Mail Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Drive

Mail carriers are doing something extra on Saturday, May 9 — and it’s one of those simple systems that works because almost everybody already understands the routine. You put a bag of nonperishable food by the mailbox. Your letter carrier picks it up during the normal route. The food goes to local pantries, not some distant warehouse. That’s the 2026 Stamp Out Hunger drive in a nutshell, and the reason it matters is pretty basic: food banks head into summer with a real gap to fill. (about.usps.com) ### What is happening on May 9? The National Association of Letter Carriers is running its annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Saturday, May 9, 2026. It happens on the second Saturday in May each year, and the model is the same across the country — residents leave donations near their mailbox before delivery, and participating carriers collect them along the route. The food stays local, which is a big part of the appeal. (about.usps.com) ### Why use mail routes for this? Because the postal network already reaches almost every neighborhood. Turns out that makes letter carriers unusually good at running a one-day collection drive at scale. Nobody has to drive to a drop-off point. Nobody has to figure out a new system. The route already exists — the food just rides along with it. That’s how this became the country’s biggest one-day food drive. (nalc.org) ### How big is this thing? Big enough that the national organizers describe it as the largest one-day food drive in the country, with participation in more than 10,000 cities and towns. The event has been running since 1993, and over its history letter carriers have helped collect roughly 1.9 billion pounds of food. That scale matters because a lot of local pantry drives are seaso(nalc.org)evel at the same time. (nalc.org) ### Why does the timing matter? Summer is the pressure point. Food pantries often see shelves thin out just as families lose access to school meals that help during the academic year. Some local organizers are saying that part out loud this week — the need doesn’t disappear when spring ends, but some of the support systems do. So a big single-day collection in early May is basically a way to stock up before the harder stretch starts. (columbusonthecheap.com) ### What should people actually leave out? Nonperishable food is the standard ask. Think canned vegetables, soup, pasta, rice, peanut butter, cereal — shelf-stable basics that can be sorted fast and stored safely. The USPS pages for this year’s drive tell people to leave the donation in a bag by the mailbox on Saturday, May 9, and the carrier will take it from there. (about.usps.com) ### Does every route participate? Not always. The national FAQ makes clear that a sizable majority of carriers and post offices take part, but not every single one does. That’s the catch with a drive this decentralized — it’s huge, but local participation can vary. Still, the event is broad enough that national USPS and NALC pages are promoting it as a coast-to-coast effort again this year. (nalc.org) ### Where does the food go? To local nonprofit food agencies and pantries in the community where it was collected. That local loop is what makes the drive feel concrete. You’re not donating into an abstract national campaign. You’re helping stock shelves nearby, through a collection system that already comes to your door. (nalc.org)story more than a slogan story. A regular mail route becomes a food pickup route for one day, and that small tweak can move a lot of groceries exactly when local pantries need them most. (nalc.org)