Last spring, eight food assistance providers offered new or expanded food resources at 33 Montgomery County Public School sites. This was made possible through funding from the Office of Food Systems Resilience, allocated via a special appropriation by the County Council, under the FY24 School-Based Food Assistance Grant Program. These programs play a crucial role in ensuring that students and their families have access to nutritious meals outside of the school day–supporting both their health and well-being, and increasing their overall food security. Making food resources available directly at schools helps reduce the barriers many families with children experiencing food insecurity encounter–including knowing where to go for assistance. As part of this initiative, food assistance providers are matched with schools based on a number of factors, such as the types of distribution models food assistance providers can offer and those school staff are able to support (choice markets, pre-packed boxes, weekend bags, snack bags, etc.), to best address the needs of the school community.
The UpCounty Hub
The UpCounty Hub distributes over 30,000 pounds of food and other essentials to serve 1,300+ households every week through drive-thru distributions, home deliveries, clinics, case management, and emergency assistance services. In partnership with Manna Food Center, The UpCounty Hub builds relationships with local farmers, such as One Acre Farm, to provide fresh produce to their clients. Their large-scale distributions at South Lake Elementary School Martin serves over 700 families twice a month, with other locations serving between 150-250 families each. In the Spring of 2024, they expanded their programming to include providing direct food assistance at seven different MCPS sites as part of the County’s Strategic Plan to End Childhood Hunger.
MCPS sites partnering with The UpCounty Hub included Clearspring ES, Damascus HS, John T. Baker MS, Lois P. Rockwell ES, Laytonsville ES, Watkins Mill HS, Kingsview MS and William B. Gibbs Jr. ES, and Whetstone ES. Staff at these sites determined that weekly snack bags for students would best meet their needs. The UpCounty Hub was able to provide students with 6-7 items each week, including foods like milk, granola bars, juice boxes, and instant noodles, as requested by the schools. In total, they assisted 2,915 children and families from May until the end of the school year. They also set up a summer meal site biweekly in Damascus to continue supporting families during the summer months. The UpCounty Hub received positive feedback on their programs from school staff, who appreciated their flexibility and prompt response to their needs: when schools expressed a desire for fresh food items but lacked the necessary storage requirements to make this possible, the UpCounty Hub was able to alternate between dry and fresh food weeks to accommodate this request.
Looking ahead, The UpCounty Hub plans to invest in refrigerated vehicles to ensure fresh food can be delivered same-day, eliminating the need for storage at schools. They’re also working on creating a mobile pantry to bring food directly to schools, increasing choice options for families and further reducing barriers to access.
Small Things Matter
Small Things Matter provides over 7000 food insecure individuals in Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and Rockville with fresh produce and grocery items, non-perishable foods, household goods, feminine hygiene products, and school supplies. In the Spring of 2024, they supported approximately 50 families at Oakland Terrace Elementary School in Silver Spring with fresh produce on a bi-weekly basis through the end of the school year, as part of the County’s Strategic Plan to End Childhood Hunger. Staff at Small Things Matter delivered pre-packed bags of 12-14 items including apples, papaya, oranges, potatoes, carrots, onions, black beans, spinach, and more, to the school, relying on school partners to connect the food to families in need of services.
Small Things Matter has built strong partnerships with local grocery stores and businesses, allowing them to rescue 7-9 pallets of food each week and providing a variety of produce and bread products so they can create robust food bags. This is quality food that would otherwise go to waste, sometimes because it simply has either been overstocked or doesn’t meet store display standards in terms of consistent sizes or coloring, or slight imperfections.
During the school year, their program saw significant successes, with school staff and families expressing enthusiasm for the bi-weekly distributions. Vice principals and other staff members were actively involved, helping to distribute bags and making meaningful connections with the families served.
Manna Food Center
Manna Food Center strives to eliminate hunger through food distribution, education, and advocacy across all of Montgomery County. Through their longstanding efforts to increase access to nutritious food for those experiencing hunger and food insecurity, Manna has grown over their 40-year history from serving hundreds to over 50,000 people each year.
