(BIVN) – The National Association of Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive takes place on Saturday, May 13th. From the USPS office in Honolulu:

Mail carriers from Maui to Maine will lead the Postal Service’s effort to “Stamp Out Hunger” this Saturday, May 13 in the 31st annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) Food Drive.

During the drive, the nation’s largest one-day food collection effort, USPS mail carriers do double duty—delivering mail and picking up food donations. Those donations are then distributed to local food banks, such as the Hawaii Foodbank.

Last year’s “Stamp Out Hunger” effort in Hawaii netted more than 80 tons of food donations. In addition, more than $5,000 in monetary donations were received during the drive, enough for local food banks to purchase another 30 tons of food. The goal for 2023 is to top last year’s totals.

“In addition to collecting food at mailboxes, our dedicated Hawaii mail carriers this year will once again offer our customers the option to support the drive ‘virtually,’ via monetary donations rather than actual food items,” said “Stamp Out Hunger” spokesperson and Pearl City mail carrier Adele Yoshikawa.

“Offering the community a monetary donation option is a ‘win-win’ proposition,” she said. “It’s so much easier for our customers. It also enables us to maximize the impact of customer support for those in need. In the past, a customer may have used $20 to purchase and donate one 25-pound bag of rice. But, that same $20 donated virtually can be used to purchase 240 pounds of food, or 25 entire meals!”

Drive supporters can donate to the cause by texting “NALC” to “71777,” which will lead to a Hawaii “Stamp Out Hunger” web page that invites them to provide financial support.

More than 1,000 mail carriers in Hawaii and 175,000 nationwide have collected more than 1.75 billion pounds of food during the campaign’s first 30 years.

“This annual food drive demonstrates how the Postal Service goes beyond just delivering the mail to helping those in our communities who are less fortunate,” said Yoshikawa.