Organizers of a food drive in North Alabama on Saturday are hoping the event will offset cuts by the federal government to programs that help feed area residents.

The Food Bank of North Alabama and the National Association of Letter Carriers will be teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association for the 33rd annual NALC National Food Drive: Stamp Out Hunger.

Letter carriers in Huntsville, Madison, Decatur, Cullman, Hartselle, Eva, Falkville, Cullman, and Athens will collect food donations left at or inside the mailboxes of homes along their routes. Residents can leave food in the yellow plastic bags provided by mail carriers or use their own bags. Carriers will be collecting canned goods and other non-perishable food items. These donations will then be delivered to the Food Bank of North Alabama.

“We are thankful to all of our letter carriers who help with this drive and all the families who participate by donating food,” said Shirley Schofield, CEO of the Food Bank of North Alabama. “This is our biggest drive of the year and has a tremendous impact on our work.”

The food drive has become even more important this year after the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently ended two programs that helped schools and food banks buy food from local farmers and ranchers, cutting over $1 billion in federal funding for these purchases.

“Unfortunately, we are expecting to receive nearly one million fewer pounds of food from federal programs this year due to cuts,” Schofield said. “That is equivalent to 833,333 fewer meals we’ll have to distribute, and that is why this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive is so critical for us. The good news is we live in an amazingly generous community and we know that people will step up and help us bridge the gap for our neighbors — children, seniors, veterans and working people — who are fighting to overcome food insecurity.”

In 2024, The Food Bank of North Alabama distributed more than 15 million pounds of food, which is the equivalent of over 12 million meals, across 11 counties in North Alabama, the food bank said.

The Food Bank is the primary source of food for about 240 organizations in North Alabama, including church food pantries, soup kitchens, backpack programs, homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters. Additionally, the Food Bank operates a robust system of direct services including mobile pantries, school pantries and healthcare partnerships.

Organizers hope this year’s drive will match the success of the one last year that resulted in 75,000 pounds of food donations being collected for the Food Bank of North Alabama.

Stamp Out Hunger has become the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

“This is the easiest way to help out the Food Bank’s efforts,” said Joshua Matthews, chief operations officer at the Food Bank of North Alabama. “It also helps us provide food for kids, we always see an uptick in need during the summer months because kids are out of schools, so they’re not receiving free and reduced lunch at school and not getting those meals.”