CATONSVILLE, Md. — A Catonsville art shop is teaming up with a local food pantry to collect food donations, making it easier for community members to help their neighbors facing food insecurity as the holiday season approaches.
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Simply Made Here, located on Frederick Road, will host a vendor event this Saturday while also serving as a collection point for the Catonsville Emergency Assistance food pantry.
The shop opened last year, and is the mother-daughter project of Melissa Kesner-Fultz and Hayden Kesner.
"We also wanted to use it as a community space, where people can gather in a centralized location between Catonsville and old Ellicott City," Kesner-Fultz said.
The new partnership with Catonsville Emergency Assistance provides residents with more flexibility to donate food items outside of the pantry's regular hours.
"It gives people the flexibility if they're coming home from work, and they have something they want to drop off, or on the weekend when CEA is closed. Because it's run by all volunteers they don't have the staff all the time. So we wanted to provide that with them," Kesner-Fultz added.
The food pantry, located on Bloomsbury Avenue, about two miles away, relies heavily on community donations to serve local families.
"About 33% of Catonsville residents are suffering from food insecurity. And the way that we get most of the support is actually through community donations. So that's people that are donating items that our pantry may need, that we can fill bags with and feed those who are less fortunate," Caitlin Kirby, the organization's executive director, told WMAR-2 News.
"Obviously," Kirby continued, "the holidays is a time when people are celebrating with food and festivities and family, and here at CEA we want to make sure the neighbors we serve can participate and have fun at the holiday season as well."
Saturday's vendor event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and feature about 25 vendors, food trucks, live music and children's activities. However, residents can drop off food donations at Simply Made Here whenever the store is open.
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