What:  United Way of Illinois Valley encourages community members to donate a sturdy bag of non-perishable items (canned foods, pasta, rice,cereal, etc.) to be collected by letter carrieres as they deliver mail along their postal routes.

Who:  "Stamp Out Hunger" is a national partnership between NALC, the US Postal Service, United Way, the AFL-CIO, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Assocation, Campbell, Feeding America, Valpak, AARP and Uncle Bob's Self Storage.  The nation's 230,000 active letter carriers will take the donations to local food pantries and shelters.

When:  Saturday, May 14, 2011 prior to mail delivery

Where:  Leave bags next to your mailbox.

Why:  Each year, millions of Americans join the effort to help meet the needs of nearly 50 million Americans who live in families that lack sufficient food.  One is seven adults and nearly one-quarter of all children who are hungry are not receiving the basic nutrition they  need.  Moving into the summer months, 22 million students are at risk of going hungry when the school year ends.  For many children, school meals are the only complete and nutritious meals they eat.