This Saturday, you can “Stamp Out Hunger” by joining with the Letter Carriers (NALC) in their 20th annual food drive—the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Last year Letter Carriers collected more than 70 million pounds of food. All you need to do is collect canned goods and dry food, such as tuna, canned meat, soups, pasta, rice and cereal, and leave them in a bag or box by your mailbox. Your letter carriers will pick them up as they deliver your mail.

The family of Abe and Irene Pollin and Enterprise Homes Inc. broke ground on a new development offering affordable housing in Northeast Washington, D.C., in recent days. MetroTowns at Parkside: The Linda Joy and Kenneth Jay Pollin Community will offer 83 new three-bedroom townhouses that will be built to meet green building standards and create more housing for D.C.’s working people. In fact, employees of the District were given the first opportunity to purchase the homes.

Union volunteers in Erie, Pa., pulled weeds, mulched, raked and more on the main campus of the Barber National Institute on April 21, an annual Day of Caring. The institute provides education, training, rehabilitation and residential and health care services for persons with disabilities. The grounds clean-up project there was organized by the Erie-Crawford Central Labor CouncilCommunity Services Committee.

Two new features on our website introduce you to union members who are helping families in the Reading, Pa., community and who keep San Francisco's iconic cable cars running.

The kids got to romp through Munson Park in Monroe, Mich., hunting for Easter eggs—and families in need of food aid received a helping hand, too, thanks to a partnership of unions and community groups.

It came to national attention following hurricanes Rita and Katrina: Relief and recovery after a natural disaster can serve as a prime opportunity for worker exploitation and abuse.

A new manual, " Guide to Rebuilding ," by AFL-CIO Community Services, the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department and United Way Worldwide, offers guidance and best practices on ensuring that when disaster strikes, the rebuilding of our communities is done well and contributes to rebuilding the local economy by using local labor and skilled union workers. Check it out here .

The Central Ohio Labor Council AFL-CIO and the United Way of Central Ohio Community Services Department have named Penn National Gaming to receive their Community Service Award. The award, which honors a community volunteer whose leadership and involvement have made a significant contribution to the community, was presented March 22 as part of the labor council’s annual George Meany Awards Banquet, the largest labor recognition of its kind.

If you’re a regular reader of our AFL-CIO Now news blog, you may come to our site without stopping first at the AFL-CIO home page here. If you haven’t been there recently, you’ve missed a couple of additions and new features on how unions and union members are connecting with communities.

The Indiana State AFL-CIO and United Way have established a disaster relief fund to aid the victims of the deadly tornadoes that ravaged southern Indiana. You can click here to donate online via credit card or send a check to: Indiana Union/UW Disaster Response; Indiana Association of United Ways; 3901 N. Meridian #306; Indianapolis, IN 46208-4026.

In southern Indiana and other areas where a series of powerful and deadly tornadoes stuck late last week, union members are mobilizing to bring help to union families and others.