Healthy Harvest for the Hungry Kicks Off in Howard, State-wide

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman joined elected officials from the Baltimore metro area at the Franciscan Center in Charles Village on Friday for an event to kick off Maryland's Harvest for the Hungry food drive.

Starting Saturday and running through March 10, Maryland residents will be able to participate in the drive by placing donated food by their mail boxes, drop off donations at a  office or purchasing $10 discounted bags of food from Safeway. 

Today through Saturday, March 10, Howard County residents can drop off non-perishable, healthy items at mailboxes. Donations will be delivered to the Howard County Food Bank. Food can also be left at the Food Bank, 8920 Route 108, Suite A in Columbia, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

Addressing access to healthy food has been a major part of Howard County’s health care initiatives, including Healthy Howard, Ulman said at the news conference.

“This has been a priority in working with our food bank—in fact since 2008, just to continue the dialogue about the need out there—since 2008 the demand at our Howard County food bank has tripled," Ulman said. 

“A can of soup and a box of cereal can make all the difference in the world for someone who really needs it,” said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

However, this year's food drive, which is a partnership between Harvest for the Hungry and the United Way of Central Maryland, is putting an emphasis on gathering healthy foods.

Residents are being asked to donate healthy items such as low or no-sodium canned vegetables, whole grain or bran cereals and low-fat powdered milk.

“Think about what you want to feed your family and buy it for other who need our help,” said Molly Shattuck, the United Way of Central Maryland’s Healthy Food Ambassador. 

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake also participated in the event and said the city is increasing its efforts by joining the Governor’s Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. The goal is enroll more families in federal nutritional programs to lower the prevalence of hunger in Baltimore. 

“All of these efforts in the city are culminating in the increase in access to healthy food across our city,” Rawlings-Blake said.

Ulman said in a statement that Howard County residents are generous and community-oriented. "And now we can join others across the State of Maryland to increase the number of healthier foods available at our local Food Bank," the statement read. "No one should go hungry in our communities, and by working together we can make a difference.”

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