Food Pantries

Giant extends drive to help stock food pantries Hoping to meet increasing demands at area food banks, Giant Food Inc. is extending its annual "Good Neighbor Food and Funds" campaign through the end of this month. The campaign was to end Dec. 31, but will run until Jan. 31 to benefit food pantries and soup kitchens, some of which reported in a recent survey that they are serving more families than ever. People can participate by donating nonperishable food or cash at participating Giant or Super G stores.

Passover is seen traditionally as a holiday of the spring, not usually marked by snow. But Howard Kaplan and his wife, Roberta, of Baltimore, wouldn't let Monday's inclement conditions deter them from coming to the Pimlico Race Course to dispose of their leavened food. "Snow won't hold anybody up," she said. Baltimore-area families burned their chametz Monday morning in observation of Passover. The holiday commemorates God's freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. Because the Jewish people had to leave Egypt quickly, they had to eat their bread before it had risen.

Suburban communities are driving the increased demand at soup kitchens and food pantries in the Baltimore metropolitan area, according to a study released yesterday by the Maryland Food Committee.It was the fourth year in the row for the study -- and the fourth consecutive year that demand went up. Overall, more than 92,000 people sought hot meals or bags of groceries last month, up from almost 79,000 in October 1992. Soup kitchens, which serve hot meals on the premises, reported a 16 percent increase, while pantries, which provide nonperishable items to go, saw a 20 percent jump.

Harford County government employees collected more than three tons of food during a one-week drive to aid Harvest for the Hungry, which concluded Friday. In all, 6,200 pounds of non-perishable food were collected during the drive that began March 1 to coincide with the start of the annual campaign to replenish area food banks, including one run locally by the nonprofit Harford Community Action Agency. As in past years, the county departments competed among each other to see which one could collect the most food.

Use of food pantries and homeless shelters has increased sharply around Maryland in the past year despite the state's prosperity, according to an anti-poverty group's survey.Early results of the survey, conducted by the Center for Poverty Solutions in Baltimore, show that Maryland food pantry patrons took home 59 percent more groceries this year than last and that the number of children seeking shelter went up by nearly a quarter.Though both numbers have risen in the annual survey over the past five years, the increases this year are much greater, said Rob Hess, president of the center.

Maryland's food pantries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens experienced a 23 percent increase in visits from families with children in the past year according to a survey to be released today by the Center for Poverty Solutions.The study, based on 1998 information mailed in by the staffs of 191 emergency providers throughout the state, also found that 26 percent more senior citizens used food pantries for donations.It concludes that rates of unemployment combined with fewer people receiving public assistance has had a "serious impact" upon food pantry and soup kitchen use."

Yvonne Brown has come so far -- from sunken-cheeked addict to teacher's assistant, from drawing government checks to making her own money and her own way.Yet there she was, leaning over the counter of the food pantry at the Bethel Outreach Center in West Baltimore this week, waiting as emergency services director Georgia Crawford filled plastic bags with frozen salmon and peanut butter, dried milk and canned corn, spaghetti and bread."

T he economic downturn that has caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes and sense of financial well-being has also produced a drastic increase in the number of people who go to bed hungry at night. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last week that nearly 50 million Americans - including almost a quarter of the nation's children - lacked consistent access to enough to eat in 2008. That was the highest figure recorded since the department began keeping such statistics in 1995.

Bill Ewing was unemployed and living in his Volkswagen van on April Fools' Day 1979 when his aunt dragged him to a celebration marking the start of a new charity, the Maryland Food Bank. Ewing, who had recently left his job as a teacher, was looking for something to do. The first food banks had just started popping up around the country, and the concept behind them - bringing food from big producers to small food pantries - intrigued him. He decided to volunteer for a few weeks. Now, Ewing is preparing to step down as executive director of the nonprofit organization.

