Identify the community helper as the mail carrier. Like police and fire fighters, they work for the government, not for a business that makes money. Ask the learners to describe the mail carrier. (They can mention the blue uniform, the letter pouch or mail cart, the white truck with red, white and blue stripes, and maybe even the eagle on the logo.)

• Read Mail Carriers (or one of the other books in Bibliographic References). As you read, go over vocabulary words and let the learners define them. Examples might be:
• mail carrier: the person who brings the mail to a house or business
• address: the number and street of a house or a business
• deliver: to bring something to someone
• mail: letters, postcards, packages which the mail carrier brings
• post office: the government building where mail is brought to be delivered and where people buy stamps
• route: the places the mail carrier visits every day to deliver the mail
• mailbox: the place where the mail carrier puts the mail when it is delivered; also, the big box, belonging to the post office, where people drop off their mail to be delivered
• pouch: the mail carrier's sack which holds the mail while it is being delivered.
• Using the geographic theme of "Movement," trace on a large sheet of paper the "route" a letter or package would take on its way from one place to another. (birthday card from Grandmother --> Grandmother's post office >> plane or truck to your post office --> Grandmother's card sorted with other mail --> delivered by your mail carrier to your mailbox)
• Ask the learners how important it is to have a post office and mail carriers. What would happen if the post office stopped delivering mail?
• Tell the learners that mail carriers across the country have one special day a year when they don't just deliver mail. On the second Saturday of May, they pick up cans of food that people donate for those who don't have enough to eat. On another large sheet of paper, trace the "route" that these canned goods take to get to the people who need them. (my house --> mail carrier --> my post office --> United Way agency --> hungry people)
• Ask the learners if they think this is a good way to get food to the hungry. (Explain that the mail carrier doesn't deliver food to hungry people. There are special agencies that know who needs the food and gets it to them.) Ask the learners if they would like to get involved with this special day. Explain that the giving and sharing of things we have to help others is called philanthropy.
• Invite a representative of a local food bank, pantry, shelter (a United Way agency) that receives food to visit the class and explain how their work helps the community. Explain that the people from United Way agencies who provide help to the community are also known as community helpers. They work in nonprofit agencies which serve to help people, not make lots of money.
• As a group effort, design a letter that each student can write to remind others to donate a can of food on the second Saturday of May. The letters can be delivered to other classes in the school, can be taken home or sent to each child's home in time for the drive.