Pack to Give Back 2018: Holiday Meals for Hungry Marylanders

Countless holidays have been made a little bit brighter over the past ten years because of Pack to Give Back, the incredible partnership between corporate sponsors, volunteers, partner agencies, and the Maryland Food Bank.

“I have three grown daughters who have families, and the holidays are so hard for them because you try to pay bills while trying to make the kids happy,” said Cathy, a Brooklyn, Md., resident. “I’m on a fixed income, so there are times when I really can’t afford to buy food for myself. But the meals from the food bank benefits our family, and really the entire community.”

This statewide event traces its origins to 2009, when local elected officials banded together to “Elect to End Hunger.” Volunteers from that first event packed enough food in our Baltimore and Salisbury locations to provide 19,200 meals to Marylanders in need.

This year, we kicked things off in our Baltimore warehouse on Thursday, November 1 with the phenomenal support of:

• Gold Sponsors – BGE, Orioles, and Transamerica
• Silver Sponsors – M&T Bank, Kahlert Foundation, Inc., and Shelter Foundation Inc.
• Bronze Sponsors – Bank of America, FedEx Ground, Harris Teeter, Inc., McCormick & Co., Merritt Properties, Inc., Pepsi, Port Covington Impact Team, Sinclair Broadcast, and Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

On Friday, November 2, our Western Branch in Hagerstown got into the holiday spirit thanks to FedEx Ground. In just a few hours, the group of about 25 volunteers packed enough boxes to provide nearly 8,000 meals for families in the western part of the state.

All told, we expect to pack more than 60,000 meals for food-insecure Marylanders this holiday season at 10 events in locations from Cumberland to Cambridge.