BREWER – When a 50-cent box of pasta can feed a family of four, it’s easy to see why the dried noodles are the item of choice for an after-the-holidays food drive conducted by a group of area radio stations.

The fourth annual Ton of Pasta drive will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, at four area Hannaford supermarkets – at the Airport Mall in Bangor as well as Brewer, Old Town and Ellsworth. All of the collected pasta will go directly to area food cupboards.

“We’ve seen the faces of people who have really benefited from this,” said Chris Popper, a Cumulus Broadcasting account executive. “We have people coming up and thanking us. That’s why” the radio stations continue to hold the food drive, he said Monday.

The shelves of area food banks are typically bare after the holidays, which is especially true this year with the high cost of home heating oil being a factor, Popper said.

“Pasta will keep on the shelves of the food cupboard, it’s a very inexpensive item and most people will be able to donate it,” he said. “A box of pasta can feed four quite easily, and what’s better than some pasta?”

Broadcasting live will be WWMJ-FM 95.7 at the Airport Mall in Bangor, WQCB-FM 106.5 in Brewer, WEZQ-FM 92.9 in Ellsworth, and WBZN-FM 107.3 in Old Town.

The goal is to collect a ton of pasta or 2,000 boxes at each location. The pasta collected in Bangor and Brewer will go directly to Manna Ministries and Ofelia’s Food Cupboard; in Old Town it will fill shelves at Crossroads Ministries; and in Ellsworth the Emmaus Center will receive the pasta.

Last year, the project gathered nearly 4 tons of pasta for area food cupboards, Popper said.