Maryland Food Bank Taylor Duvall Desiree Sojourner April Lee

Mission O Mission statement - To lead the movement and nurture th e belief that together we can improve the lives of Maryland ers by ending hunger. O Goals - narrowing the hunger gap by finding more food and better ways to distribute the food to our network O Create a movement to end hunger

History O Founded in 1979 to coordinate the procurement and d istribution of food donations from manufacturers, whol esalers, retailers and government agencies to organiza tions providing free food to the state's hungry. O The Maryland Food Bank started out providing food to 38 network partners, mostly in Baltimore City. Today, th ey serve more than 600 food providers statewide, inclu ding soup kitchens, food pantries, emergency shelters, after-school programs, senior centers, and other feedin g programs

Social problem O Food insecurity – measure of l ack of access to enough food f or an active, healthy life for all household members and limit ed or uncertain availability of n utritionally adequate foods. O According to the 2011 Census, there are more than 530,00 0 Marylanders living below the federal poverty level. O Hunger Gap and uneven distri bution of food

Our experience O Sorting out the products by category through the conve yor system O Packaging assorted food, h ealth products, beauty prod ucts etc O Checking expiration dates O Assembling boxes and pack ages

Our experience

Impact O Products that we sorted out will be sent out to the Marylanders in need within 1-2 weeks O The Maryland Food Bank provides food to approximately 600,000 hungry Marylanders a week with the support of our volunteers. O In Fiscal Year 2011, the Maryland Food Bank distributed more than 23 million pounds of food.

Credits O Presenter/photographer- Taylor Duvall O Reporter/photographer - Desiree Sojourner O Researcher/coordinator - April Lee