The Open Door is urging Cape Ann and Ipswich residents to leave non-perishable food by their mailboxes Saturday for letter carriers to pick up and drop off at the pantry as part of the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
The food drive is organized annually by the National Organization of Letter Carriers. Letter carriers across the country have been collecting food donations while on the job during the second Saturday in May since 1993.
This year’s is being held Saturday, May 9, and letter carriers in Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Ipswich are all participating. All donations will be brought directly to The Open Door for distribution through its Gloucester and Ipswich food pantries.
The Open Door asks people to not donate anything in glass jars. The agency said the most requested items are coffee, condiments, cooking oil, peanut butter and canned tuna.
“The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive makes giving easy; simply leave your nonperishable food by your mailbox,” The Open Door President and CEO Julie LaFontaine said in a prepared statement. “This one-day event captures the generosity of community and the dedication of local letter carriers to make a difference for our neighbors.”
The 501©(3) tax-exempt nonprofit agency, which serves 13 local communities through its Gloucester and Ipswich pantries, reported a 36% increase in requests for food assistance from 2024 to 2025. This is the highest single year increase the pantry has seen, according to LaFontaine. The rise follows 30% increases in both 2023 and 2024.
In 2025, the agency’s pantries distributed 2.48 million pounds of food to 12,780 people in Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex, Ipswich, Rowley, Topsfield, Boxford, Hamilton, Wenham and Georgetown across 5,718 households — the most, LaFontaine previously told the Times, that The Open Door has ever distributed.
On Thursday, May 7, The Open Door is hosting its Empty Bowl dinner from 4-7 p.m. at Cruiseport Gloucester, 6 Rowe Square. Pay-what-you-can tickets with timed entry are available at foodpantry.org.
As part of the dinner, The Open Door is hosting an online silent auction of bowls and platters designed and crafted by local artisans and officials, including Jeff Weaver, Sigrid Olson, Gloucester Mayor Paul Lundberg, Ken Knowles and others. The auction is live and closes Sunday, May 10, at 6 p.m. The auction may be found at www.32auctions.com/emptybowl2026.