According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.4 million households were considered food insecure in 2014, 3.7 million of whom had children to feed. During the month of May, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive seeks to alleviate this hunger felt by 14 percent of U.S. households.
The annual Stamp Out Hunger donation day—which is sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers—has run for 24 years and donated over one billion pounds of food. This year’s donation day will occur on May 14, when American citizens can fill bags with non-perishables and place them by their mailboxes to be picked up by neighborhood letter carriers. The food will be donated to local food banks and hunger organizations.
This year, the Stamp Out Hunger campaign is raising the stakes by partnering with Food Tank, Wholesome Wave, Amp Your Good, and the Institute for Responsible Nutrition to include a month-long online donation platform. From May 1 to May 31, citizens can go online to stampyourgood.com and make a fresh food donation, which will be delivered to San Francisco and New York City hunger organizations in June. The food drive website offers the option to subscribe to an e-mail list, which will send two donation reminders: one when the online drive begins and another before May 14.