For many of us, the holiday season provides an opportunity to gather with loved ones and give thanks; but for food-insecure households in Maryland, it simply magnifies the struggle to make ends meet.
This year, the Maryland Food Bank celebrated its 35th year of service, distributing a record-breaking 36.8 million meals to families in need — up from 29 million in 2013. This success was spread across three locations: our main facility in Halethorpe; our Western Branch in Hagerstown, which more than quadrupled its distribution across four counties; and our Eastern Shore Branch in Salisbury, which distributed nearly 4.5 million meals across eight counties.
The employees of the Maryland Food Bank would like to thank the hundreds of thousands of Marylanders — individual donors, volunteers, advocates, and community and business leaders — who committed food, funds and time to supporting our hunger-relief efforts in 2014.
Because of this unprecedented growth — and with holiday donations still pouring in — our warehouse is filled with food. This is excellent news. However, it also means that our need for volunteers is now more pressing than usual. With so much food coming in during the holiday season and just a handful of regular volunteers available to process and sort donations, the food bank will undoubtedly feel the strain as the holidays fade from view. Simply put, we need more hands to ensure the food so generously donated moves out of our warehouses and into the hands of our neighbors in need.
As we enter the New Year, please consider that a donation of your time can help us put food on the table for thousands of households struggling with hunger. A typical group of 15 volunteers can pack up to 10,000 pounds of food per shift, making the equivalent of 7,700 meals available to Marylanders in need. Imagine the impact you could have!
Unfortunately, hunger doesn't end after the holidays. Thank you for helping us feed Maryland families all year long.
Deborah Flateman
The writer is president and CEO of the Maryland Food Bank.
Visit http://www.mdfoodbank.org/volunteer to find out how to sign up individually or for a group of friends, and help get food onto the tables of those who need it most.