COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — The annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive returns Saturday, with Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado teaming up with local mail carriers for the 34th year to collect non-perishable food for pantries across the region.
Participating is simple. Leave a bag of non-perishable food items by your mailbox before your letter carrier arrives, and they will pick it up on their route. All donations go directly to Care and Share.
The drive is Care and Share's biggest food drive of the year. Last year, volunteers helped collect more than 45,000 pounds of food.
Nate Springer, president and CEO of Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado, said the impact is significant.
"45,000 pounds of food feeds about 112,000 people, which is fantastic. So we get that food in, get it sorted, distributed out to the partner agencies, and then people can grab that food at the over 300 partner agencies that Care and Share has the honor of serving across the state."
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) has partnered with Care and Share on the drive for decades. Jon Meyer, branch president of the NALC Branch 204 in Colorado Springs, said the event is a highlight for carriers.
"It's a great partnership with Care and Share. We've been doing this for decades as well, and so it's a great organization, and we love doing it, honestly. It's a way to give back to our patrons."
Meyer said the most important thing is simply to give what you can.
"Just anything you can donate, just put it in your mailbox, and we'll collect it and bring it back to the post office, and then we'll get it transferred over here to Care and Share. So yeah, don't be, don't worry about what you're donating, just donate."
Care and Share is looking for items such as canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, pasta, rice, and cereal, anything that won't spoil.
Postal workers ask that residents not leave out any food that requires refrigeration.
Putting your donation out early is also recommended to make sure you don't miss your letter carrier.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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