The mail carriers, as well as more than 100 volunteers, came together Saturday to lend their support for the 25th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, hosted by the National Letter Carriers Association.

Members of the local Stephen Decatur Branch 317 of the union set up three locations throughout the city, and volunteers drove around to collect fresh and unopened nonperishable food items left near mailboxes by postal patrons. Items collected were taken to the three locations before they will be distributed to eight local food pantries.

The goal for the quarter-century mark was to raise 100,000 pounds of food.

Joe Roundtree, of the Almeca Food Pantry, said events like Saturday help carry the food pantries through the summer. For a family of five, the pantry gives them 10 pounds of food per week.

It’s an especially important time, as children are out of school and not receiving meals from school.

But it is not just families who are in need of assistance, as other patrons at the pantry include single parents and senior citizens.

As of noon, the location set up at Fairview Park had collected about 2,000 pounds of food, according to letter carrier Angie Miller. The amount was on par for what they have collected in recent years, which Miller said has dropped off since it first began.

“The local economy is not exactly that great here, so there are just more people in need and fewer jobs,” she said.

But Laura Sturgeon looked at it from a different angle.

Sturgeon, a letter carrier who was working the location at Nelson Park, said she has noticed an increase in food drives being hosted by local schools and other organizations.

“We may be losing some, but I think others are picking up the slack,” she said.

Traffic was picking up at the Nelson Park stop, as Sturgeon said they had received about 5,000 pounds of food by 12:30 p.m.

As letter carriers went about to pick up food items on their routes, volunteers like Ryan Atwater were stationed at the locations to help unload the large amounts of food items that were being dropped off.

Atwater, who volunteered at the Fairview Park location along with his wife and children, said he had only recently heard of the event, but that the idea of lending a helping hand seemed a great way to spend early Saturday afternoon.

As he prepared to head out, Atwater said he hoped to be back next year.

“It was a good time, and it felt good to be here and help a good cause,” he said.