Austin tops Albert Lea in letter carriers weekend food drive
Published 10:15 am Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Austin delivered the goods on Saturday — enough of them to snag a trophy back from Interstate 90 rival Albert Lea.
Austin mail carriers topped Albert Lea carriers for the first time in four years over the weekend in the National Association of Letter Carriers and National Rural Letter Carriers Association’s annual spring food drive.
“We did manage to top them by just a little bit,” said Bob Rosel, a mail carrier and Austin’s food drive coordinator.
Austin collected 14,280 pounds of food to Albert Lea’s 13,640. Austin topped the roughly 13,000 pounds of food collected in town last year and the 11,000 to, 12,000 pounds collected in average years.
With the win, Austin snags bragging rights and brings back a trophy bought by the towns’ mayors for the competition. Rosel didn’t know when the trophy would be back in Austin, but he joked the Albert Lea carriers may mail it over.
The friendly competition is a way to get the word out each year about the drive.