The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Will Help Food-Insecure Families in All 50 States

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will conduct its annual national food drive on Saturday, May 13. NALC's food drive, which was first held in 1983, helps feed millions of Americans. 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.

Customers simply leave their donation of non-perishable food items next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail on Saturday, May 13. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes, and distribute them to local food banks, pantries, shelters and churches. In central Louisiana, the food will be donated to the Food Bank of Alexandria.

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. Across the United States, nearly 34 million people, including more than 9 million children, are facing hunger.

The timing is important, with food banks, pantries and shelters running low on donations from the winter holidays and with summer approaching, when most school meal programs are suspended.

On May 13, as they deliver mail, the nation's 200,000 letter carriers will collect the donations that residents have left near their mailboxes. People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, rice or cereal next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery on Saturday. The food donations stay in each community, going to help local residents.

If people who have questions about the drive in their area should ask their letter carrier, contact their local post office, or contact the Food Bank of Central Louisiana at 318-445-2773.

The Food Bank of Central Louisiana is a non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger in central Louisiana. The Food Bank distributes food and grocery products to needy families through a network of approved charitable agencies in the following eleven parishes: Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, Vernon and Winn.