When Jim and Sandy Huffman heard about the shortage of food at the Maryland Food Bank, they stuffed their kids into the cab of their big red flatbed truck and headed out to canvass as many Harford County neighborhoods as possible for donations of canned goods.
On Monday, the Street family delivered the fruit of its labors to the Harford Food Bank.Their total take weighed in at 1,800 pounds -- nearly a ton of food.
While their delivery was the largest single donation the food bank had received in a long time, it, sadly, will barely make a dent in the need of hungry Harford County families, said the Rev. J. William McNally, executive director of the Harford bank.
"Until we got that truckload Monday, we were completely out of canned food," said Mr. McNally. Unusually heavy demand among families hit by hard times has left food pantries around the state, including Harford County, hurting.
The Harford Food Bank, which provides low-cost food through churches and non-profit organizations that feed the hungry, relies heavily on regular deliveries from the Maryland Food Bank.
"We usually try to get a truckload a month from the Maryland Food Bank, and we haven't gotten any from them in two months," Mr. McNally said.
The Harford pantry also is supported by donations from Harford County businesses; Harvest for the Hungry, a statewide effort that sponsors food drives; and contributions from individual residents, like the Huffmans.
"We've been close to not having enough food ourselves, so we know what it's like," said Sandy Huffman.
She said the family plans to continue collecting for the food bank on weekends, picking up food on request from individuals or neighborhood groups that have organized their own campaigns.
The Harford Food Bank also distributes food six times a year to participants in Women Infants and Children (WIC), the federally sponsored nutrition program that promotes good nutrition for mothers and their young children. Mr. McNally fears the pantry won't be able to handle the demand at the five county sites.
"I'll need another 4,000 pounds just to get through [this] week," ,, he said.
The need for food is equally great at the county's Department of Social Services, where Neighbors in Need distributes free food to families and individuals in emergencies.
