thanked Dwiggins and presented the proclamation on behalf of Mayor Scott Willis. The proclamation urges Westfield residents to participate by leaving nonperishable food at mailboxes on food-drive day; staff indicated collection in the city will be coordinated with the local Open Doors food pantry and postal representatives.