The 19th annual NALC National Food Drive will be held again on the second Saturday in May—this year, on May 14—and more than 1,500 National Association of Letter Carriers branches from every state, involving more than 10,000 cities and towns, will help stock community food banks, pantries and shelters for the summer months.

To help paint a picture of what’s at stake for this year’s drive, NALC President Fredric V. Rolando pointed to recent Department of Agriculture statistics measuring hunger in the United States. “Those figures show that the number of Americans living in homes lacking sufficient food topped 50 million in 2009,” Rolando said, “with one in three of those—17.2 million—a child. “Sadly, that represents a 30 percent increase in just one year.” he said. “No doubt many of us have seen the evidence of this every day on our routes.”
Rolando urged all letter carriers and local volunteers to enthusiastically join in the food drive effort and to encourage customers to put donations of non-perishable food—including baby food and pet food—by their mailboxes on May 14.
In South Carolina, Publix food stores will be providing plastic bags for the first time, part of 8 million they will donate in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Other states report that using the bags, which are delivered to homes before the food drive, increases donations greatly. Primary recipients in South Carolina include Harvest Hope Food Bank and Lowcountry Food Bank, but all donations remain within the community where they are given. Food bank volunteers do much to facilitate transfer of donations. “South Carolina still ranks among the nation’s worst states for poverty and hunger,” said South Carolina NALC Food Drive Coordinator, Curtis Hilton, “and the food banks are falling behind. We’re hoping the plastic bags help us have the best year ever.”
To help get the word out, more than 82 million postcards (including 2 million Spanish-language cards), sponsored by two national partners, the Campbell Soup Company and the Postal Service, will be delivered just before the drive as a reminder to residents. The cards will supplement the more than 44 million special envelopes produced by national partner Valpak and scheduled for delivery throughout April and early May to promote donations.
WHAT TO GIVE:
• Most-wanted foods include:
• Canned meats (tuna, chicken, salmon).
• Canned and boxed meals (soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese).
• Canned or dried beans and peas (black, pinto, lentils).
• Pasta, rice cereal.
• Canned fruits.
• 100 percent fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed).
• Canned vegetables.
• Cooking oil.
• Boxed cooking mixes (pancake, breads).

WHAT NOT TO GIVE:
• Rusty or unlabeled cans.
• Glass containers.
• Perishable items.
• Homemade items.
• Noncommercial canned or packaged items.
• Alcoholic beverages or mixes or soda.
• Open or used items.