The St. Louis region will join the nation on Saturday, May 12, for the 20^th Annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

This annual food drive helps stock the shelves of the St. Louis Area Foodbank and its’ 514 partner agencies, says Ryan Farmer, Foodbank communications manager. The summer months are a difficult time for clients of Foodbank agencies – particularly children. During the school year, many low-income families rely on the subsidized breakfast and lunch programs at school. In the summer, these children are at home, where three meals a day may not be readily available.

Farmer and representatives from the National Association of Letter Carriers, the United Way of Greater St. Louis, and the Campbell Soup Company held a press conference Tuesday to express the importance of this food drive for the 172,660 children in the bi-state region who struggle with food insecurity.

Nearly one in eight people of all ages struggle with hunger in the bi-state region. Across the country, the number of Americans living in food insecure homes in 2011 was nearly 49 million - 16 million of these were children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States.

Last year, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive collected 243,635 pounds of food in St. Louis city and county alone. Nationwide, generous Americans donated 70.2 million pounds of food in 2011, which marked the eighth consecutive year that at least 70 million pounds of food were collected. The goal is to once again exceed that mark.

On Saturday, St. Louisans are asked to place unopened non-perishable items next to their mailbox before their letter carriers deliver the mail. Letter carriers will collect the food donations as they deliver the mail along their routes. Favorite non-perishable goods include peanut butter, soups and canned tuna or chicken. Any canned good that can be considered a complete meal is desired.

Co-sponsors of the drive along with the Letter Carriers’ Union are the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail; Campbell Soup Company; Valpak; AARP; Uncle Bob’s Self Storage; National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association; Feeding America; United Way; and the AFL-CIO.