Holiday Meal Kits: Making the Season Brighter for Neighbors

Each year, generous supporters power the Maryland Food Bank to distribute 25,000 Holiday Meal Kits—complete four-person meals lovingly packed with a turkey and of all the traditional sides & trimmings. And this year, they are more important than ever.

Why? Because continued high prices and inconsistent messages about the future of SNAP and other resources are making the holidays this year are more challenging than ever before .

In an August 2025 national AP/NORC poll about which costs of living cause “major stress,” the cost of groceries ranked the highest at 53%—ahead of housing (47%), health care (42%), childcare, and even credit card debt (both 18%). And it’s not just perception. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices are 3.2% higher this year (August 2025 vs August 2024) and up more than 30% since 2019!

Shared meals take on an extra level of importance during the holidays. They foster feelings of joy, connection, help build community, and can set a positive tone for the year that is to come.

We want all of our neighbors to have a chance to experience and enjoy the holiday season like Elizabeth T., who kindly shared her feelings during a Holiday Meal Kit distribution in 2024.

How MFB’s “Source-erers” Make Holiday Meal Kits Happen

For most of us, the holidays start sometime in October, when stores start to decorate with holiday themes, and end on January 2.

But the Maryland Food Bank’s Sourcing Team works year-round. While their everyday goal is to maximize the impact of your support and bring in as much nutritious food as possible, our source-erers are constantly working their magic, keeping one eye on the holidays and pursuing partnerships that result in the best experience for neighbors.

“Our team has literally cooked and taste-tasted each of the items in the Holiday Meal Kits, and I’m proud to say that not only are the items are 100% Made in America, but they are 100% tasty, assuming you like jellied cranberry sauce!” shared Zak Jeffries, Sourcing Manager.

17 Items Come Together to Create 1 Memorable Meal

Over the years, neighbors have shared interesting stories about their holiday activities – special foods, unique activities, and of course, those family traditions. But most share that their memories revolve around food.
We put together the traditional basics and let neighbors choose how they own spin on the holidays.

Each MFB Holiday Meal Kits comes with 16 core foods, and paired with a turkey or ham:

Instant mashed potatoes mix, stuffing mix, gravy (x2), cranberry sauce, macaroni & cheese (x2), corn muffin mix, green beans (x2), corn, sweet potatoes, collard greens (x2), and even applesauce and fudge brownie mix for dessert!

“With what I was able to get here today, we’re gonna’ have a nice holiday. It’s a little bit hard, because I feel like I should be able to just go to the store, like my parents did, but we just can’t afford it, we can’t! And without this turkey and box of sides, yeah, I don’t know that we would have had any kind of holiday at all – probably just another day,” shared neighbor Timothy L. at MFB community partner 40 West in eastern Baltimore.

Planning for a Positive Experience with Partners

In addition to the Sourcing team, other MFB departments stay involved with Holiday Meal Kits year-round to make that time of year a little bit brighter for more neighbors.

Holiday Meals are distributed by our partners who best know the needs of their neighbors, so the close relationships that we’ve forged over the years make a huge difference in easing the logistics of this enormous endeavor.

“We actually start thinking about year-end Holiday Meal Kits just after New Years, because so many things change from year to year, and by starting early, we can ensure a consistent experience for our partners, and ultimately our neighbors,” said Tracey Ivison, Manager, Partner Operations, the Maryland Food Bank.

Helping to ensure that food-insecure Marylanders are able to access tens of millions of meals annually by getting food to our network of more than 760 community partners, Tracey is in her 11th year of managing the logistics of Holiday Meal Kits.

Luckily, one of Tracey’s hobbies helps her balance the challenges of this complicated task:

“I have a degree in Mathematics, and really like figuring out solutions—I probably have 15 of those types of games on my phone—so I see this as another puzzle to solve each year!”

While it is our honor to help feed food-insecure Marylanders every day, offering neighbors in need the chance to bond with family and create new memories over a meal at the holidays fills each and every one of us with gratitude.