The National Association of Letter Carriers will conduct its 26th annual national food drive on Saturday, May 12.

The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, the country’s largest single-day food drive, provides residents with an easy way to donate food to those in need in the community.

Customers simply leave their donation of nonperishable goods next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail on May 12. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes, and distribute them to Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry.

Visit www.nalc.org/food to learn more.

With the economic struggles many Americans face, the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive is as critical as ever. Not only do millions of Americans go hungry, organizations that help them are in need of replenishments.

Hunger affects about 50 million people around the country, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans. Pantry shelves filled up through winter-holiday generosity often are bare by late spring. With most school meal programs suspended during summer months, millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.

Letter carriers see these struggles in the communities they serve, and they believe it’s important to do what they can to help.  Our local post offices have been participating for years and, last year, more than 2,200 pounds of canned goods were collected and redistributed by Outreach over the summer.

On May 12, as they deliver mail, the nation’s 175,000 letter carriers will collect donations left by residents near their mailboxes. People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag — paper or plastic — containing nonperishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, peanut butter, rice or cereal, next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery on that Saturday.

Outreach is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide compassionate assistance to Polk County residents who are unable to provide for their basic life needs.  For more information on Outreach, please visit www.tboutreach.org or call 828-894-2988.