Details were unveiled in mid-April, and collection begins this week. Project Salina, an annual effort to feed the hungry, begins Friday.

Project Salina unites multiple businesses and organizations in an effort to collect food for five agencies that serve meals, or distribute food, throughout the year. Food will be collected throughout the month of May.

This year marks 26 years of the effort. Project Salina began back in 1990. It started as an effort to help agencies that provide food when their need is the greatest, in the summer months. The agencies typically see a lot of donations during the holidays, but by the summer months their shelves are getting bare.

In that first year, 23 organizations gathered 56,465 food items for three local agencies. The effort has grown over the years. Last year, 204 organizations participated in the effort, gathering 270,158 food items for five agencies.

This year the need is even greater, and the goal even loftier. The goal is to collect 301,000 food items for the five agencies that feed Salina’s hungry. The agencies include Ashby House, the Salina Rescue Mission, The Emergency Aid Food Bank, the Salvation Army, and the Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas. Project Salina provides about 40% of their annual food needs.

Salina Media Group radio stations this year will be collecting cereal, both hot and cold.