Among those served are students and families in Montgomery County Public Schools, where over 111,000 bags of food were distributed through Manna’s Weekend Bag Program. In partnership with schools, volunteer community partners, and some support from the Office of Food Systems Resilience, this program provided students and their families with nutritious, shelf-stable food to supplement meals over the weekend. Through this initiative, more than 3,500 students across 51 schools received staples such as whole grains, lean proteins, low or no sodium canned vegetables, fruit, and more.
Additionally, Manna Food Center created a School-Based Pantry Program to offer accessible food at schools, focusing on fresh produce and including some nutritious shelf-stable items. Through this program, they assisted nearly 1,000 families in 10 schools throughout the year, distributing over 145,000 pounds of food. The program was very well-received, with 100% families being either satisfied or very satisfied via the annual survey. This program utilized a choice model that reduces food waste and promotes dignity.
Lastly, Manna Food Center recently launched a grocery gift card program with school partners to help supplement the food budget for families. The gift card model allowed for more choice, flexibility, and convenience so families can buy the foods they want and need. The program supported over 400 students across 8 schools in MCPS, distributing around 2,800 gift cards last school year. Similarly, the annual survey for this program indicated 100% of respondents being satisfied or very satisfied. Moving forward, they plan to increase the monthly amount from $30 to $40 to expand the program and provide greater support to families. In the near future, Manna will expand their reach to nearly 90 schools between all of their school-based programs next year.
Community FarmShare
Community FarmShare works to create a thriving local food system by increasing access to nutritious local foods, supporting Montgomery County farmers, and improving community health. By developing partnerships with local farmers, they ensure a consistent supply of fresh produce through their aggregation hub and create economic opportunities for small-scale growers, helping to sustain the local community.
As part of the County’s Strategic Plan to End Childhood Hunger, Community Farm Share offered new and/or expanded programming at 5 MCPS sites, including: Arcola ES in Silver Spring; Flower Valley ES and Redland MS in Rockville; Rosa Parks MS in Olney; and Gaithersburg ES. Through grant funding, Community FarmShare delivered a total of 38,000 pounds of fresh produce from farm partners via 1,400 bags of produce over 14 weeks, reaching 144 families each week with bags of culturally-valued Montgomery County farm produce. Through funding from other sources, Community FarmShare launched 4 mobile farm markets serving an additional 200 families each week through free-choice selection of farm market produce directly in the Gaithersburg ES, Montgomery Village MS, and Greencastle ES communities, further improving access to healthy foods. These resources promote better learning, school performance, and lifelong healthy eating habits while supporting local farmers.
Nourishing Bethesda
Nourishing Bethesda’s goal is to deliver food, care, and community while promoting volunteerism for people of all abilities and backgrounds, and they used the grant funds they received to support this mission. With these funds, they provided over 2000 weekend bags, 175 produce bags, and 265 shelf-stable bags during the school year, supporting 210 families across four schools: Chevy Chase ES, Rosemary Hills, Wood Acres, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. This grant was built upon the Weekend Food Bag program that was initiated at Bethesda Elementary, providing items such as mac and cheese, ravioli, oatmeal, cereal, granola bars, and a piece of fresh fruit.
In the future, Nourishing Bethesda aims to support pre-packed bags for students at 3 elementary schools, and to provide food supplies for a pantry expansion at one high school as well. By continuing their support programs, Nourishing Bethesda is working to ensure that every child in their service area has access to nutritious food.
So What Else
So What Else’s mission is to improve the lives of children and families living in underserved communities in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area by providing food security, access to basic necessities, and high-quality out-of-school time programs. In Montgomery County, So What Else connects residents to food assistance resources via a food pantry in North Bethesda, numerous pop-up distributions throughout the county, and a home delivery program. So What Else rescues nutritious overstocked food/food with minor cosmetic imperfections directly from grocery stores and grocery chain warehouses.
