(Photos by Randy M. Cauthron) [Order this photo]

Spencer postal worker Ron Hanson loads his vehicle with food items collected Saturday as part of the community's annual Postal Carriers Food Drive. This year, the Spencer and rural carriers collected over 3,000 pounds of non-perishable food items and home products in rainy conditions. The collection was loaded in postal trucks Tuesday morning and transfered from the Spencer Post Office to the Upper Des Moines Opportunity Food Pantry in Spencer. Upper Des Moines Opportunity Director Anita Jorgensen (also pictured) said she was extremely happy with the collection, anticipating that with the current rising gas and food costs, this year's contributions may have been down. In addition to the quantity, Jorgensen and Hanson both pointed out that the quality of the food products was also improved.

[Order this photo]