By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – An annual effort by the LaPlace branch of the U.S. Postal Service to help replenish the St. John Ministry of Care’s food bank continues this Saturday as postal drivers will be collecting food as they work their routes.

Earlier this month a brown bag from the post office was placed in mailboxes in the area and residents are asked to fill the bags with non-perishable food to be picked up by postal carriers.

“The bags are a first for this program,” said Glen Templet of the LaPlace Post Office. “We thought it would be more convenient to furnish residents with bags instead of making them seek out their own.”

Templet said Saturday’s food drive is part of the annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. He said all items collected will be sent to the St. John Ministry of Care to be used in their food bank. He said the annual drive is often a huge success in the region.

“Once all the food is collected it gets sorted into these 4-foot tall, 5-foot wide tubs at the post office,” Templet said. “In the past, we have filled as many as six of those tubs. It has always been really successful. Our residents are very generous.”

Templet said that the post office wanted to make sure that residents understand that all of the food is staying local and going to help local families who seek the help of Ministry of Care.

“It is a Postal Service program, but none of the food is being shipped out of town,” he said.

For more information, contact the post office at 985-651-5959, or visit www.drivetoendhunger.org/fillthebag.