USPS letter carrier Ken Trayal is ready to gather up canned goods and non-perishable items for Saturday’s “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.  

Meridian postal carriers will carry a heavier load and pull double-duty Saturday – delivering mail, while collecting food donations left at mailboxes for the annual Letter Carriers Food Drive.

The postal workers – local and rural – will be participating in the 24th Annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Food Drive. “Stamp Out Hunger” is the theme for what has evolved into the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

The drive is held in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Last year, letter carriers collected more than 71 million pounds of food nationally, feeding an estimated 30 million people.

“Locally, we usually collect about 20,000 pounds of non-perishable food items in the Meridian area,” said Ron Jennings, who serves as president of the local NALC Branch #487. “We will distribute the food items to organizations such as the Salvation Army, Wesley House, L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen, and ASLANe’s Ministries.”

According to the United States Postal Service, the food drive’s timing is crucial. Food banks and pantries often receive the majority of donations during the Thanksgiving and winter holiday season. By springtime, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need. 

Participation is not limited to residential areas. Those with post office boxes may take their food donations to the post office where they pick up their mail, Jennings said.

The top requested non-perishable food items are: cereal, pasta, pasta sauce or spaghetti sauce, rice, canned fruits and vegetables, canned meals (such as soups, chili and pasta), 100% juice, peanut butter, macaroni & cheese, canned protein (tuna, chicken and turkey), beans (canned or dry). Items that are expired or those in glass containers should not be included.

 Ken Trayal has worked as a letter carrier for the USPS for 28 years and delivers mail on the south side of Meridian. Trayal said the food drive is one thing he looks forward to each year.

“I really enjoy doing it. It seems like the harder the economic times are, the more food you pick up,” Trayal said. “On my route the people you least expect to give, are the ones who give the most. There are a lot of older people on my route that don’t drive, and when the food drive comes around each year, they will load you up with canned goods.

“They tell me they appreciate it because they don’t have a way to take it to the food banks themselves. They will have it out by the mailbox waiting on you, or when they see you coming they will wave so you can come get it from them, they just love it.”