Pack to Give Back 2020: Hope for the Holidays (VIDEO)

While COVID-19 may have forced us to change how we carried out Pack to Give Back this year, our passionate volunteers made sure that the 2020 version of our annual event was no less impactful on the lives of hungry Marylanders. Watch the video to see how together, we packed more than 25,000 holiday meals for our neighbors in need.

Video Transcription

Carmen Del Guercio (President & CEO, Maryland Food Bank)

Today is Pack to Give Back, an annual event that we do to provide holiday meals for people in need all across our state. It’s a great way to engage donors, sponsors, and other volunteers who help us do the work we do so we can get 25,000 meals out to people across our state.

Keenan Harrell (Community Relations Manager, Baltimore Ravens)

Giving back is part of the Ravens DNA. Our mission statement is of course to win football games, and serve our fans, but most importantly to be a positive force in the community. So to be here today to help the Pack to Give Back event means a lot to us, especially during these unprecedented times as families cope with the different effects of this pandemic.

Carmen Del Guercio (President & CEO, Maryland Food Bank)

We have over 900,000 more people who are food insecure today than they were prior to COVID striking. So as a result of that, we’ve had to double the amount of food we’ve distributed to people in need across the state. We’ve had to find creative ways to reach people in a low-touch environment. So, in addition to try to create safe distancing, and reducing the number of people here, we’re also taking additional precautions. We’re providing gloves. We’re providing masks. We’re doing temperature checks. We want to make sure we’ve got as safe an environment as we possibly can, so that when people are able to come and help us with this work, it’s the best experience it possibly can be.

Oliver Gray (Marketing Manager, Guinness Brewery)

It’s humbling. It’s one of those things. Rarely do you get to be so tangible with your helping people – like I can picture those families cooking this meal and enjoying it together – in a year that has been really, really hard. The whole concept of Thanksgiving might seem foreign or weird because what are we giving thanks for in such a rough year? But, families coming together, taking time for some peace, to breathe, to be together. I’m really proud that our team is here doing this.

Edward Cheng (MFB Donor)

There’s always so much need, and we’ve always felt this and that’s why we’ve always been trying to find a way to help. But certainly since COVID, the need is so much greater and you can’t imagine you know, the folks out there who need help, and granted, there’s only so much one can do, but every little helps. That’s why we wanted to contribute and do whatever we could.

Carmen Del Guercio (President & CEO, Maryland Food Bank)

We always say it’s not a holiday if your hungry. So we want to make sure that whatever family you are able to spend time with, we can make that as special of a day as we possibly can.