By Katie Stallcup

Published: May 8, 2008

The shelves are scattered with food, some racks with only a handful of items.

What has Martha Faupel worried is that it might mean empty shelves where people need food the most.

The Food Bank of East Alabama gathers donated food and distributes it to local agencies, which give it to people who need it.

The food bank is hoping residents will help replenish the stocks by giving generously at Saturday’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

Letter carriers in Auburn, Opelika, Tuskegee and rural areas will pick up bags of nonperishable food placed by mailboxes.

“It is so simple,” said Faupel, food bank director. “… You buy a few extra canned goods or dry goods… put them in a box, put it out by your mailbox, and… it’ll get taken care of from there.”

The recent economic problems and the timing means the food bank has less to give when people need the most, Faupel said.

Summer months are especially tough, she said. Children are out of school, and there’s no Christmas or Thanksgiving to remind people to give.

“We’ve often said, if we could relegate hunger to the holiday season, we’d have this thing made,” Faupel said. “If you want to know the truth, summer is really ground zero for the problem of feeding children.”

More people are finding it hard to afford food with rising cooling and gasoline costs, she said. Some who have donated food in the past are now asking for help. Even a new prescription medication can send a family past its budget.

But Saturday, people can help.

“It’s really the easiest way I know they can give back to the community because it’s so convenient,” Tuskegee customer services supervisor Scott Ward said. “It’s a convenient and easy way to give back to people who really need the help.”

The food drive is a way for people who don’t know where or how to donate, Opelika Postmaster Terry Dozier said.

Post office employees really get into it, too, he said.

“They take a lot of pride in it because they’re helping people less fortunate,” Dozier said. “And the customers like it because it gives them the opportunity to contribute something that is a very worthwhile cause.”

For more information on how to give, visit http://www.foodbankofeastalabama.com, or call the food bank at 334-821-9006.

Please visit http://www.oanow.com to view video with more comments from Faupel and views the food bank.