Letter Carriers’ Food Drive This Saturday
The nation’s largest single-day effort to combat hunger, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Food Drive, will be held Saturday.
Residents are urged to place non-perishable food items next to their mailbox prior to their usual pickup time to be collected by their mail carriers.
Last year, the carriers out of the Hilo Post Office collected 23,265 pounds of food, the bulk of the more than 44,000 pounds collected on the Big Island in 2012.
Statewide, more than 427,000 pounds of food were collected while more than 70 million pounds were collected across the nation.
The food collected will be sorted by postal employees and their families and delivered to local food banks.
More than one out of every eight Hawaii’s residents – some 183,500 people, including 55,000 children – receive emergency food assistance through the Hawaii Foodbank Network, officials said.
“The NALC Food Drive is a big help because it always results in a lot of canned protein items, which are our ‘Most Wanted’ items,” said Mike Kajiwara, Hawaii Foodbank director of Product Donations.
The most desired food donations are canned meats or tuna, canned soups, canned fruits and vegetables and canned meals such as chili, stew or spaghetti.
More than 175,000 mail carriers nationwide will be participating in the 21st annual drive this year.
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