Demand at soup kitchens and food pantries in Central Maryland grew for a third consecutive year, forcing some facilities to turn hungry people away, according to a survey released yesterday by the Maryland Food Committee.It was the first time in the three years of the survey that soup kitchens and food pantries reported turning people away."This year, the picture is really much more somber and sobering," said Linda Eisenberg of the Maryland Food Committee in a news conference at SS. Stephen and James Lutheran Church, one of several soup kitchens in South Baltimore.

Fire marshal Volunteers are needed weekdays to serve as receptionists and office clerks. On-the-job training will be provided, and there is flexibility in scheduling. Information: Patty Godio at 410-222-7884, email fd009580@aacounty.org or go to aacounty.org/firehttp://aacounty.org/fire. Juvenile services The department needs volunteers, 21 and older, to serve as tutors and provide mentoring. Background checks are required and training will be provided. There are also internship opportunities available for college students.

Continuing a tradition begun in 2008, members of the Bel Air New Car Dealers Association made two $5,000 donations to Harford County charitable institutions that serve members of the community in the greatest need for food and shelter. Checks were presented Tuesday to the Harford Community Action Agency in Edgewood, which manages and stocks the county's food banks, and the Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United (FCCAU) Welcome One Emergency Shelter in Belcamp. "We had two very successful parking lot sales at the Festival at Bel Air during 2012, over the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends," Thomas D. Walls, president of the Bel Air New Car Dealers Association, wrote in a press release.

September is Hunger Action Month, and I'm committed to helping raise awareness about food insecurity in our state. I want to share some startling statistics: Hungry Marylanders miss nearly 127 million meals each year. More than 740,000 of our neighbors are food insecure. And 236,000 children in Maryland do not know where their next meal will come from. We can make a difference by supporting the Maryland Food Bank, our state's largest and oldest food bank. The Maryland Food Bank works with more than 600 network partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters, to get food into the hands of those who need it most.

Ebenezer United Methodist Church hosts the "Rock of Help" food pantry for anyone in the community in need of food from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the church, 4901 Woodbine Road, Sykesville. Nonperishable foods, frozen meats and some frozen prepared meals, plus a non-food item, are available. Those coming to the food pantry are asked to fill out a short information sheet, then the church gives them a list of available foods to check off what they need.

SYKESVILLE — Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 4901 Woodbine Road, Sykesville, recently began a "Rock of Help" food pantry for the needy in the community. The pantry is open to anyone in need of food from 9 to 11 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the church. Upcoming dates are June 16, July 21 and Aug. 18. "We have mainly canned goods that we give out, but each month we also will have a non-food item," said Sue Bergmann, church secretary. Those coming to the food pantry "just fill out a short information sheet and we give them a list of the food items we have and they check off what they want.

The man who police say shot and critically wounded a co-rector and killed another worker at an Ellicott City church last week was angry about being told to limit his visits to the food pantry, church leaders said in a statement on Saturday. The shootings of the two women have plunged the congregation of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, founded in Howard County in 1842, into mourning. The church has announced a private service for Sunday at 10 a.m. The statement from the church says a custodian found the victims in an office.

The U.S. Postal Service Harvest for the Hungry food drive in Maryland has collected more than 100,000 pounds of food in this year's campaign that ended March 24, double its 50,000-pound goal.Bill Ewing, executive director of the Maryland Food Bank, said yesterday that the annual drive, in which postal workers pick up goods from their mail customers, has collected more than $30 million worth of food since it began 12 years ago.Food banks will distribute the goods to soup kitchens, food pantries and emergency shelters.

Anne Arundel County has won a $179,145 federal grant, a threefold increase over last year, to help the homeless and hungry through the winter.Homeless shelters and food pantries can apply for part of the grant from the Federal Emergency Food and Shelter National Program.The county received nearly three times the assistance this year for emergency shelters, meals, help with utility bills and eviction prevention.Last year, the county helped 5,201 poor people with a $59,401 grant from FEMA, said Marjorie Bennett, director of emergency programs for the county Department of Social Services.