Food donations can be made without leaving home Saturday during the 24th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
During the nation’s largest one-day food drive, U.S. Postal Service mail carriers will collect food across the Peninsula — except for Sequim.
The collection drive there is delayed by one week to accommodate the Irrigation Festival.
Mail carriers are leaving reminder cards and donation bags in mailboxes this week for residents to fill with nonperishable food, which goes directly to local food banks.
Donations left in or beside the mailbox will be collected by letter carriers during their regular rounds in Port Angeles, Forks and Port Townsend.
Other Jefferson County post offices are not taking part in the collection.
Food collected in Port Townsend-area ZIP codes will be distributed primarily to the Port Townsend Food Bank, but other Jefferson County food banks also will receive some of the wealth.
On Saturday only, donations to food banks can also be made by check, written out to the food bank of the donor’s choice and left in an envelope in the mailbox marked “Postal Carrier.”
Cans should be free of dents, rust or bulging.
The biggest needs are canned proteins such as fish, chili or soups, canned fruits and pasta meals such as macaroni and cheese.
No home-canned items or previously opened items can be accepted.
Expired food will be accepted and reviewed by food bank volunteers, she said.
The drive is held the second Saturday each May, and the grand total of food collected for the past 23 years adds up to more than 1.4 billion pounds.
It is timed to fill food pantries just before many school systems end their academic years, which leaves many children without regular meals with the end of free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs.
