Letter carriers in Carroll County will join their counterparts nationwide to help stamp out hunger by collecting non-perishable food items this Saturday during the annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Food Drive.

Customers are asked to place non-perishable food items in a bag next to their mailbox before their letter carrier delivers the mail on the day of the drive. Postal employees will take the food to the Post Office where it will be sorted and then delivered to an area food bank or pantry.

"All food items collected in Carroll County will go to the Carroll County Food Panty," said Flora Postmaster Melinda Luttrell.

Examples of items that can be donated are canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal, and rice. Do not include items that are expired or those that are in glass containers.

The U.S. Postal Service has partnered with the NALC in this effort since 1993. The "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive has collected over threequarters of a billion pounds of food for community food banks and pantries nationwide. It is the largest annual one-day food drive in the country.