Spam. Vienna sausages. Tuna. Protein in a can. You have it, Hawai'i's hungry need it, and your U.S. Postal Service carrier will help get it to them again this year.

Letter carriers and their supporters held a pep rally yesterday at the downtown post office to remind customers that Saturday is the 14th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive, a major effort in keeping the state's food bank stocked through the next several months.

The carriers will pick up and deliver mail as usual on Saturday. In addition, they hope to pick up lots of non-perishable groceries that customers leave near mailboxes.

Last year, carriers collected 71.3 million pounds of food throughout the country. In Hawai'i, they collected 366,000 pounds.

Adele Yoshikawa, Pearl City carrier and Postal Ambassador, said the goal this year is to exceed last year's totals, with an emphasis on protein products.

Brett Schlemmer of the Hawai'i Foodbank said local charities and the people they help feed through foodbank donations are grateful.

"Letter carriers rock," he said.

Yesterday, to promote the upcoming drive, the carriers built a pyramid of 1,000 pounds of canned meat, fish and Vienna sausages on the downtown post office lawn to remind residents that the hungry need high-protein nonperishables.

After listening to a couple of quick speeches they leaned on big, inflatable Campbell's soup cans and relaxed while posing for pictures. The relaxation part was important; they need energy for hauling food on Saturday.

"It's a pretty rugged day," said carrier Howard Komine, who has been collecting food donations annually for 14 years, "but it's for a good cause."

"We'll adjust," said carrier and state union president Terry Kaolulo. "Carriers adjust to everything: increased volume, weather. ..."

Komine said carriers also help to sort the donations at the foodbank on Saturday after work, a task that continues into the night but is less taxing now that other unions, including the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, and the AFL-CIO, as well as the Department of Education, are assisting each year.

"This year," said Lynn Ching of the AFL-CIO, "members of the teachers union are distributing fliers at the schools and asking the students to leave the donations at the mailbox. That way we'll get good food, because the kids pick the best stuff."

Komine said the best donation he had picked up in past years was a case of abalone.

Laroma Parker, whose route is in Waikiki, said she could beat that.

"Caviar," she said. "We get all the high-end stuff in Waikiki."

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.