COOS BAY - You may have seen letter carriers toting around yellow plastic bags, and you've probably seen them in your mailboxes, which only means one thing. It's time for their big annual food drive.

On Friday, mail carriers from the Coos Bay Post Office were finishing up dropping off the bags, all of which will be used for a nationwide effort to help stamp out hunger and feed those in need.

"You will see millions of pounds of food that are given from all the way from Maine to California," says Coos Bay Postal Carrier Perry Boatright. "Some 200,000 letter carriers will participate in this."

Now in its 15th year, carriers have used the day to pick up non-perishable food from residents on Saturday.

And since it's inception, they say, more volunteers have been involved and more food collected. Last year, locally, they provided 11,000 pounds of food to area food banks.

"When you see the faces of the food bank people when they come, they know how blessed they are by being able to have just one day of the year to be able to do this," says Boatright.

To do your part, they ask residents to leave their bags filled with food by their mailbox Saturday before the mail carriers come by.

If you happen to forget or miss the collection time, you can drop them off at the post office until Wednesday.