Hunger affects 1 in 8 Americans, including millions of children, senior citizens, and veterans. Help local food banks restock their shelves to prepare for increased demand this summer!
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will conduct its 31st annual national food drive on Saturday, May 13. The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, the country's largest one-day food drive, provides residents with an easy way to donate food to those in need.
Simply leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods — canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, rice, or cereal — next to your mailbox before regular mail delivery on Saturday. Your letter carrier will collect the food donations as they deliver mail along their postal routes and distribute them to local food banks, pantries, shelters, and churches.
The Letter Carriers' food drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. In the 30+ years since it began, the food drive has collected more than 1.82 billion pounds of food for struggling residents.
The timing is important, with food banks, pantries, and shelters beginning to run low on donations as summer approaches and many school meal programs are on hold.
"Letter carriers are a part of every neighborhood in the nation," NALC President Fredric Rolando said, "and we see the growing need for food assistance in our communities. On Saturday, May 13, NALC invites everyone to participate in the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Together, we can help stamp out hunger in America."
Several national partners assist NALC in the food drive: the U.S. Postal Service, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, Vericast, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, Valpak, the Kellogg Co., and CVS Health.
For more information, contact your local post office, talk to your letter carrier, or follow the food drive on Facebook or Twitter.
The 294,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers represents letter carriers across the country employed by the U.S. Postal Service, along with retired letter carriers. Founded by Civil War veterans in 1889, the NALC is among the country's oldest labor unions.
