Today Boise Mayor David Bieter proclaimed Saturday, May 11, as Letter Carriers Food Drive Day in honor of the 21st annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

Bieter was joined at the Main Post Office at 13th and Shoreline by Carrier Candice Lincoln, Postmaster Dan Corral, Mayor David Bieter and Karen Vauk, The Idaho Foodbank’s President and CEO.

The goal for this year’s Stamp Out Hunger drive is 200,000 pounds or about 167,000 meals. One in six Idahoans – 267,600 people – is food insecure, and The Idaho Foodbank provides free emergency food more than 116,000 times each month. In 2012, the Foodbank distributed 12.2 million pounds of food – about 10.2 million meals – to families in need across the state.

The annual drive is set for Saturday, May 11. This week most postal patrons will receive WinCo grocery bags and reminder postcards in the mail.

All people have to do is leave bags of non-perishable food near their mailboxes on Saturday morning. After that, the letter carriers and hundreds of Idaho Foodbank volunteers will take care of the rest. The Foodbank will also gladly accept checks made out to The Idaho Foodbank and placed in separate marked envelopes.

Carrier Candice Lincoln, Postmaster Dan Corral, Mayor David Bieter and Karen Vauk, The Idaho Foodbank’s President and CEO.

Official Proclamation

Karen Vauk

Karen Vauk, President and CEO of The Idaho Foodbank, will participate in Go Lead Idaho’s “You Can’t Be What You Can’t See” conference on Saturday, April 13.

Karen will be a member of the “Family and Child Welfare” panel. The group will address opportunities for activism, volunteerism, grassroots involvement, professional opportunities (paid or board positions) and how to influence policy.

Registration for the conference, set for Skaggs Hall in the Micron Business and Economics Building at Boise State University, is open at http://www.goleadidaho.org.

Go Lead Idaho was created to help Idaho women find, develop and share their voices through leadership. Its third annual daylong conference will feature speakers and panels to help attendees find their public engagement voice, discover their policy passions and be inspired to lead – whether through elected, appointed, volunteer or business opportunities.

“We passionately believe that adding women to leadership and policy-making roles in public office, boards and commissions, private industry and non-profits will enhance the long-term health and wealth of the State of Idaho and our communities,” said Go Lead Idaho Board President Karianne Fallow.

Former Oregon governor Barbara Roberts will be the keynote speaker. She will share her journey from citizen advocate to the Statehouse as one of the first 10 female governors in the nation.

Plenary speaker Tabby Biddle is a woman’s leadership expert, writer and writing coach dedicated to helping women change-makers develop their leadership platforms to get their messages out to the world.

Karen Vauk will be joined on the “Family and Child Welfare” panel by Nicole Sirak-Irwin of the Family Advocates and Lee Flinn with AARP. Shelli Ramo Roberson (former Girl Scouts Executive Director) will moderate and Cece Gassner (Economic Development Director for the city of Boise) will tweet live from the panel. .

Event Details
What: You Can’t Be What You Can’t See Annual Leadership Conference
When: Saturday, April 13, 2013
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (check-in begins at 8 a.m.)
Where: Boise State University Micron College of Business and Economics
Skaggs Lecture Hall
Cost: $75 general registration | $35 student registration
(Includes Governor Roberts’ book Up The Capitol Steps and lunch)

Information: http://www.goleadidaho.org.