Did you notice the bag in your mailbox? The National Association of Letter Carriers needs your help.

Stamp Out Hunger has been working for 18 years to stamp out the problem of those who don’t have enough to eat. The U.S. Postal Service has participated in the drive to feed the hungry in America for many years.

According to the Stamp Out Hunger Web site, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States, the number of Americans living in food insecure homes increased from 36.2 million in 2007 to 49.1 million in 2008, with approximately one in every four of those being a child (16.7 million).

Stamp out Hunger is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. The goal is 73.4 million pounds of food donated, as well as surpass one billion pounds of food collected over the 18-year history of the drive. The U.S. Postal Service in Brewton is asking for help to fill bags with non-perishable food items to be donated to the food bank to feed America’s hungry.

Local postal worker John Langham encouraged residents to take part.

“The letter carriers will deliver the bags into the mailboxes on Wednesday, May 5,” he said. “The bags can then be filled with the food items and left at the mailbox or they can be brought in to the post office.”

The collection date is Saturday. The nation’s 230,000 letter carriers will be collecting the donations from homes across the country and delivering them to food banks and other hunger relief organizations in more than 10,000 local communities.

“The commitment and dedication of thousands of letter carriers, rural carriers and postal and community volunteers, plus the involvement of corporate partners will make a difference in helping to feed America’s hungry as we seek to surpass the record of 73.4 million pounds of food collected,” said Postmaster General John Potter.