Capital Area Food Bank

Providing food to hungry children, families, and senior citizens is the foundation of our work. But, the Capital Area Food Bank also has several direct service programs like Kids Cafe, an after-school enrichment program that provides healthy meals to children, and our Brown Bag program provides 2,800 senior citizens with monthly supplemental bags of food to meet their nutritional needs. Additionally, CAFB operates community building programs such as Sister Hookup, where we connect our partner agencies with local grocery stores, so that they can utilize good food that would otherwise be thrown away. And, don’t forget our educational programs where we educate and empower those we serve…enlightening the community about the issues surrounding hunger and nutrition. Read below to see how our programs helped one family in need.

Testimonial by Ann Charlotte, September 27, 2011

I will never forget how fortunate my two children and I were after we moved out of a difficult family situation in 1998. However, only two years later our future was suddenly bleak. Unemployed and without child support, I began volunteering at the Queenstown Community Center, which had helped keep my son fed and occupied after school. I survived for 18 months with no income, often going hungry for days so that I could give my children food.

The summer of 2002 opened new possibilities, I became a paid part-time intern for Queenstown. I was independent, able to feed my children and share my passion of educating, molding and nurturing young lives.

The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) was an integral part of the Center’s program, supplying a weekend food bag to my children with nourishing food items, school supplies, winter hats and gloves, toiletries, and Christmas gifts under the Angel Tree program. These were such a help when the budget was tight. I will never forget the look on my son’s face when he opened his art case at 13, he was overwhelmed. That small gesture helped shape him into a Dean’s List graduate of the University of Maryland with a BSC in Aerospace Engineering, and build his first plane. My daughter’s experience at a CAFB summer camp as a participant, and later a Camp Counselor, kept her from hunger during her formative years. She graduated in 2011 as Class Valedictorian with a 4.39 GPA, and was awarded a 4 year scholarship to the University of Maryland - succeeding in spite of adverse circumstances.

It is by the dedication and financial contributions made to CAFB that lives can be changed and young people can flourish and succeed…making the world a better place.

Ann Charlotte’s family's story is just one of many wonderful examples of how your gifts work to provide positive change in the lives of those who may not have it otherwise. Gifts from people like you go a long way toward helping us to provide much-needed services to over 633,000 people who are hungry, or at risk of hunger in our communities. So, please, be a part of the movement to help end hunger and make a donation to the Capital Area Food Bank today.