A Closer Look at Hunger in Maryland (VIDEO)

Hunger impacts us all, and in very different ways. See who really is food insecure in Maryland and the ways the Maryland Food Bank and its partners are finding new solutions for our neighbors in need. You can help us provide more pathways out of hunger for more Marylanders.

Video Transcription

Cheryl
No one needs to be hungry… no one.

Tom
Being a father of four, there’s a lot of responsibility there. Things have always gone okay. I mean, you don’t have a lot of excess, but you have enough to pay your bills and put food on the table. If that suddenly goes away, sometimes you’re not quite prepared for it.

Sue
I work at a pharmacy. My daughter, she works at a daycare. She helps with the bills, also. And it still, it’s not easy.

I know some families that have three and four jobs and are still just making it.

Olin
When I first moved to Baltimore, I used to go to food banks to receive food until I was able to establish myself.

Deanna
When my mother actually was diagnosed with breast cancer, maybe four or five years ago, we started looking at food entirely different in my house.

Olin
Life is funny sometimes, and it puts you in places that you never could imagine.

Tom
We were getting ready in the morning to get the kids off to school, and I heard this rumbling noise. And I didn’t know what it was, it just got louder and louder. And the kids started to scream. 18-wheeler was behind our house and had been cut off, knocked over our fence and drove into the basement.

Things didn’t really get better. We were constantly running behind on bills. Our house slipped into foreclosure. And someone had said, “Look, it sounds like you’re really going through a difficult time. Why don’t you talk to my connection here at the food bank?”

Cheryl
When we first opened up our doors, we didn’t know if people would come. And they did.

And they did.

And they did.

Around one in nine Marylanders are hungry. We have to make a change.

Steve
It takes a whole community, it takes a whole family.

What we can do as farmers is take any of the extra that we know we do have and spread it out amongst people who need it themselves.

We wanna see people with healthy options for their meals.

Marge
Many, many years ago, I was that working mom raising children alone.

Just don’t wanna see it. I don’t wanna see anybody hungry anymore.

I’m the lady that brings the food in, and you’re gonna get vegetables, you’ll get canned goods, you’ll get meat.

Chezonne
Maryland Food Bank is great, because it not only provides healthier food, it also teaches how to prepare the foods, so that they and their family can be healthy.

Deanna
You can’t just send someone home with a basket of food and think that the problem ends right there.

The fact that they have made the effort to bridge the gap, to build relationships.

Jamal
It gives me a lot of pride knowing how many people that we’re serving here at the Maryland Food Bank.

Now I’m providing the meals that I used to eat.

Cheryl
Being able to be there, to be a resource, the greatest reward is being able to help someone.

When I walk through the doors of this kitchen everyday, it’s like, it’s really rewarding to know that I’m a part of a larger mission.

Tom
I would love to be in a situation, after having had this experience, where I can help people.

When you realize the impact that people had on your life when you were down and out, you want to help other people.

It’s the most important thing at the end of the day.

(Voice Over)
As long as one person worries where their next meal will come from, the Maryland Food Bank will be here.

It takes more than food to end hunger.

It takes you.