MAIL CARRIERS TO COLLECT FOOD

Mail carriers in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City will play dual roles Saturday by delivering mail and collecting food.

This year's post office food drive in Cape Girardeau, sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service and National Association of Letter Carriers Local 1015, is the second drive for local carriers.

Residents are asked to leave non-perishable food in or by their mailboxes Saturday for the one-day drive.

"Food drives have been conducted by letter carriers the past four years but only on individual branch campaigns," said Ivan D. Majka, coordinator for the local campaign.

The drive went nationwide in 1993, with more than 250 union branches participating. That drive netted more than 12 million pounds of food for various charities.

A year later, in 1994, 774 branches with 177,000 carriers collected 32 million pounds of food and earned the President's Volunteer Action Award. Last year more than 900 branches collected more than 45 million pounds of food.

"That was a one-day record for food collections," said Majka.

The local campaign netted 11,800 pounds of food.

We're hoping to more than double last year's collections," said Majka. "More people have indicated they'll be getting involved in the drive."

A receptacle will be placed in the post office lobby where food may be dropped off Saturday.

Food collected in Cape Girardeau will go to the Salvation Army and FISH, food collected in the Jackson area will go to Jackson area food banks, and food collected at Scott City will remain in the Scott City area.

Some 900 branches have indicated they will participate in the 1996 drive, including Carbondale, Ill., and Paducah, Ky.

The drive is being conducted at a good time, said Majka. Many food banks are low on supplies. Following Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, shelves have not been completely replenished.