Forget the puns -- some of us are discouraged by puns. Ignore the, "Mail carriers help stamp out hunger."

Instead, just think about how easy it is at this very moment to help out those who don't have enough to eat.

That's because today marks the largest single-day food drive in the world -- well, that's according to its organizers and since they work for the federal government, we have no reason to doubt them.

Actually, we don't want to doubt them because it's such a big-hearted thing to do.

The nation's letter carriers with walking routes will collect non-perishable food items at people's homes and businesses today and drop them off at relay boxes placed specially on corners to collect donations. Volunteers then will pick up the contents of those boxes and deliver them to the area post office, after which they'll be distributed to local food organizations, such as food pantries and soup kitchens.

Last year in Augusta alone, 9,912 pounds of food were collected in the letter carriers' drive.

And given the fact that hunger is rising across the country and all over the world, your contribution to alleviating it is important.

So please, if you can afford it, head over to your kitchen cabinets and start pulling out what you can.

No beans, please -- talk to any food pantry worker and they'll tell you they're overwhelmed with black beans and garbanzos. Instead, the real stuff, the cans of beef stew and boxes of cereal and containers of tuna. Take it out, put it by your mailbox and feel like you've done a good thing.

And if you've emptied your pantry by being a good Samaritan, so be it. Take a look at those empty shelves and imagine you don't have the money to put anything back on them.

That's what far too many people in the United States experience every day.