TOPEKA, Kan. — Topeka letter carriers will hold their annual food drive on Saturday, May 12, and Kansans are encouraged to participate by placing non-perishable food in a bag near their mailbox prior to mail delivery.

All of the food will be distributed to local food banks, specifically, the Breakthrough House, Doorstep, Fellowship & Faith Ministries, I-Care, Let's Help, The Salvation Army, Topeka North Outreach and the Topeka Rescue Mission, whose shelves are traditionally bare this time of year. Last year Kansas letter carriers collected more than one million pounds of food.

Postal employees in all 50 states will participate in the world's largest one-day food drive, which has resulted in delivery of over three-quarters of a billion pounds of donations to community food banks and pantries over the last 14 years. An estimated 35 million people are at risk of hunger in America, including 12 million children.

The National Association Letter Carriers is a postal labor union representing more than 300,000 members who have a long history of service to their communities.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to cover its operating expenses. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $73 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail volume.

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