Residents of Lehigh Acres are being asked to leave non-perishable foods by their mailboxes today and letter carriers will join others in Lee County and pick it up. All food collected in Lehigh will stay in Lehigh, said Mark Pie, acting postmaster of the Lehigh Post Office today. He said each resident got a notice in the mailbox earlier this week about the food drive.

If you want to take the food to the Lehigh Acres Post Office, it is located on Business Way. But after post office closes today, you should take it in next week during regular business hours.

More than 65 volunteers are assisting the mail carriers by helping collect the donated food items on rural routes where the carriers use their private vehicles and have limited space for the food.

More than 300 individuals are assisting at eight Post Offices sorting food for the local food banks. Much of the food goes to the Harry Chapin Food Bank, which distributes the food to their 165 participating agencies.