Postal carriers in Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Port Hadlock and Forks will participate in the 20th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive this Saturday, while Sequim will collect food the following Saturday.
Letter carriers will collect nonperishable food donations in or near mailboxes in the Port Angeles, Forks, Port Townsend and Port Hadlock areas Saturday.
Since the Sequim Irrigation Festival is in full swing this Saturday, Sequim carriers will collect donations Saturday, May 19.
More than 11,000 pounds of food was collected in Port Townsend during the annual event last year, said Butch Marx, Port Townsend post office supervisor.
In Port Angeles last year, the drive collected more than 10,000 pounds of food.
Local food banks
Donations go to local food banks.
Postal carriers deliver bags to homes that can be used for donations of such nonperishable food as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal.
The bags can be left by mailboxes Saturday for pickup.
20th year
The National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger event, held the second Saturday in May, collected a total of 70.2 million pounds of food nationwide in 2011.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States, the number of Americans living in food-insecure homes reached nearly 49 million in 2011.
More than 16 million children — more than one in five — are faced with the prospect of hunger, the study said.
Campbell Soup Co. and its partners are producing postcards and shopping bags that will be delivered to more than 90 million homes across the country as a reminder to participate in the drive.
Campbell also will donate 1 million pounds of food to Feeding America, which provides food assistance to 37 million Americans every year.
For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, visit www.helpstampouthunger.com or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, or follow the drive at www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.