Fight Hunger with Your Mailbox Saturday

Helping to fight hunger will be as easy as visiting your mailbox tomorrow.

Ocean City is taking part in the nationwide campaign, Stamp Out Hunger, on Saturday. Residents may leave nonperishable items at their mailbox, and letter carriers will pick up the items during the normal mail delivery route.

The donated food will benefit the Ocean City Community Food Cupboard, located at on East Eighth Street.

This year marks the 19th annual Stamp Out Hunger drive, organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers. The event is the largest one-day food drive nationwide, according to organizers.

Donated food stays in local communities to combat hunger. It comes at a time of year when donations to food pantries typically drop off. But, demand for the service does not. More than 50 million American families, with 17.2 million children, do not have sufficient food, according to the letter carriers association.

“May 14 is the one day in the year when letter carriers take control of the conversation about hunger in America, making a loud-and-clear case for providing a chance for millions of families, and millions of children, to have a hunger-free summer,” said Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “Our hard work and sacrifice will not go unnoticed, I assure you.”

Letter carriers will take any nonperishable item, such as canned meats, fish and vegetables; juice; spaghetti sauce; spaghetti and more, according to Dottie Cianci, coordinator of the Ocean City Community Food Cupboard.