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In many ways, America is the land of plenty. But for 1 in 6 people, hunger is a reality. 

Today, nearly 49 million Americans, including 16 million children, are struggling with hunger. These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days.

On Saturday, May 12, the United States Postal Service will team up with its letter carriers to conduct the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive across the nation to collect food donations to provide assistance to millions of Americans who are struggling with hunger each and every day.

“The Postal Service is pleased to continue supporting the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) as we enter our 20th year together to help Stamp Out Hunger in America,” says Postmaster Ron Bradley. “I am confident the 2012 campaign will be our best ever.”

The nation’s 210,000 letter carriers including those in Albany GA and cities in our surrounding service area will collect food donations left at the mailboxes of generous Americans in more than 10,000 communities and deliver them to food banks and other hunger relief organizations.

Celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive, having collected more than one billion pounds of food since its inception in 1993. In 2011, generous Americans donated 70.2 million pounds of food, which marked the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds were collected.

Helping Stamp Out Hunger is as easy as checking your mailbox. Just leave a bag of non-perishable food where your letter carrier normally delivers your mail on Saturday, May 12. Your letter carrier will then pick up and deliver the food to a local food bank. 

Examples of non-perishable items include:

Canned soup

Canned meats and fish

Canned vegetables, fruits and juices

Boxed goods (such as cereal)

Pasta and rice

For more information about the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, ask your letter carrier, contact your local post office or visit either www.helpstampouthunger.com or www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, and follow the drive at www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.