By FRANK LEWIS

PDT Staff Writer

Sometimes during the spring, food banks slip through the cracks. The National Association of Letter Carriers Union (NALC) Portsmouth Branch 184, in partnership with the Shawnee Labor Council, AFL-CIO, is attempting to make sure that doesn’t happen. The union will be hosting its annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive this Saturday.

“Around Christmas and the holidays, there are a lot of big food drives,” said Cherise Keyser, secretary-treasurer of the Shawnee Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “But this time, in the spring, things kind of drop off for the food pantries. This is the third year they’ve done it here in Portsmouth. So I know they were really grateful all the other years they’ve done it.”

Keyser said people wishing to donate may leave donations of non-perishable canned food at their mailbox and their letter carrier, with the help of other Union volunteers, will pick up donations and deliver them to local food pantries serving Portsmouth and the surrounding area.

“If they can, they should put their donations in a grocery bag, and stick them either by their mailbox, wherever their carrier gets their mail,” Keyser said. “If people have mail slots on their porch, they can leave the bag of food on their porch, wherever they usually have their mail dropped.”

Donations may also be dropped off at the Portsmouth Post Office or at any drop site located throughout Portsmouth and the surrounding community. Last year’s drive collected more than 5,500 pounds of food, which was distributed to many local food pantries throughout Scioto County; the total collection nationwide by letter carriers was 70.2 million pounds. This will be the 20th year of the food drive, nationally; over that time, more than 1 billion pounds of donations have been collected.

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com.