Baltimore, MD – Sept. 12, 2017 – This morning, Tuesday, September 12, the Maryland Food Bank delivered approximately 6,000 pounds of fresh produce and high-quality nutritious food to its Baltimore City partner, Ahavas Yisrael, through their Pantry on the Go Program.
Bochurim from one of Baltimore’s new yeshivos, Mesivta Keser Torah, shown with Nancy Smith, Senior Director of Government Relations and Principal Gifts for the Maryland Food Bank, Ahavas Yisrael Executive Director Rabbi Boruch Brull, and Rabbi Avraham Feldheim of the Mesivta, chose to use their time Bein HaSedarim to volunteer for this chesed project to help unload the shipment as well as stock the shelves of the Ahavas Yisrael pantry.
The Pantry on the Go Program is a mobile food distribution event, through which the food bank seeks out community organizations – including schools, retirement homes and senior centers, faith-based organizations – in central locations of food-insecure communities to serve as host sites. Volunteers at host sites help distribute food to community residents in need.
Events are critical to food-insecure households who regularly make difficult choices between paying for food and other basic needs, like rent and utilities – especially toward the end of the month when money is short.
By bringing food to clients, the MD Food Bank removes transportation barriers for those in the suburbs and rural communities who may not have access to a stationary food pantry. They are also able to provide food assistance – specifically access to farm-fresh produce – in geographic areas that their network partners cannot serve because they don’t have the capacity to store this amount of food.
The Pantry on the Go Program helps thousands of residents in Baltimore City and across the state, like retired Baltimore City resident Lucy. Lucy lives on a fixed income and depends on the mobile pantries for monthly support:
“It helps during the end of the month,” said Lucy. “It’s truly a blessing to get help, especially when you’re trying to stretch your check. It’s a blessing to have a pantry that gives you nutrition – green beans, peppers, and cantaloupe. You all make sure everyone gets something, and that’s a blessing.”
Large Pantry on the Go sites can serve up to 2,000 families in a single day. In FY17, the food bank distributed more than 8.2M pounds of food through Pantry on the Go distributions, 1.5M pounds of which was distributed to Baltimore City.
Bochurim from one of Baltimore’s new yeshivos, Mesivta Keser Torah, chose to use their time Bein HaSedarim to volunteer for this chesed project to help unload the shipment as well as place items on the shelves of the Ahavas Yisrael pantry.
Tuesday’s Pantry on the Go event was sponsored by Councilman Isaac Yitzy Schleifer. The MD Food Bank values its partnership with Councilman Schleifer, and thank him for not only caring about his district, but the entirety of Baltimore City, too.
