Letter carriers will collect non-perishable food donations left by mailboxes and in post offices and deliver them to local community food banks, pantries and shelters. Nearly 1,500 local NALC branches in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands are involved in the drive.

The effort by letter carriers represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO), with the help of rural letter carriers, other postal employees and numerous other volunteers has resulted in delivery of well over a half billion pounds of donations to community food banks and pantries over the past 12 years.

Campbell Soup Company and the U. S. Postal Service are major supporters again in 2005, cosponsoring the printing of 110 million postcards for delivery by letter carriers to encourage the general public to participate in the drive. Also returning as a major supporter is Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, the nationwide direct mail marketing firm, which in 2004 included promotions for the drive on 40 million packets delivered to postal customers.

The drive also relies on the backing of America’s Second Harvest, local United Ways throughout America, and the AFL-CIO Community Services network.

All citizens need do is to place a box or can of non-perishable food next to their mailbox before their letter carrier delivers mail on Saturday, May 14. The carrier will do all the rest. The food is taken back to a postal station, sorted, and then delivered to an area food bank or pantry. There it is available for needy families.

An estimated 30 million people face hunger every day in America, including more than 12 million children. This drive is one way people can help those right in their own city or town who need help.

NALC President William H. Young said the results of the food drive are a clear indication of how letter carriers feel about the communities they serve.

"Letter carriers are the heart and eyes of the community, walking and driving through every neighborhood and up and down every street," Young said. "They see - first hand - the need, and recognize the hardship and despair that denies families even the basic necessities of life.”

In 2004, the drive collected a record 70,852,149 pounds of food for the needy from postal customers. Campbell Soup also earmarked an additional 1 million pound canned food donation to the drive.

The NALC National Food Drive is the outgrowth of a tradition of community service exhibited repeatedly by members of the letter carriers union over the years. These carriers, who go into neighborhoods in every town six days a week, have always been involved when something needed to be done, whether it be collecting funds for a charity like the Muscular Dystrophy Association, watching over the elderly through the Carrier Alert program, assisting the American Red Cross during time of disaster, or rescuing victims of fires, crime, and other mishaps.

For many years, a number of branches had collected food for the needy as part of their community service effort. Discussions were held by the NALC, U.S. Postal Service and AFL-CIO Community Services Department to explore a coordinated effort. A pilot drive was held in 10 cities in October, 1991, and it proved so successful that work began immediately on making it a nationwide effort.

Input from food banks and pantries suggested that late spring would be the best time since by then most food banks in the country start running out of donations received during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods.

A revamped drive was organized for May 15, 1993 -- the Second Saturday in May -- with a goal of having at least one NALC branch in each of the 50 states participating. The result was astounding. Over 11 million pounds of food was collected – a one-day record in the United States – involving over 220 union branches.

From Alaska to Florida and Maine to Hawaii, letter carriers did double duty -- delivering mail and picking up donations. It just grew and grew from that point.

In addition, in virtually each year since 1997, Campbell Soup Company has earmarked an additional 1 million can of soup to the drive, and supplied special donations of soup to food banks designated by leading branches in the drive.

From inception, the U.S. Postal Service, AFL-CIO Community Services network, and local United Way organizations have been instrumental in the success of the drive.

Postmaster General John E. Potter has been a longtime supporter of the drive and has asked for the full cooperation and enthusiasm of postal management at all levels -- a necessity since the drive occurs "on-the-clock" while mail is being delivered.

The drive has received the backing of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and many affiliated unions, United Way of America President Brian Gallagher and local United Ways, as well as an extraordinary boost from "Family Circus" cartoonist Bil Keane, who provides a special cartoon to promote the drive each year.

The NALC food drive has received a number of accolades over the years, including two Presidential Certificates of Achievement, a special appreciation award in 2003 from America’s Second Harvest food bank network, the annual Humanitarian of the Year award in 2003 from Bon Appétit/Food Network, and the annual World Hunger Year/Chapin Award in 2004.