Cupboards bare at Maryland Food Bank

The Food Bank provides donations to over 1,000 agencies across the state, all of which are struggling to keep their cupboards from going bare.

“I’ve been in the food-banking business for 12 years, and this is absolutely the worst that we’ve ever seen it,” Maryland Food Bank Chief Executive Officer Deborah Flateman said.

In the first two weeks of July, 700,000 pounds of food were sent through the warehouse to feed roughly 100,000 people who would have otherwise gone hungry.

Flateman and the agencies depend on donations from large supermarkets in the area that donate salvage packages with food that would otherwise not be used. Giant Food supermarkets sent a 75,000-pound package including food and paper products last week. However, in an effort to protect their own business, some supermarkets are selling most of their excess to secondary markets like Aldi or Big Lots! that sell the products at very low prices, Flateman said.

“Most people think these stores are great because they provide such cheap groceries, but the fact is that they are selling food that we would have been giving away for free,” Flateman said.

The shortage is felt by agencies all over the state as they have to turn away people with empty stomachs.

“I’ve had people that have cried when I am able to give them food. They tell me they have been walking around all day just searching for a place that still has something,” said Norma Jean Burton, who operates the Sharp Street Memorial food center in Baltimore.

Agencies have also seen a sharp increase in the number of people needing help over the past few months. Flateman said some places have seen their need grow by nearly 50 percent since the start of the summer. She attributes the increase to middle-class families who are struggling due to higher living costs across the board.

“People have said to their directors, ‘You know, last year I wrote a check here to help with your costs and now here I am looking for food,’ ” Flateman said.

Paul’s Place, an outreach center that serves more than 350 hot meals a day in one of Baltimore’s most poverty-stricken neighborhoods, has also been challenged by the lack of donations. Executive Director Bill McClennan said his problems haven’t been as bad as others’, though, because attendance hasn’t been much higher than usual.

“The people that live around here aren’t really affected by higher gas prices because they don’t drive cars,” McClennan said. “Those [areas affected by the higher prices] are the ones who are really hurting because they are feeling the pinch for the first time.”

The Food Bank is trying to encourage donations by making it possible to send money or food over the Internet. Earlier this week, they launched the Virtual Food Drive, which allows Web visitors to purchase wholesale cases of the most needed items. Flateman said it not only allows donators to get the most bang for their buck, but it also helps the Food Bank by eliminating costly pickups from collection centers.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The Maryland Food Bank needs both food and monetary donations. Visit mdfoodbank.org to make a donation today.

daniel.murphy@baltimoreexaminer.com