Overview
- The National Association of Letter Carriers, working with the U.S. Postal Service, holds the one-day drive Saturday, May 9, with carriers collecting bagged donations left by mailboxes during regular routes.
- Organizers say need spikes as school-year meals pause for children, so food from the drive will help fill shelves for summer programs such as Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia’s effort that begins June 1.
- Donations stay local through partner groups that include Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa Bay, Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, God’s Pantry Food Bank in Kentucky, and food banks in Montana and Southern Colorado.
- Most requested items include canned proteins, peanut butter, rice, pasta, cereal, vegetables, and fruit, while organizers ask people to avoid glass, expired or perishable foods, damaged cans, homemade items, alcohol, soda, and opened packages.
- The drive is billed as the nation’s largest single-day food collection and has gathered nearly 2 billion pounds since 1993, with 2026 goals that include 500,000 pounds in San Antonio and 100,000 in Santa Barbara, plus targets of 15,000 in Great Falls and 10,000 in Missoula after Southern Colorado collected 45,000 last year.