People Flourish When Food Comes First
With expanded access to nutritious food and more pathways out of hunger, neighbors from Cumberland to Cambridge have the chance to thrive. Join The Fight
The food you help provide to Marylanders in need has an impact that reverberates throughout our state. It provides a foundation for children to learn, helps struggling working families get back on their feet, supports older adults, and allows neighbors to focus on more productive pursuits than finding food.
With your help, we can give more than food. We can give hope.
Who We Help
We could measure the Maryland Food Bank’s impact in numbers, such pounds of food or meals distributed annually, but the most accurate measure of our impact is on the lives we touch.
Maryland Food Bank helps:
- Hungry Children – proper nutrition is crucial for child development and academic success, improves confidence, and correlates with reduced risk of health issues, school dropouts, and incarceration.
- Working Families – food assistance helps families in Maryland, a state with one of the highest costs of living in the country, avoid having to choose between food and other key household expenses like health care or housing.
- Older Adults – malnourished older adults suffer an increased risk of a variety of health issues, including gum disease, asthma, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and heart attack.
- Maryland’s Under-resourced Communities – food assistance resources distributed through programs such as SNAP program have been shown to nearly double their economic impact on the local community, and positively impact the quality of its health, safety, and education.
Hear Their Stories
The true face of hunger might not be what you expect. Find out what happens when we help our neighbors in need, in their own voices.
Research and Reports
Find our latest original reporting and data-driven tools aimed at helping stakeholders and the public better understand and address the complexity of food insecurity in Maryland.
It’s just really important to let them feel human, to let them know that they’re recognized…
Marge B.
Assistance Recipient & Volunteer
When I go to my refrigerator, and it’s not just empty, it makes me feel good. Living my life now, I wouldn’t pass it up for nothing.
Lamont B.
Recipient
I never realized we have so much hunger here.
Pat
Volunteer
Latest News
What’s Really Behind Hunger? How A Vehicle Breakdown Uprooted the Murphy Family
When Marylanders like Jeni Murphy share their story and tell us what’s really behind the hunger they are experiencing, it illustrates the ripple-effects of a lost resource. These stories give us a glimpse of understanding about deeply a root cause of hunger can affect a family’s day-to-day life.
The Power of Voices Lead to Neighbors Making Choices
Choice is an important part of what makes us all feel human. Making choices allow us to feel in control, to let us determine the course of our own lives. That’s why the Maryland Food Bank is working to bring more neighbor choice food pantries, to more communities statewide.
Healing the Body and Mind with Fresh Food
The more places food-insecure Marylanders can access nutritious food, including healthy produce, the better chance our state has to thrive. Find out how our partnership with another long-standing Maryland institution, Johns Hopkins, is helping neighbors in Baltimore.
Coffee Talk with Carmen featuring Bukola Daramola & Kate Long (VIDEO)
On October 18, 2024, Public Health Specialist/Coordinator of the food pantry at Maryland Food Bank partner RCCG Mercy Court Bukola Daramola, and Maryland Food Bank’s Senior Director of Nutrition Programs Kate Long join CEO & President Carmen Del Guercio for an engaging conversation about how culturally inclusive crops are not only bringing relief and dignity to neighbors in North Baltimore but is helping to create a more equitable food system statewide.
