American Diversity Group
American Diversity Group (americandiversitygroup.org) empowers underserved communities by improving food security, health and well-being through food distribution via a “Grab ‘n Go” grocery program, integrated free medical fairs, and health education. From May 2020 through August 2021, the group distributed more than 1.2 million pounds of groceries.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $50 provides five families with a week of fresh food and groceries.
• $1,000 provides 80 home delivered meals to homebound and COVID-quarantined households.
• $5,000 provides 125 families with fresh food and dry groceries for a month.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with a special event.
• Ongoing: Provide office support.
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• Internships
BlackRock Center for the Arts/Upcounty Hub
BlackRock Center for the Arts/Upcounty Hub (blackrockcenter.org/upcounty-consolidation-hub) extended its mission of access to the arts for all and created the Upcounty Hub, providing food and essentials to more than 1,000 families every week. The Hub is a no-barrier collaborative program that works with community partners to address matters of food security and wellness for families struggling with poverty.
Headquartered: Germantown
Serves: Montgomery County’s Upcounty region
What a donation buys:
• $100 pays for a box of food and fresh produce for a family for one week.
• $500 pays for five Family Stay-at-Home COVID Kits.
• $1,000 provides up to eight scholarships for children to attend arts classes.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Support the holiday giving program by running a donation drive for holiday meals and presents.
• Ongoing: Package food for distribution or drive for food deliveries.
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• Internships
Clifton Park Consolidation Hub at Clifton Park Baptist Church
Clifton Park Consolidation Hub at Clifton Park Baptist Church (cliftonparkbaptistchurch.org) believes everyone should have the basics in life. They have six monthly distributions offering fresh food, nonperishables items, diapers and clothing, with a case manager onsite. The Hub grows produce using aeroponics and promotes growing in households experiencing food insecurities.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and surrounding areas
What a donation buys:
• $25 buys a homeless person a backpack filled with essentials such as hat, gloves and antibacterial wipes.
• $500 provides 40 home delivered meals to homebound and COVID-positive households.
• $1,000 buys a complete aeroponic setup for a household to be able to grow their own food.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One time: Bag produce and nonperishable items or distribute food at grab-n-go events
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Community Health and Empowerment Through Education and Research (CHEER)
Community Health and Empowerment Through Education and Research (CHEER) (communitycheer.org) works in the Silver Spring and Takoma Park neighborhoods most impacted by COVID-19 to organize healthy food distribution for the community and food deliveries for people with diabetes. CHEER trains community health workers to provide direct support and access to resources and services to individuals seeking to improve their health; encourages neighbors to form mutual support networks; and facilitates community actions that make the community thrive.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $250 provides boxes of fresh food delivery to 15 residents.
• $500 provides 10 families with supplies to protect themselves against COVID-19.
• $10,000 enables 100 families to access programs and resources.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Weekly: Assemble food bags and provide transportation.
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• Internships
Crossroads Community Food Network
Crossroads Community Food Network (crossroadscommunityfoodnetwork.org) increases access to fresh, healthy food through programs that empower people to improve health, build wealth and participate in local food systems. Programs include Fresh Checks, a SNAP matching program at Crossroads Farmers Market utilized by 2,000 people annually, as well as healthy eating education, microenterprise training for food entrepreneurs, and a community kitchen geared toward helping them succeed.
Headquartered: Takoma Park
Serves: Takoma Park and Langley Park
What a donation buys:
• $500 covers the cost of ingredients for Healthy Eating sessions for students at schools with high free and reduced-price meals participation.
• $1,000 offsets the cost of food licenses for six low-income food entrepreneurs.
• $5,000 provides Fresh Checks incentives to seven families for the entire market season.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Weekly: Help market shoppers, vendors and staff.
• Weekly: Support the Piney Branch PTA garden by watering, weeding, planting and harvesting.
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East County Consolidation Hub AT Kingdom Fellowship AME Church
East County Consolidation Hub AT Kingdom Fellowship AME Church (kingdom.global/kingdom.care) distributes food, diapers and essential health items to children, adults, families and seniors. The Hub also collaborates with community stakeholders to host COVID-19 awareness, testing and vaccine events, and offers case management and youth and workforce development programs and services.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: East Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $40 provides one fresh produce box and an assortment of protein for a family of four.
• $750 provides 50 families with a range of proteins (chicken, fish, beef and turkey).
• $6,000 funds one food distribution, feeding 150 households with a fresh produce box and a protein assortment.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Volunteer at a diaper distribution or vaccine clinic.
• Ongoing: Volunteer at a food sorting or packing event.
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• Internships
Feed the Fridge
Feed the Fridge (feedthefridge.org) addresses hunger by investing in the local economy and creating and delivering nutritious, wholesome, restaurant-prepared meals to food insecure communities.
Headquartered: Bethesda
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $250 provides enough meals to fill a fridge for two days.
• $500 purchases enough meals to fill a fridge for a week.
• $1,500 funds the establishment of one new fridge.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Ongoing: Help with meal delivery, volunteer grant writing, social media and fundraisers.
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• Internships
Gaithersburg Cares Hub at Seneca Creek Community Church
Gaithersburg Cares Hub at Seneca Creek Community Church (senecacreek.org/cares) provides equitable food assistance for families and individuals experiencing food insecurity. In addition to a walk-up choice pantry and drive-through distributions, the Hub offers in-neighborhood distributions and deliveries to those who are homebound. The group also operates a Baby Essentials Program, supporting families with distributions of diapers and other baby needs.
