With the 16th annual Mayors’ Day of Concern for the Hungry scheduled for Sept. 27, Arthur Lee, executive director of the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle & King County, is looking forward to better times.

The program’s largest food drive of the year, Mayors’ Day always provides a real shot in the arm for EFP, but this help has perhaps never been so needed as it is now.

“In just the last six months,” Lee explained, “we’ve seen an 81-percent increase in the amount of food that is being requested from our more than 130 distribution partners.”

Mayors’ Day will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at local grocery stores throughout King County.

The Emergency Feeding Program is currently recruiting volunteers to help staff local grocery stores on Mayors’ Day.

For more information or to find out how you can help, contact the EFP at (206) 329-0300 or visit www.emergencyfeeding.org.