The New Braunfels post office will participate in the 27th annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive benefiting the Share Our Spirit Food Bank, 248 Merriweather St., New Braunfels. In coming weeks, postal carriers will deliver bags to every address in three ZIP codes—78130, 78132 and 78133. Citizens are encouraged to fill the bags with nonperishable items such as canned goods, dried pasta, canned meats, beans, rice, cereal and pet food. Filled bags will be collected May 11. James Ogren, a letter carrier for the New Braunfels post office, has been coordinating the food drive locally for the past 18 years. "I enjoy it because it's something that is needed. Even in a community like New Braunfels there’s still hunger," Ogren said. "I didn’t grow up with hunger, but I knew people who did." According to Ogren, the nationwide program has collected almost 2 billion pounds of food since the program started. "Children get out of school, and they have no more lunches, and the food bank fills that need during the summer months," Ogren said. "We fill their shelves to the brim, and it lasts them through August and into September."