Published: May 06, 2008 09:55 pm         

People asked to leave food at their mailbox

Letter carriers will be picking up, as well as dropping off Saturday, while they fight the war on hunger.

The day marks the 16th annual Stamp Out Hunger Day, during which home owners are asked to leave non-perishable food at their mailbox so they can be distributed to area food banks.

Last year, Laurel County’s letter carriers collected 6,133 pounds of food.

Nationwide, 70.7 million pounds were collected by 300,000 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The items picked up are to be brought to Come-Unity Coopera-tive Care, which is badly in need of the food.

“The pantry is extremely low,” Executive Director Brenda Morgan said. “We’ve had a greater de-mand.”

It’s the third year the London Post Office has participated in the event. It is organized by letter carrier Donnie Marcum, who carries for central London and Wal-Mart.

“It’s something I love to do,” he said. “Any way I can help somebody, that’s what I enjoy. The way the economy is people are having to decide whether to buy gas, pay the rent, buy food or take their kids to the doctor.”

Morgan had some ideas for what people could donate.

“We need kitchen staples that people can make meals with,” she said. “We need flour — there’s a big request for that. And breakfast foods like oatmeal and cereal. And the children always love macaroni and cheese.”

Marcum noted commonly donated items include canned vegetables, corn flakes, potato chips, and powdered milk.

Seeing all of the items piled together in the post office last year was thrilling, Marcum said.

“It was astounding to go in that room and see the amount of food that was in that room,” he said.