BALTIMORE — Starting this week, residents can pick up free food at a new "grocery store" in Highlandtown.
Enoch Pratt Free Library is launching the Pratt Free Market at the Southeast Anchor library branch on Eastern Avenue at Conkling Street.
People will be able to come in, on a first-come, first-serve basis, and fill one library-provided bag with goods.
A ribbon-cutting is being held Wednesday, Sept. 25, but it won't be officially open to the public until Saturday.
That's when the library will celebrate with a Grand Opening Family Day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The grand opening will feature live music, food vendors, food demos, and "special activities for all ages."
The market is opening in what used to be a cafe area at the library. It will be open Wednesdays and Fridays, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The initiative is a partnership primarily with Maryland Food Bank, as well as some other local agencies like Plantation Park Heights, Leftover Love, Moon Valley Farm, and Black Butterfly Farm.
The library branch has already been doing a pantry-on-the-go, in partnership with Maryland Food Bank, that distributes items outside the building. That will continue every fourth Friday of the month.
