Washington residents asked to give to letter carriers
food drive for the hungry on Saturday, May 9^th

SEATTLE/SPOKANE, WA — On Saturday, May 9^th, letter carriers throughout Washington state and the U.S. will once again 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/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.

Washington postal customers donated 2.1 million pounds to the letter carriers’ food drive in 2008. All the food collected goes to local community food banks and pantries for distribution to those who most need it throughout the 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 which is the largest one-day food drive in the country. A total of 10,000 communities and Post Offices in all 50 states are participating this year. Nearly a billion pounds of food collected by letter carriers have fed America’s hungry since 1993.

Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Spokane, Clarkston, Kent, Kitsap, Longview, Oak Harbor, Pasco, Pullman, Puyallup, Richland, Snohomish, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, and Yakima will be among the many Washington state Post Offices, letter carriers and communities participating in the May 9^th letter carriers food drive.

Media can contact their local Post Office for more information.