Montana residents asked to give to letter carriers annual
food drive for the hungry on Sat., May 9^th

BILLINGS, MT — On Saturday, May 9^th, Montana’s letter carriers will be doing more than delivering the mail. They will collect food on their routes to feed the hungry in their communities. May 9 is the annual letter carriers food drive across America.

Postal customers wishing to donate food should put canned, packaged and non-perishable food items in a plastic bag, and leave it by your mailbox on Sat., May 9^th, before mail delivery.

Items most needed by food banks are canned meats and tuna, canned soup, dried milk, and canned fruits and vegetables. Also needed are dry and packaged items with lots of protein and carbohydrates including pasta, cereal, powdered milk, and dry packaged vegetables like mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. About 1.3 lbs. of food equates to a full meal according to food bank officials.

Montana donated 379,000 pounds to the letter carriers’ food drive in 2008. Montana postal customers have given over 4 million pounds over the years. All the food collected goes to local community food banks and pantries for distribution to those who most need it throughout the year.

Some of the many larger Montana Post Offices and letter carriers participating in the food drive include Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Deer Lodge, Dillon, Glendive, Great Falls, Hamilton, Hardin, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Laurel, Lewistown, Missoula, Shelby, and Stevensville.

A total of 10,000 communities and Post Offices in all 50 states are participating this year. Last year’s postal food drive collected a record 73.1 million pounds nationwide. This is the 17^th year of the annual drive. Nearly a billion pounds of food collected by letter carriers have fed America’s hungry since 1993.

"We encourage postal customers throughout our state to again give generously to our letter carriers' food drive on May 9^th,” says John DiPeri, postal district manager for Montana. “With the poor economy, more families and the needy are hungry and in great need of our support. Your food donations will help out those who most need it. We thank everyone for helping to stamp out hunger.”