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.
Customers simply leave their donation of non-perishable goods next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail on Saturday, May 11. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes, and distribute them to local food agencies.
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. It remains as important as ever, with many people facing economic struggles. Hunger affects about 50 million people around the country, including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans.
Letter carriers see these struggles in the communities they serve, and believe that it is important to do what they can to help.
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 11, as they deliver mail, the nation’s letter carriers will collect the donations that residents have left near their mail boxes. 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. All food items donated will be given to food pantries in which they are collected.
