In Duluth, four food shelves benefit from the food drive: The Union Gospel Mission, Churches United in Ministry, the Salvation Army and Vineyard Christian Fellowship. They’ll divvy the food up in the coming days.

CHUM got about 40,000 pounds of food last year. It gives away about 5,000 pounds of food a week, so the Letter Carriers Food Drive should last the food shelf about two months.

“Really, without this food drive we’d have a hard time providing full service in the summer,” Kearns says. “This is really critical for us.”

With high prices for food and fuel and an ailing economy, CHUM’s food shelf served 40 percent more families and 45 percent more individuals in April 2008 than it did in April 2007.

“That kind of took my breath away,” Kearns says.

Duluth News Tribune