Headquartered: Gaithersburg
Serves: Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village area
What a donation buys:
• $25 provides produce and shelf stable food for a family for five days.
• $200 provides food delivered to eight homebound families for five days.
• $450 provides formula for 12 infants for a week.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One time or ongoing: Sort/bag food for distribution, make food deliveries to homebound families, or assist with walk-up, drive-through or in-neighborhood food and diaper distributions.
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• Internships
Kings & Priests Court International Ministries
Kings & Priests Court International Ministries (kpcim.org) serves as a satellite Hub in the East County region. The organization’s City of Light Helping Hands food pantry is one of the leading advocates for culturally appropriate food in the county and, despite being in the East County region, their food distributions cover a wide range of families throughout the county.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County and surrounding counties
What a donation buys:
• $75 purchases a barrel of red palm oil to serve 10 individuals or families.
• $300 pays for a carton of smoked fish that can provide for 20 to 22 individuals or families.
• $1,250 provides 50 families with culturally appropriate food boxes.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with food distributions on Sundays or Wednesdays.
• Ongoing: Provide weekly packing of food items into food boxes for distributions.
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• Internships
Manna Food Center
Manna Food Center (mannafood.org) works to end hunger through healthy food distribution, nutrition education and advocacy to reduce poverty across Montgomery County. In 2020, Manna assisted more than 50,510 individuals and families, including children, seniors, veterans and the working poor. Manna partners with community groups and businesses to address immediate needs and create sustainable healthy communities.
Headquartered: Gaithersburg
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $100 supports one Manna truck’s daily food rescue run, enabling the distribution of quality proteins and fresh vegetables to participants.
• $500 purchases 417 pounds of fresh produce from local farmers through Manna’s Farm to Food Bank program.
• $15,000 supports weekend bags at one elementary school for one year.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Prepare food boxes and sort canned goods.
• One day: Host a food and funds drive.
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• Internships
Mid County Consolidation Hub at Hughes United Methodist Church
Mid County Consolidation Hub at Hughes United Methodist Church (hughesumc.org/mid-county-hub) is a consolidation center that helps local families affected by the pandemic. The Hub serves low-income families, single mothers, families with disabled children, homeless people and older adults. The Hub distributes diapers, formula, nonperishable foods, produce, prepared meals, and rent and bill assistance. Partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services and Catholic Charities, additional social services help connect clients with other resources.
Headquartered: Wheaton
Serves: Mid-Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $500 pays for culturally appropriate summer lunches for 100 kids.
• $1,000 helps one family per month with rent and utilities.
• $10,000 buys prepared meals for 180 people for four months.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help pack or distribute food on-site, or deliver bags of food to seniors.
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Nourish Now
Nourish Now (nourishnow.org) specializes in food recovery for the benefit of children, families, the elderly, and other organizations working to end hunger. Through its programs, viable food partners are identified, and donations of both prepared meals and shelf-stable food are recovered and redistributed through its network. When COVID-19 struck, Nourish Now developed new programming, providing Family Relief boxes. Currently, the organization is feeding more than 25,000 area residents a month and has distributed more than 8 million pounds of nutritious food since March 2020.
Headquartered: Rockville
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $50 feeds five families of four.
• $250 feeds 25 families.
• $1,000 feeds 100 families.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Process fresh produce and meals at warehouse for Family Relief Boxes distribution.
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Shepherd’s Table
Shepherd’s Table (shepherdstable.org) serves more than 2,500 individuals experiencing homelessness, food insecurity or poverty in the county every year by providing nutritious meals, clothing, a mailing address, prescription assistance, information and referrals, case management and other social services. The Eye Clinic provides vision screenings, prescription eyeglasses and treatment for glaucoma and cataracts for the uninsured.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery and Prince George’s counties
What a donation buys:
• $250 covers the cost of prescription medication for eight clients.
• $1,000 covers the cost of food for 280 meals.
• $10,000 provides 80 eye exams and eyeglasses for low-income, uninsured adults.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Make sandwiches, baked goods or casseroles at home, or serve meals on-site.
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St. Camillus Food Pantry
St. Camillus Food Pantry (gofundme.com/trpqnc) distributes nutritious food to ensure that low-income families get enough to eat. Through emergency food distribution on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings, the all-volunteer, bilingual food pantry distributed more than 17,000 emergency food packages in 2020.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $250 provides a week’s worth of emergency food for five families.
• $1,000 provides four pounds each of rice and beans for 125 families.
• $12,000 provides enough food to serve all of the families that visit the food pantry over two weekends.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day or ongoing: Unload and shelve food deliveries.
• Ongoing: Bilingual adults can help during the pantry’s distribution hours.
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• Internships
Women Who Care Ministries
Women Who Care Ministries (womenwhocareministries.org) was founded in 2001 to help hurting people heal by providing food safety-net services to the community. They provide an emergency seven-to-10-day supply of food for families through the Montgomery Village Food Center and provide weekend meals to children through the Helping Kids Eat Weekend Meal Program.
Headquartered: Montgomery Village
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $250 provides weekend meals for a low-income student for the entire school year.
• $500 provides 25 families of four with a month’s supply of food.
• $1,000 provides weekend meals for four low-income students for the entire school year.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One time: Prepare and distribute weekend meals to students or food packages to families.
• Ongoing: Help stock and shelve food or participate in monthly community food distribution events.
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