BALTIMORE — There’s just something about freshly made cornbread topped with butter that oozes comfort.
“There shouldn’t be two types of food in the world. It shouldn’t be here’s what I feed to my friends and family and here’s what I feed to people in need,” said Sue May, one of the Co-Founders of Love & Cornbread.
Love and Cornbread dishes out 20,000 home-cooked meals a year for people in underserved communities.
“Growing up in the city, there's not a lot of accessibility to food. People’s needs aren’t being met. I just want to make sure that at least for me, I’m doing what I can to feed our people,” said Chef Kiara Young.
Every Saturday at noon you can find the group of volunteers outside a barbershop on North Avenue in Penn North, a weekly tradition for the last 3 years.
“We’ve also provided for families that have lost some of their family members. I just think what we’re doing is absolutely amazing,” said Young.
It all started with a few pans of Sue’s mac and cheese in the fall of 2020. The pandemic was isolating but food brought everyone together.
“It’s a message that says you matter, you care and you’re family. Because in smalltimore we all are family,” said May.
“As a former teacher, so many of my kids would come to school with empty schools. How can a kid learn if they aren’t eating,” said Dr. LaMarr Shields, a volunteer and board member for Love & Cornbread.
The love spreads from the kitchen to the community.
“They ask when we gonna get some of that soup, when we gonna get some more of that cornbread, that cornbread it delicious,” said Sadie Conley, a Baltimore City resident.
Conley deliveries the meals to her neighbors at Penn North Plaza and brings any leftovers to her church.
“Some of them can't walk. Most of the times someone's always in the hospital, they come home and can’t get out so I’m here to help them,” said Conley.
The menu is always changing from pulled pork, feta salad to breakfast burritos.
“People love to volunteer but I really think people love to come in and get some of the food,” said Shields.
But whatever the dish of the day is, it’s always served with love and cornbread.
“A lot of people have come to us and say I was scared to say I needed help. Because I've been too vulnerable in situations, I've been taken advantage of. But to know you can come and get loved on,” said Young.
Love & Cornbread is hosting a Valentine's Day fundraiser on Wednesday, February 14th. The team is hoping to raise money for a new van. Currently, volunteers use their personal cars to deliver meals. For more information about the event, visit www.loveandcornbread.org