The National Association of Letter Carriers annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive will be held May 12 this year.

Residents are asked to leave a sturdy bag of nonperishable items (canned foods, pasta, rice, cereal, peanut butter, etc.) next to their mailboxes prior to mail delivery. Letter carriers will collect the items as they deliver mail along
their postal routes. Donated food will be delivered to local pantries.

It's the 20th year that letter carriers have held their food drive. In 2011
carriers nationwide collected 70.2 million pounds of food, according to NALC President Fredric Rolando.

"For two decades now, our annual national drive has proved critical in helping
millions of American families — our customers — who are struggling to make ends meet," he said.

The drive is held every year on the second Saturday in May.  "Sixteen percent of all Americans are at risk of hunger — uncertain where their next meal may be coming from. That includes 1 in 5 children under the age of 18, plus 4 million seniors who are forced every day to choose between paying a
utility bill and buying food," he said.

Providing branches and volunteers a boost are the drive's official sponsors: the
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, Campbell Soup Company, Valpak, U.S. Postal Service, United Way, AFL-CIO, Feeding America, Uncle Bob's Self-Storage and AARP.

Questions regarding the food drive should be directed to NALC Director of
Community Services Linda Giordano at (202) 662-2489 or at giordano@nalc.org.

CAPS Personnel volunteer their services to be stationed at the post office to gather this food from the carriers, sort, box up and load onto trucks going to the pantries.

Please help us help your neighbors by placing donated food by your
mailboxes on Saturday - May 12th! A very simply way to make a diffference in
the lives of those who are hungry in our community!!

Thank you,
Tina R. McSwain, Founder & Director
The Charlotte Area Paranormal Society (CAPS)