DONATE FOOD SATURDAY

The annual Letter Carriers Fall Food Drive to help feed the hungry will be held Saturday.

The annual Letter Carriers Fall Food Drive to benefit Albuquerque’s Roadrunner Food Bank and Rio Rancho’s Storehouse West will be held Saturday, Nov. 16 — an opportunity for the community to help feed hungry families and individuals.

Albuquerque and Rio Rancho residents can look for blue bags placed in their mail boxes this week by letter carriers. After filling them with non-perishable food items, residents can leave the bags by their mail boxes for pickup by the letter carriers on Saturday.

The bags will then be transferred to Roadrunner and Storehouse West for sorting and distribution.

People who collect their mail via P.O. boxes may also participate by taking food directly to their nearest post office.

Non-perishable food items include such things as canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, beans, pasta, rice, cereals, boxed meals and canned meats.

The annual event is hosted by the National Association of Letter Carriers, the U.S. Postal Service and the Rural Letter Carriers Association.

“This annual food-raising event hosted by our letter carrier friends has meant so much for families struggling to put food on the table,” said Mag Strittmatter, president and CEO of Roadrunner Food Bank. “We invite the community to take part and help provide an important source of food for our neighbors in need. It’s the season for giving and, in that spirit, we thank our community for all you do for people who need it most.”

Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap spring report has New Mexico ranked first for childhood hunger, with one in four children — or 24.1% — at risk of hunger. The overall hunger rate shows 324,000 New Mexicans, or 15.5% of the population, overall is at risk of hunger.

The 2018 fall food drive raised 198,370 pounds of food.

The Letter Carriers Spring Food Drive is part of a national program that mostly takes place the second Saturday in May.