TOWSON, Md. — The bags are all packed, ready to give to those who need groceries. That’s what the Assistance Center of Towson Churches does five days a week, twice on Wednesdays.
They also hand out lunch bags during the week to the homeless.
About 50 people a day come for groceries for themselves and their families. Another 40 people come for the lunches, and sometimes they’re picking up for their families, too.
“The need for food is so great,” says Linda Lotz, executive director. “It’s just tremendous, and it keeps growing. Even this year, we’ve seen at least a 13 percent increase in need for groceries.”
That’s about all they can do right now. The Assistance Center has run out of funding. After almost 40 years in operation, they’re unable to provide eviction prevention or energy assistance.
“We need to build up our funding for financial assistance in order to continue that, or just in general, our funding for both food and financial assistance,” Lotz says.
During the pandemic, the Assistance Center increased the amount of financial help they normally provide. They were giving on average $1,000 per household to help families stay in their homes and keep the lights on. Lotz says that’s because they were seeing people who owed thousands in rent and had large BGE bills.
Though the requests for help have increased, donations from the churches that support them have gone down. And pandemic-related grant funding expired at the end of 2022.
Lotz says a lot of the people they’re seeing are working folks who are struggling.
“They’re doing their best to make ends meet and they just do not have enough funds to do the things they need to do,” Lotz says. “This area is expensive.”
Lotz hopes the funding freeze will be temporary. Meanwhile, the funds they have go to buy food from the Maryland Food Bank. It costs them about $10,000 a month. They also get fresh items donated from local stores and farms.
People can come twice a month for groceries. They also give out toiletries and diapers.
“The groceries that we provide are a great way to help make ends meet,” Lotz says. “If you’re coming here and getting your groceries here, and you also you use that as well as whatever else you can obtain that will help lower your bills.”
The Assistance Center is already looking ahead to the holidays. Their lists are filling up fast for Thanksgiving basket and Christmas gift giveaways, and they need help filling those requests. If you’d like to donate or volunteer, go to their website actcserves.org.
