Area U.S. Postal Service employees and volunteers will again step up Saturday to Stamp Out Hunger, the annual food drive to help feed those in need.

To participate, USPS customers are asked to fill a bag with healthy, nonperishable food items and place it by their mailbox in time for mail carriers or volunteers to pick up. Carriers often leave a blue plastic bag for the food drive in mailboxes before the event, but any bag can be used, said Robert Gill, postmaster in Iron Mountain.

While the National Association of Letter Carriers solicits and promotes the Stamp Out Hunger event, a number of volunteers actually pick up the food bags to let the postal employees focus on their rounds, Gill said. These volunteers in the past have included Girl Scouts and family members of carriers, among others.

“It’s usually a team effort,” he said.

All food collected during the drive goes to local food banks and pantries, Gill stressed, adding local public response in the annual drive has been strong.

Last year, the local NALC Branch 395 took in more than 11,000 pounds of food that was donated to area organizations such as The Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul’s Denim Heart Thrift and Pantry and the Crossroads Alliance in Norway, Gill said in a news release.

Stamp Out Hunger has become the nation’s largest one-day food drive, with 1.82 billion pounds of food donated since it began in 1993, helping to fill the shelves of local food banks throughout the United States.More than 34 million Americans, including 9 million children, experience food insecurity and rely on food donations. This drive is one way to help those in need throughout the nation.

USPS offered these tips for contributing to the food drive —

WHAT TO GIVE:

— Canned meats, such as tuna, chicken and salmon;

— Canned and boxed meals, such as soup, chili, stew, macaroni and cheese;

— Canned or dried beans and peas, such as black, pinto and lentils;

— Pasta;

— Rice;

— Cereal;

— Canned fruits;

— 100% fruit juice, canned, plastic or boxed;

— Canned vegetables;

— Cooking oil;

— Boxed cooking mixes, such as pancake and breads.

WHAT NOT TO GIVE:

— Rusty or unlabeled cans;

— Glass containers;

— Perishable items;

— Homemade items;

— Expired items;

— Noncommercial canned or packaged items;

— Alcoholic beverages or mixes or soda;

— Open or used items.

Gill said they’ve had no issues in the past in this area with the public not following guidelines on what can be donated for the food drive.

“As long as everything is non-perishable,” he said, “we’ll happily accept it.”