LITTLE ROCK, AR — The U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will deliver for America in conducting the nation’s largest single-day food drive on Saturday, May 9..

“Together, we are continuing to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans in need,” said David Camp, District Manager for the USPS’s Arkansas District. “The Postal Service is proud to play a major role with our carriers, corporate partners and local community organizations to help stamp out hunger.”

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is a nationwide effort that provides food to local food banks and pantries that rely heavily on donations. With more than 50 million Americans living at risk of hunger, food banks across the country continue to experience record demand for emergency food assistance.

Local letter carriers will collect food donations left at the mailboxes of generous Americans in more than 10,000 communities and deliver them to food banks and other hunger relief organizations, such as pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.

Now in its 23rd year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive, having collected more than 1.3 billion pounds of food since its inception in 1993. In 2014, the food drive collected over 70 million pounds of food.

Helping Stamp Out Hunger is as easy as checking your mailbox. Just leave a bag of non-perishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday, May 9th. Your letter carrier will then pick up and deliver the food to a local food bank. Examples of non-perishable items include: peanut butter, canned soup, canned meats and fish, canned vegetables, fruits and juices, boxed goods (such as cereal), and pasta and rice.

Hunger in Arkansas

According to Feeding America’s recently released Map the Meal Gap 2015 study, more than 584,000 people in our state are hungry with more than 1 in 4 children in Arkansas not knowing where the next meal is coming from: 201,820 children.

Arkansas ranks first in senior hunger according to the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger, first in severe hunger and overall hunger according to the USDA and third in child hunger according to Feeding America. 

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