Starting Saturday, March 6, Marylanders are asked to leave bags of non-perishable canned food items at their mailboxes, which will be picked up by letter carriers, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts as part of the 24th annual Harvest for the Hungry/U.S. Postal Service Food Drive.

Since its inception in 1986, Harvest for the Hungry has raised more than 29 million pounds of food to feed hungry Marylanders. This year’s sponsors include: The Maryland Food Bank, Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, Boy Scouts, Coldwell Banker, Safeway, MorganStanley SmithBarney, The Baltimore Sun Media Group, WBAL-TV, WBAL-AM 1090 and Comcast.

The public can also drop-off food donations at participating Safeway stores, Coldwell Banker offices and your local post office.

In addition to the mailbox food donation collections, this year Coldwell Banker will sponsor “Stuff-a-Truck” food collection effort. Two locations for the collections will be in Ellicott City and Arundel Mills. The truck will be at the Safeway in Arundel Mills on March 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on March 13 — the final day of the drive — from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Safeway in Long Gate Shopping Center in Ellicott City.

The mission of the Maryland Food Bank is to lead the movement and nurture the belief that together we can improve the lives of all Marylanders by ending hunger. The Maryland Food Bank has facilities in Baltimore and Salisbury comprising nearly 107,000-square-feet of warehouse, refrigerator and freezer space. The Maryland Food Bank, now in its 30th year of operation, distributed 18.6 million pounds of food last year through its statewide network of food distribution agencies. The Maryland Food Bank is a member of Feeding America.

For more information on participating locations, visit www.mdfoodbank.org/harvest.