Help Stamp Out Hunger on May 11 by donating food via your postal carrier

On Saturday, May 11, people from across the country — including Menlo Park and Atherton — will partner with their postal carriers to help “Stamp Out Hunger.” Now in its 21st year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive is the largest single-day effort to combat hunger in America and the largest single-day food drive for food banks in the Bay Area.

To participate, residents are asked to place a sturdy bag of non-perishable food items like peanut butter, pasta, rice, low-sugar cereal, and canned foods such as tuna, meat, stew, soup, and vegetables by their mailboxes before their mail is delivered on Saturday, May 11. Letter carriers will collect the food items and deliver them to their local food bank to then be distributed to the community to help those at risk of hunger.

Last year, the Bay Area Stamp Out Hunger food drive collected 835,000 pounds of food for those in need, with 270,000 pounds going to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

“We appreciate the enormous effort put into this drive each year by our local letter carriers,” said Kathy Jackson, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. “The food they collect will help to feed the nearly 250,000 people Second Harvest serves each month. The number of people who rely on the Food Bank every month continues to edge up despite the improving economy.”

Since its inception in 1974, Second Harvest has become one of the largest food banks in the nation, providing food to an average of nearly one quarter of a million people each month. The Food Bank mobilizes individuals, companies and community partners to connect people to the nutritious food they need. More than half of the food distributed is fresh produce.