BALTIMORE — Volunteers to the rescue helping the United Way of Central Maryland assemble holiday baskets for some families in Baltimore who need it the most.
“If they can’t get their food, they may not be able to pay the rent. There’s a lot of things happening so we are here to provide what we can to make things a little bit easier over the holiday season,” said Beth Littrell, the associate vice president of community engagement.
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A season when most school-aged children can’t wait for classes to end even though it will knock them out of their free or reduced meals putting more pressure on their families.
“So the point behind it really is that we’re calling them holiday gift baskets in that they are to kind of sustain during the interim period where the kids are out of school so that two weeks of time when they are home, we have breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks inside these baskets to make sure that the kids and the families are fed,” added Littrell.
The goal was to come up with a hundred food baskets, but the organization has now nearly doubled that number.
In a survey of Baltimore families in United Way programs, they deemed their greatest need as food.
“We have them going to our family centers so those are young teen mothers. We have daycares in the schools so we’re taking care of them and the babies,” said Littrell, “We have family stability, which is making sure that families remain housed. We have some going to those families.”
The baskets also include games and puzzles to help families bond, feeding their souls as they spend time together for the holidays.
