The National Association of Letter Carriers will be taking part in the 25th Annual “Stamp Out Hunger” event. Its the nation’s single-largest food drive with more than 10 thousand participating communities.

On Saturday May 13 residents are encouraged to leave their donations out for their letter carrier to pick up. Non-perishable items, such as canned goods, can be left in a bag to hang on your mailbox.  Suggested food items include canned soup, canned vegetables, peanut butter, pasta, rice, and cereal. Donors are discouraged giving items in glass for safety purposes.

The effort collected 80.1 million pounds of food in 2016 and has gathered 1.5 billion pounds of food since the first drive in 1993, according to the postal service.

Supervisor at the Warsaw post office Jill Hunter tells the Times Union that Kosciusko County has been a big part of the national effort.

“We’ve had a very, very good response,” she said.

Locally, food donations will go to the Pantries of Combined Community Services and The Salvation Army in cooperation with the United Way of Kosciusko County.

Hunter says the community’s generosity has been overwhelming, particularly in low-income areas.

“People who have struggled on their own really think about those things, when they’ve been there before,” she said.

All donations to the food drive are tax-deductible.

In St. Joseph County, the Food Bank of Northern Indiana reminds people it’s the largest food drive for their organization every year. This year their goal is 100,000 pounds of food. They say donations can also be made at the orange barrels set up at participating Kroger and Martin’s locations.

One in six people in Northern Indiana is said to be food insecure.