Through funding made available through the County’s Strategic Plan to End Childhood Hunger, So What Else was able to expand its current programming at Clopper Mill ES, Albert Einstein HS, Viers Mill ES, Dufief ES, and East Silver Spring ES as well as to support two new MCPS sites at Bel Pre ES and Roberto Clemente MS.
These distributions provided families with timely and convenient access to food directly at their child’s local school sites. The schools received fresh produce and shelf-stable items from So What Else, who then allowed school communities to distribute the food as they saw fit, such as having students decorate bags or setting up a choice pantry for families to select the foods they wanted.
As these distributions continued, So What Else identified a demand for more variety in the food provided, including dairy products, and was able to respond to these needs which received positive feedback from both the community and school staff. In the future, So What Else would like to expand their support to more schools and explore ways for schools to connect via the ChowMatch app used by Manna Food Center’s Community Food Rescue program to take advantage of their bulk food offerings.
Rainbow Community Development Center
The Rainbow Community Development Center serves the East County areas of Montgomery County, offering safety net services like emergency food, eviction prevention, utility cutoff prevention, and temporary emergency shelter. With a focus on ending hunger, including childhood hunger, Rainbow used grant funds available through the County’s Strategic Plan to End Childhood Hunger to support students and families at Westover Elementary School and Thomas Edison School of Technology.
At Westover ES, 167 households, including 697 individuals, received weekend backpacks with food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Rainbow’s staff provided nonperishable items like 16oz bags of cereal, shelf-stable milk, canned salmon, tuna, microwaveable meals and juice delivered in bags to the school twice a month for Friday distribution.
At Thomas Edison School of Technology, Rainbow’s staff supported 100 households and 428 people with biweekly distributions of fresh produce boxes and nonperishable food, including rice, black beans, pasta sauce, and seasonal produce. These students had access to cars and public transportation between Thomas Edison School of Technology and their home school, making fresh produce boxes a practical solution.
Overall, recipients of food assistance at these school locations were very impressed with the types of food distributed by Rainbow Community Development Center. Supporting families holistically with whole meals in times of need is one of Rainbow’s greatest strengths. In their future work reaching children and their families, Rainbow plans to expand to additional MCPS schools to promote food security in the East County.
Shepherd’s Table:
Shepherd’s Table, located in the Silver Spring area, offers fresh and nutritious meals to individuals experiencing food insecurity, homelessness, and poverty. Through their daily meal service, Shepherd’s Table has served over 130,000 meals, providing a crucial support system for individuals on their journey toward self-sufficiency.
Through this grant program, Shepherd’s Table was able to expand their operations to serve 25 additional families at Stephen Knolls School. Culinary staff prepared and packaged 30 fresh meals and delivered them three days per week in the afternoon, where they were either distributed to families or sent home with students at pick-up. Overall, the program was well-received as it allowed parents more time and space to attend to other things on behalf of their children, many of whom have complex medical needs. Families also reported that receiving prepared meals encouraged their children to try new foods that they may not have otherwise been able to try before.
Shepherd’s Table aims to eventually provide daily meals to the entire school community, prioritizing those identified as in need. They are also hoping to expand their programming in offering hot meals to children and families for special events such as back to school nights or community meetings, to encourage greater attendance from community members. Lastly, Shepherd’s Table is enthusiastic about the prospect of extending their meal service program to other schools.
The Office of Food Systems Resilience extended special funding for Montgomery County Public Schools through a new FY25 School-Based Grant Program. This program will support additional organizations, including Nourish Now, Afrithrive, Clifton Park Baptist Church, and Cross Community, among others. These eleven grant recipients will serve 60 schools across the county, helping children and families focus on academics and achieve better educational outcomes. Thanks to the support of the Montgomery County Food Council community, we help facilitate programs like the FY24 School-Based Food Assistance Grant initiative, ensuring families have access to nutritious meals—stay informed about our impact by signing up for our General and Food Security Newsletter at the bottom of this page.