FT. WORTH, TX - Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America collect the goodness and compassion of their postal customers who participate in the NALC 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 are asked to leave their donation of non-perishable goods inside bags next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail on Saturday, May 12. “Our carriers are geared up and ready to collect your food donations as they deliver mail along their postal routes and distribute them to local community food banks, pantries and shelters”, said Fort Worth, TX, Postmaster Kevin Farmer.

Led by letter carriers represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), with help from rural letter carriers, postal employees and other volunteers, the annual drive has delivered more than 1.6 billion pounds of food over the past 25 years. Nearly 1,500 NALC branches in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands are involved. Visit www.nalc.org/food to learn more.

Last year, postal carriers collected 75.3 million pounds of food, assisting an estimated 30 million families.
With the economic struggles many Americans face, this food drive is as critical as ever. “Not only do millions of Americans go hungry, organizations that help them are in need of replenishments”, said NALC President, Branch 226 Christi Fite.

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. And with many school meal programs suspended during summer months, millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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