Leave Food at Your Mailbox to 'Stamp Out Hunger'

Letter carriers with the U.S. Postal Service will help collect food this Saturday, May 11 to help "Stamp Out Hunger."

The annual effort led by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is in its 21st year, and is the largest single-day food drive in the nation across 10,000 cities.

Since the food drive started in 1993, Stamp Out Hunger has collected more than 1 billion pounds of food. Last year, more than 73 million pounds of food were collected nationally, and more than 200,000 pounds were collected in metro Atlanta, said Michael Miles, USPS spokesman in Atlanta.

Even with the support of many generous Americans who have helped feed the hungery, the need for food assistance still exist in millions of families. More than 50 million Americans, including nearly 17 million children, live at risk of hunger, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The need for food assistance is great this year and continues to grow in the metro Atlanta area, according to the Atlanta Community Bank (ACFB), which provides food for more than 60,000 new people each week through a network of more than 700 nonprofit partner agencies in 38 counties in metro Atlanta and North Georgia.

How To Donate

To make a donation, leave non-perishable food donations in a bag near your mailbox this Saturday before the letter carrier arrives. The letter carrier will then deliver the food collected to local community food banks and food pantries for distribution.

While all non-perishable donations are welcome, foods that are high in protein such as canned meats and fish, rice, pasta, salmon, beans and peanut butter are most needed.

Also topping the list of most needed items are canned fruits and vegetables, whole grain, low sugar cereals, macaroni and cheese dinners and 100% fruit juice.