Thousands of food items sat in boxes Monday at the Selma Area Food Bank, as proof the Letter Carrier’s ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ Food Drive was a success.

Roughly, 6,145 pounds of non-perishable food and canned goods were collected during the 23rd annual food drive, which was held Saturday around the country by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Although the amount picked up nationally won’t be known until June, Selma Area Food Bank executive director J. D. Parks said the amount of cans collected in Selma was equivalent to 7,680 meals. All donations picked up in the Selma area went to the Selma Area Food Bank.

“It means a lot to us,” he said. “We’re averaging about 14,000 client services a month. So roughly half a month’s worth of meals have been collected.”

The letter carrier drive brings in some of the biggest donations the bank has ever seen, he said. Parks and others put in a lot of time handling the donations.

“We were at the post office for about three and a half hours,” he said. “The letter carriers certainly got a workout bringing all of that in because they have to pick it up and put it in their trucks. We appreciate what they did.”

Selma Postal Service supervisor Jeffery Gardner said the drive went smooth.

“The customers were cooperative,” he said. “They placed the cans where we asked them to, which was beside their mailboxes. It made it a lot easier for the carriers to drop off and pick up the cans.”

Some of the mail trucks were weighed down with food items Gardner said. He said city routes 14 and 18 had a tremendous load of goods.

“We had floats that were pushing out to unload the vehicles,” Gardner said. “These two guys (mail carriers from route 14 and 18) had two full floats of canned goods, which is a lot.”

The three tons collected didn’t surprise Gardner.

“We expected to have a very successful drive because we want to play a big role in helping feed the hungry,” he said.

In 2014, a total of 70 million pounds were collected. More than 10,000 cities and towns around the United States participate each year.