News & information

A reminder that NALC will conduct its annual national food drive this Saturday, May 13. NALC’s food drive, first held in 1993, 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. The food donations stay in each community, going to help local residents.

Residents simply leave their donation of non-perishable food items next to their mailbox on Saturday, May 13. People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag (or bags) containing items such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, rice or cereal.

The nation’s 200,000 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.

“Letter carriers are a part of every neighborhood in the nation, and we see the growing need for food assistance on a daily basis,” NALC Executive Vice President Paul Barner said. “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 our country.”

Barner also noted the need for the food drive with one of every eight Americans uncertain about their next meal—including millions of children, senior citizens and military veterans—and he praised the cooperation of the U.S. Postal Service in helping make it happen.

Since the first national food drive in 1993, active and retired letter carriers, with the help of volunteers from their communities, have collected 1.82 billion pounds of food.

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.

National partners assisting NALC in the food drive are: the U.S. Postal Service, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, Vericast, United Way Worldwide, the AFL-CIO, Valpak, the Kellogg Co. and CVS Health.

If you have questions about the drive in their area should ask their letter carrier, contact their local post office, go to nalc.org/food, or follow Stamp Out Hunger on Facebook and Twitter.