For Jerline Whitney, having access to food distribution services in her community “means everything.”
Whitney lives in Bladensburg, an area that she said is a food desert. This means her ability to access healthy and affordable food is limited.
“With the federal shutdown and this and that not being right, like every program that you’re in, it seems to have been affected,” Whitney said. “So it saves so much time, it saves so much money. And to be able to do this so close to home is a blessing.”
About half of Prince George’s County residents face food insecurity, according to Capital Area Food Bank. As Thanksgiving approaches, county leaders and organizations are hosting food giveaways to help the community afford holiday meals.
District 5 Prince George’s County council member Shayla Adams-Stafford told The Diamondback that the community needs more support this year after the recent federal government shutdown.
[Prince George’s County food banks feeling pressure from high demand, loss of SNAP benefits]
The shutdown delayed federal food assistance funding for many of the 110,000 county residents who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Additionally, the county is home to about 70,000 federal workers and contractors, many of whom were furloughed during the shutdown or laid off earlier this year.
“There is just so much food insecurity on top of the fact that we’ve had grocery stores in our community close,” Adams-Stafford said. “We 100 percent have to help people, not only with just Thanksgiving food support, but general food support and resources.”
Several council members, including Adams-Stafford, are hosting food distribution events leading up to Thanksgiving.
She said council members are given funding to implement programs and initiatives in their community. She has focused on using her funds to address food insecurity in her district.
Adams-Stafford hosted a food distribution in collaboration with at-large county council member Calvin Hawkins II and First Baptist Church of Highland Park on Saturday. She said they prepared 500 to 600 boxes of food to give away.
Kyle Slye is the operations manager for Passion and Compassion, an organization based in Prince George’s County that recovers produce that would have gone to waste and distributes it to residents who need it. The organization gave out more than 550 bags of food at a separate event on Friday, Slye told The Diamondback.
[PGCPS expands hot meal, breakfast programs amid government shutdown]
“We do what we do because there’s a great need of fresh produce in our community,” Slye said. “Not just our community, but the entire country.”
At the organization’s food giveaways, participants can receive food while in their vehicles or wait in line. Whitney, who came to the distribution on Friday, said she cannot access many of the food distributions she knows about because they are drive-thru only. For her, being able to wait in line for food on foot is more accessible while also providing a sense of community.
“Events like this are super important. It’s really what helps keep families going,” Whitney said. “Sometimes when you’re in line, you run into somebody you haven’t seen in forever and it’s like a reunion. You meet new people, you find out other things and resources, so it’s wonderful.”
Here are some food distribution options near or on the University of Maryland campus:
- The Campus Pantry offers food to all university students and staff on the ground floor of South Campus Dining Hall with different hours each week.
- Passion and Compassion gives out food every third Friday of the month at 5671 Tanglewood Dr in Riverdale Park.
- College Park Community Food Bank distributes food every Saturday morning at 9704 Rhode Island Ave.
Video reporter Emma Levine contributed to this story.
