Generous Long Island postal customers recently donated 382,175 pounds of food as part of the National Association of Letter Carrier’s annual Stamp Out Hunger® food drive, according to Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest Food Bank, a Melville-based human services organization, which was the beneficiary of the food collection event.

Held each year on the second Saturday in May, Stamp Out Hunger is the largest one-day food collection event that spans all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

United States Postal Service letter carriers pick up bags of food left by postal customers’ mailboxes as part of their letter carrier duties. Since its inception in 1993, Stamp Out Hunger has collected more than 1.75 billion pounds of food to help address the ongoing public health crisis of hunger in America.

Donations collected on Long Island will help Island Harvest replenish its network of food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs in communities in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

According to Island Harvest estimates, the 382,175 pounds of food collected is the equivalent of approximately 318,500 meals for food-insecure people on Long Island.

“We are grateful for the generosity of Long Islanders who donated to this year’s Stamp Out Hunger campaign, whether it was just a can of soup or a bag full of groceries; that simple act of kindness will go a long way in improving the life of a person struggling with the uncertainty of not knowing where their next meal may be,” said Dresner.  “Island Harvest also acknowledges the hard work and dedication of the leadership of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 6000, and the postal workers across Long Island, along with the support of our sponsors for their generosity and tireless efforts in our efforts to help our neighbors in need. And a special thanks to our hardworking volunteers who gave of their time, sorting and packing all of the donations we received.”

This year’s Stamp Out Hunger collection campaign on Long Island was generously supported by presenting sponsor National Grid, lead sponsor JPMorgan Chase & Co., and major sponsors Allstate, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Dime Community Bank, Empire Automotive Group, Nonna’s Garden, Rheem ProPartner, and Stop & Shop, and supporting partners College Hunks Moving, College Hunks Hauling Junk, Amazon, and Steel Equities.