For Jerry Sutherlin, the upcoming Stamp Out Hunger food drive is a family affair. This day holds a special meaning - giving back to the community, collecting food for hungry Hoosiers, and spending the day volunteering with his daughter.
For the past 20 years, Jerry has been actively involved in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive which encourages people to place a bag of non-perishable groceries by their mailbox for pick-up by their postal carrier. He first became involved as a letter carrier and then in the late ‘90s stepped up to be the Coordinator for all communities with city delivery in Greene, Lawrence, Monroe and Owen Counties, including Bloomington, Ellettsville, Martinsville, Odon, Orleans, Paoli and several rural communities.
His favorite part of volunteering is the day of the food drive when letter carriers pick up donations at mailboxes. It wonderful to see how generous community members are but also special because he and his daughter, April, spend the day volunteering together. It is not uncommon for the letter carriers’ families to get involved in the food drive and help their loved one along their daily route. Jerry and his daughter have been volunteering for Stamp Out Hunger since it began in 1994. Even now that April is in her thirties and lives in Virginia, she returns to Bloomington to spend the day volunteering with her dad.
Inviting his daughter to volunteer with him when she was young was a natural decision for Jerry. “Stamp Out Hunger is an easy and fun way for kids to get involved in the community and see how easy it is to give back to the community.” Parents can naturally incorporate games such as I-Spy (bags of food) as they drive their designated volunteer route.
As a Stamp Out Hunger Coordinator, Jerry’s overarching role is to help the post offices within his service area prepare for the big day, providing support, supplies, and marketing materials. Jerry also provides supplies to and works closely with Hoosier Hills Food Bank and Liz Feitl, AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison at United Way. Jerry strives to increase post office and community member participation every year to restock food pantry shelves with as much food as possible.
For Jerry, Living United means everyone works together to make the world a better place. This may sound like a big task but Jerry believes that making the world a better place starts local but the efforts have an impact on the world at large. “By helping others I am able to make the world a better place for those that I help and for my kids.”
Jerry recently retired from being a letter carrier but he remains very involved in the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) union and White River Central Labor Council union. He serves as the treasurer for NALC Branch 828 and takes on various projects for the labor union, specializing in computer graphics.
Jerry is looking forward to spending his newly found free time reading for enjoyment and spending more time with his family. Although, whenever he spends time with family he and his three brothers risk being teased about having names that rhyme - Jerry, Gary, Larry, and Terry.
A huge thanks to Jerry for choosing to Live United and choosing to make a difference in the lives of our community members!
