Saturday gives good reason to put more than mail out for your U.S. Postal Service carrier.

Since 1993, the National Association of Letter Carriers, or NALC, has annually conducted its Stamp Out Hunger food drive on the second Saturday in May in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America. It’s the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

And it relies on residents to set out food items for collection. In preparation, a number of mail carriers have even been handing out special bags along with the mail to be filled with food and other items.

Currently, more than 44 million Americans are unsure where their next meal will come from, more than 14 million children feel the impact on their health and ability to perform in school and nearly 5.5 million seniors older than 60 are food insecure, with many who live on fixed incomes often too embarrassed to ask for help, according to a news release.

Food banks and pantries often receive most of their donations during the winter holiday season. By springtime, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.

Making a donation is easy. Residents can place a box or can of non-perishable food next to their mailbox Saturday before the letter carrier delivers mail. The carrier will do the rest.

While all donations are welcome, foods high in protein — canned tuna, salmon, beans and peanut butter — are most needed. Canned fruits and vegetables; whole grain, low-sugar cereals; macaroni and cheese dinners; and 100% fruit juice also are in demand.

All collections stay in local communities. The food will be sorted and delivered to area churches, food banks and food pantries, according to NALC.

Overall, the drive has collected about 1.9 billion pounds of food in the more than 30 years, involving branches in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.

NALC branch and rural office participation is voluntary. To determine if a NALC branch covers your area, use the search tool at https://www.nalc.org/community-service/food-drive/branch-lookup. Or contact the local NALC branch or post office.