IRON MOUNTAIN POSTAL CARRIERS Joel Stanchina, left, and Kevin Richtig get ready for National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Carriers will begin delivering the blue bag to residents next week for food donations. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Iron Mountain, Kingsford and Norway post offices will again take part in the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive set for Saturday, May 13.

The 2022 effort brought in 11,684 pounds of food, according to Kevin Richtig, who is coordinating the local event.

One in eight Americans — including millions of children, senior citizens and veterans — are unsure where their next meal will come from, according to a NALC news release. Letter carriers have helped meet the need by collecting food that postal patrons leave near their mailboxes on the second Saturday of May.

Collection bags will go out to residents next week.

NALC branches deliver the food to local food banks, which often face shortages in spring and summer because holiday donations have been depleted. And when summer comes, most school meal programs are not available, so the need for food grows, according to the NALC.

Food donated in Iron Mountain and Kingsford will go to the Iron Mountain St. Vincent de Paul store and in Norway to the Norway St. Vincent de Paul store, Richtig said.

Since the first national food drive in 1993, active and retired letter carriers, with the help of volunteers from their communities, have collected a total of 1.82 billion pounds of food.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to cancel in-person collections of food in 2020 and 2021 before it resumed last year.

The local event is sponsored by Radio Results Broadcasting, Monette’s, Subway, the Girl Scouts and Main Street Pizza.