SANTA ROSA, April 24 - Letters carriers in Sonoma County hope to collect 50,000 lbs. of food for the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) on May 9 during the 17th annual National Association of Letter Carriers' "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive.

"That's our goal, " said Linda James Vice President and Food Drive Coordinator for Letter Carriers North Coast Branch 183. "Last year we collected 132,000 lbs. of food for hunger relief programs throughout the county, of which 40,480 lbs. went to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. This year we want to do better and collect 150,000 lbs of food including 50,000 lbs for the Redwood Empire Food Bank."

James said about 425 Sonoma County letter carriers are involved in this year's effort.

"Food Drive day is really my favorite work day of the year, " James said. "It gives carriers a chance to help our customers, our community, everyone in need that we see every day."

David Goodman, Executive Director of the REFB, said postal workers "once again are making it very, very easy to help fight hunger."

"It's never been easier to make a difference than by participating in the annual letter carriers' food drive, and it comes at a time when food banks everywhere need more help providing for people in need, " he said. "All people have to do is walk out to the mail box and leave a bag of food for the mailman. Never will so little effort make such a tremendous difference."

The Letter Carriers will officially launch the annual drive with a reception at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 6 at the Casa Grande Post Office on Corporate Circle in Petaluma.

"Stamp Out Hunger" is the largest single annual food drive in the nation. Letter carriers last year collected 73.1 million pounds of food in 10,000 cities and towns across the country. The annual NALC drive has collected 909 million lbs of food over the past 16 years.

In addition to the REFB, pantries receiving the Letter Carrier's food this year will include COTS and Salvation Army in Petaluma, FISH in Santa Rosa and Sonoma, and in the West County Food for Thought, Russian River Food Pantry, Catholic Charities Rural Food Project, Seventh Day Adventists, and Interfaith Church Food Pantry. The effort also benefits pantries in Northern Napa County and the city of Lakeport in Lake County.

Here's how the annual drive works.

Postcards announcing the annual effort will be left in mail boxes of residents whose mail carriers are participating in the drive. Residents are asked to place non-perishable food - no glass containers are allowed - in a bag and leave it next to their mail box before the regular delivery time on Saturday, May 9. Carriers will gather the donated food and distribute it to REFB and other hunger relief programs.

In addition to the one-day pickup by Letter Carriers, "Stamp Out Hunger" provides opportunities for residents to make food donations from May 4-11 at participating post offices. REFB food barrels will be placed in the lobbies of the main Santa Rosa post office, main branches in Cotati, Penngrove, Sebastopol, Glen Ellen, Occidental, Guerneville, Forestville, Kenwood, the Casa Grande branch on Corporate Circle in Petaluma, the Rohnert Park Raley Center, Coddingtown and Roseland branches.

Other drop-off points include Ursuline Academy and Riebli Elementary School in Santa Rosa.

Food also may be donated in front of the Redwood Empire Food Bank headquarters, 3320 Industrial Drive in Santa Rosa from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from May 4-11.

This year's Letter Carriers drive is expected to get a boost from promotions sponsored by the Bay Area Food Bank Network which includes the REFB and food banks in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

Public service announcements by broadcast outlets from Sonoma County to San Jose will direct listeners and viewers to a central web site, www.bayareafoodbank.org, which will provide links to individual food bank web sites for making online contributions.

In addition, CBS-Channel 5 TV will broadcast promotion ads during morning, lunchtime and evening news shows from May 1-8 featuring personal appeals for support by postal workers and food bank representatives.

The Redwood Empire Food Bank is the largest food bank on the Northern California coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Working with 133 partner agencies, the REFB provides food to some 60,000 people every month in Sonoma County alone. It provides food support for pantries, shelters, meals programs and social service agencies with a food program operating in Sonoma Valley, Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Cotati, Sebastopol and the West County, Santa Rosa, Windsor, Healdsburg and Cloverdale and along the lower Russian River.

The REFB also is the primary source for food for pantries in Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

For more information, call Miriam Hodgman, Food & Funds Drive Coordinator, 707-523-7900.