Mail carriers to collect food
Mail carriers will collect food donations from homes statewide tomorrow as part of the 14th annual National Association of Letter Carriers "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive.
Last year, about 1,000 mail carriers collected a record 366,000 pounds of food from Hawaii residences.
The Pearl City Post Office collected the most food, topping out its collections at 40,000 pounds.
To participate in the drive, residents can place nonperishable food next to their mailbox tomorrow. The donations will be picked up with their usual mail pickup. The food will then be distributed to community food banks.
Donations in greatest demand are canned items, including meats, pastas, pork and beans, and fruits and vegetables.
Packaged dry beans, pasta and rice are also needed.
"This drive is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate to our communities that our postal service does more than deliver mail," said food drive spokeswoman Adele Yoshikawa.
"Our goal is to top the results of last year's food drive."
The drive is a nationwide effort, which includes more than 240,000 mail carriers. For more information, go to the National Association of Letter Carriers' Web site at www.nalc.org.