The annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive gathered 11,750 pounds of food in the Cullman area this year, which will be donated to the local United Way and area church food programs.

The drive was held last Saturday, and has become an annual event where the post office leaves cards or bags in mailboxes to encourage residents to give. Any donations are then left at the mailbox.

“It went really well this year,” Cullman postmaster Chris Doss said. “We actually raised a bit more this year than last time.”

Doss said the Cullman community has always been keen to jump in and get involved with the post office’s charity efforts, and the food drive is just one example of the giving spirit.

“We had big involvement from the community, and people here have always been very supportive,” she said. “We also do breast cancer awareness in October, which has a lot of involvement. Even the local Boy Scouts came and helped unload food this year.”

The food drive is an annual event across the country, occurring every second Saturday in May. Letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America collect food from postal customers, who participate in the NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive. The event is the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

Over the past 22 years, the drive has delivered more than one billion pounds of food to hungry families across the nation.

* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 134.