On Saturday, the National Association of Letter Carriers in Pike County will accept donations of healthy, non-perishable food items to help feed families in the local communities.

Since 1993, the Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive has been America’s largest one-day food drive.

The “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May and is a charitable initiative conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Rain or shine the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive goes on.

Patsy Jackson, who is coordinating the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive at the Troy Post Office, said the weather in Pike County is predicted to be warm and sunny on Saturday so food items may be left at the mailboxes in plastic or paper containers or placed inside the mailboxes.

“The food items may also be dropped off at the Troy Post Office,” Jackson said. “Because this is Mother’s Day weekend and some people may traveling, so we will also pick up donations to ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ on Monday and Tuesday for those who are out of town or just forgot.”

Jackson said the nonperishable food items that are donated to the Troy Post Office food drive will be donated to the Pike County Salvation Army on South Brundidge Street in Troy.

“All of the items donated will be available for people in our community,” she said. “When selecting items to donate, please check the expiration dates. Any items that are out of date will have to be discarded.”

The “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive is very important to local pantries and neighbors in need. In the spring, food supplies are typically lower. As schools let out for the summer, the need for additional food is greater since some students don’t have access to free or reduced breakfast and lunch programs.

“The ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ food drive is important to us here in Pike County,” said Kim May, Pike County Salvation Army Service Center director. “We go through a lot of food and donations keep us going. We greatly appreciate the Troy Post Office donating the food drive items to us. There is always a need for food and this donation will be a blessing to many people.”

Brundidge Post Master Ken Strickland said both the Brundidge and Banks post offices participate in the annual mail carriers food drive.

“We will be collecting donated items in Brundidge and Banks on Saturday,” Strickland said. “People are usually generous in their giving. We want to keep the donations local so, all the food items that are donated to the Banks and Brundidge food drives are donated to the Salem-Troy Baptist Association.”

The “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive requires extra work on the part of the mail carriers who have to load and unload the donations.

The postmasters expressed appreciation to the mail carriers for their support of the “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.