Founded in November of 2014 by Owings Mills resident Lynne B. Kahn, the nonprofit Baltimore Hunger Project recently received a donation of $10,000 from Amazon in celebration of the holiday season and to fight childhood hunger and food insecurity.
The Baltimore Hunger Project provides 2,100 meals weekly to students across Baltimore city and county schools. The organization also provides personal items, school supplies, coats, backpacks and mindfulness activities to local children and their families.
“We are grateful for Amazon’s transformative $10,000 donation to the Baltimore Hunger Project,” said Kahn, a CPA and Beth El congregant who serves as the Timonium-based organization’s executive director. “Amazon’s unwavering commitment to our mission goes beyond financial support. Their weekly contribution of people power, along with donations of essential products, amplifies our impact in the community. It is a testament to their understanding of what it means to be a true partner in the fight against hunger.
“The Baltimore Hunger Project is tackling the pervasive challenge of childhood food insecurity by taking a holistic approach that integrates action, advocacy, and education to provide mental and physical nourishment for students in need.” she said. “In conjunction with school and community partners, we are addressing the issue of hunger, one weekend kit at a time. Together, we provide a level of consistency and dependability that allows young minds to focus their energies on being children — and not where their next meal is coming from.”
In a statement, Jake Williams, general manager of the American multi-national technology company, said, “At Amazon we are customer-obsessed. We think big, and we stand alongside our customers to help solve big issues. This includes supporting organizations that make a difference like Baltimore Hunger Project. We believe it’s meaningful and impactful to give back locally, and we’ll continue to look for ways to be good neighbors.”
In a 2017 Jmore column, Kahn wrote, “For hungry children, long weekends are nothing to celebrate. Although public schools in the city of Baltimore and Baltimore County do a magnificent job of providing breakfasts and lunches for their students from Monday through Friday, on the weekends — despite sometimes heroic work done by other organizations — some children still won’t have enough to eat.
“We address children’s food insecurity by discreetly tucking a weekend’s worth of food into their backpacks on Fridays,” wrote Kahn, a Park School graduate. “In this way, we ensure that otherwise hungry children are nourished and ready for school on Mondays. With the help of grants and donations, we now support 350 children in the city and county. But our waiting list is even longer than that.”
Today, the Baltimore Hunger Project supports more than 2,100 children, with an even longer waiting list. This month, the Baltimore Hunger Project is coordinating “Operation Warm,” collecting new hats, gloves, mittens, scarves and jackets for area kids in need. For information about Operation Warm, email Office@baltimorehungerproject.org.
For information about the organization, visit baltimorehungerproject.org.
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