National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive

The 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents city delivery letter carriers in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions, conducts the world's largest one-day food drive each year on the 2nd Saturday in May. Co-sponsors of the drive are the U.S. Postal Services, United Way, the AFL-CIO, Campbell's Soup Company, and Feeding America.

In 2010, the drive collected 48,000 pounds of food that was delivered to the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center in New London.  All post offices within New London County participated in the drive. Feeding America estimates that 1.1 pound of food is equal to one meal. That means that this year's drive can be translated into a donation of approximately 52,800 meals!

The effort began in 1991 when the NALC, with the support of the U.S. Postal Service and the AFL-CIO, conducted a 10-city pilot program. More than 290 tons of food was collected in just those 10 cities. In 1993 the drive expanded to 200 NALC branches in all 50 states and covering more than 1,000 communities. A record 12 million pounds (6,000 tons) of non-perishable food donations was collected. The drive has continued to flourish ever since, expanding the number of cities and towns involved to more than 10,000 communities. The drive comes at a critical time when most food banks are experiencing depleted donations and food donated during the holiday seasons have diminished.

The simplicity and efficiency of the drive are what make it work. It is held at the same time each year - on the 2nd Saturday in May. Donations are collected in participating communities by letter carriers along their normal mail routes. People wishing to donate simply leave their non-perishable items by their mailboxes. It is delivered immediately to local food pantries. Easy!