Mail carriers pulled into the Dalton Post Office and unloaded canned peas, boxes of cereal, fruit drinks, and even bottles of ketchup from their trucks on Saturday.

It wasn’t the average delivery day for U.S. Postal Service carriers who picked up non-perishable food items during their stops to benefit local charities in the 15th “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.

“This is good for the community,” said carrier Steve Morgan said. “Much of the food goes to the Salvation Army to help keep their shelves full. If not they have to spend money on food when it could be going for something else.”

Other groups like Providence Ministries, Harvest Outreach, Helping the Hurting and the Whitfield County Jail Ministries receive portions of the food.

Last year, Morgan said, the U.S. Postal Service collected 70 million pounds of food nationwide. Almost four tons was collected in Whitfield County last year, he said.

Morgan won’t know this year’s total until later in the week, as more food is expected to come in through next Friday.

Maj. Lloyd Kerns of the Salvation Army said its food pantry was almost empty from the last food drive during Christmas.

“We desperately need (the donations),” Kerns said. “Unfortunately, what we’ll get here will only last about four to six weeks then it will be gone, depending on the number of people who come.”

He said having the post office’s help was critical because they “reach a large number of people.”

As the trucks rolled into the post office parking lot in mid-afternoon teenagers from the Salvation Army’s church helped unload and sort the food.

Cans were put into containers, which Morgan said could hold about 1,000 pounds, and were stacked on top of others about four feet high. Cardboard products lagged behind cans in sheer volume, but were stacked maybe three feet high and glass and plastic products were similar.