A quick caveat before you start boxing up all the cans of mixed vegetables that, admit it, you’re really never going to use: participation in the drive isn’t mandatory for NALC members, so it’s possible that either your postal worker or your post office as a whole has opted out. The organization suggests calling to confirm. That said, donations are also tax-deductible, so while you’re calling you can also ask which food bank you should list on your paperwork come next April.

Advertisement

Since the first pilot drive in 1991, your trusty postal workers have picked up a lot of canned goods and boxes of macaroni and cheese—they collected their one-billionth pound of food all the way back in 2010, for crying out loud. They’re back at it again Saturday, and it’s sort of magical, and come on let’s all leave food by our mailboxes, huh?