Four Wheels and a Mission to Feed: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the Baltimore Ravens and Maryland Food Bank unite to tackle childhood hunger
According to the USDA[1], 12 million American children live in homes where there’s not enough food to eat.
“Imagine being a kid and going to school hungry or not having a quality meal and being told that you have to learn,” said Hosanna Asfaw-Means, director of community health and social impact at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield “It ties into everything in terms of having a quality education.”
Hunger has long been a concern in Maryland. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis[2], the cost of goods and services in the state is the eighth highest in the nation, and the Maryland Food Bank reports that one in three residents struggles with food insecurity[3]. The pandemic exacerbated these issues, exposing cracks in a broken system.
In 2020, Baltimore City’s unemployment rate[4] jumped from 5.5% in March to 10.4% in April (numbers have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, with unemployment at 6.1% as of November 2021).
Like many organizations, Maryland Food Bank acted quickly at the onset of the pandemic to reallocate resources and meet emerging demands. One critical resource that was utilized in a new way was the Fresh Food Mobile.
CareFirst and the Baltimore Ravens originally teamed up in 2019, splitting the cost of the van, and donating it to the Maryland Food Bank. The vehicle was initially dedicated to the Pantry on the Go program and HEART Market events. However, in the wake of COVID-19, the organization pivoted and began using the Fresh Food Mobile for out-of-school eating programs, which currently serve 12 sites and provide 200 meals per day to children in Baltimore City.
Elise Krikau, senior vice president of development at the Maryland Food Bank, reports that since March 2020, the Maryland Food Bank has delivered 180,000 Grab & Go meals to families with few to no other options for fresh food.
“We feel that everyone deserves a healthy meal, and how are kids going to learn and be successful in school if they’re hungry?” said Krikau.
Numerous studies show that children suffering from hunger have trouble concentrating in class, experience anxiety or depression, and have more absences in school than other children. Food-insecure adults are more likely to have chronic health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and arthritis.
For many parents and caregivers, hunger also leads to shame, stigma, and stress over the impossible choice of paying for rent or paying for groceries.
The Fresh Food Mobile addresses these concerns with sensitivity, bringing food directly to schools and nourishing the community’s spirit during an unimaginably difficult time.
“The Food Bank and the Fresh Food Mobile make sure that they are providing food assistance to our families,” said Tiffany Etheridge, principal at Belmont Elementary School. “And we’re the city of Baltimore. We absolutely love our Ravens, so putting all of those pieces together makes up just such a wonderful puzzle of honoring them by saying, ‘You matter, you deserve what we’re here to provide, we believe in you.’ And that means the world to our school and community.”
The Baltimore Ravens has a 26-year history of supporting Maryland Food Bank, hosting regular meal-packing volunteer events, game day collections and their annual “Feed the Flock” Ravens Family Food and Funds Drive. This particular initiative presented an opportunity to double their impact through cross-sector collaboration with the largest health insurer in the region.
“Food insecurity is of the utmost priority, and we want to make sure that our community is taken care of,” said Kelly Tallant, senior manager of community relations for the Ravens. “Being able to partner with these other two organizations that have very different missions but are still able to come together … I think that’s a really incredible thing.”
The Maryland Food Bank has been meeting the unrelenting demand for food assistance in the state since 1979 through a wide variety of integrated programs with an extensive network of partners. The organization feeds the community directly and raises awareness of the systemic causes of food insecurity.
Ongoing engagement from the community is essential to eradicate such deeply rooted issues. The Maryland Food Bank offers various ways to get involved, including volunteering, traditional and virtual food drives and DIY fundraising.
Reflecting on the Ravens and Maryland Food Bank partnership, Asfaw-Means reiterated CareFirst’s commitment to ending hunger, stressing the importance of continued support for solving complex problems like food insecurity.
“There’s so much work that needs to be done, and if we come together in a collaborative effort, just think of what we could actually do here in the city,” she said.
CareFirst, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Maryland Food Bank are leading the fight against hunger in Maryland—and it’s an ongoing battle. To learn more about how to get involved, visit mdfoodbank.org/ways-to-give.
[1] https://www.fns.usda.gov/blog/tackling-food-insecurity-through-pandemic-electronic-benefits-transfer
[2] Real Personal Consumption Expenditures and Personal Income by State, 2020 | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
[3] https://mdfoodbank.org/hunger-in-maryland/
[4] Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) – Office of Workforce Information and Performance (OWIP) (state.md.us)