Nonprofit Spotlight: Baltimore Hunger Project

One in five children in Maryland are at risk of hunger. 

Baltimore Hunger Project, a Maryland-based nonprofit organization, is working to make a difference for children across Baltimore City who may not be receiving quality meals.

Patch recently spoke with Lynne Kahn, founder of Baltimore Hunger Project.

About the organization

Five years ago, Lynne Kahn, along with a friend, launched Lynne’s Garage, a nonprofit that provides lunches to women and children’s shelters on a monthly basis. As the project progressed, the duo realized the impact they were making and the power they had to create a positive change in the community, one lunch at a time.

Keeping the same mission in mind, Kahn developed Baltimore Hunger Project in November 2014. The goal of the organization is to provide Baltimore City students proper nourishment over the weekend, as many of them are without quality meals during those days off from school.

“We are focusing on providing the most basic need for any growing child...nutrition,” Kahn said.

Why is the Baltimore Hunger Project so important?

One in five children in Maryland are at risk of hunger. In Baltimore City, over 86% of its students receive daily free and reduced-price meals; that equates to nearly 72,000 children.

More than 16 million children in the US live in food insecure homes.

The free and reduced price lunch program is the key indicator of hunger risk, poverty and malnutrition in a geographic area.

How is Baltimore Hunger Project making a difference in the community?

“Our mission can be summed up into nine words: See a hungry child. Buy Food. Feed the child,” Kahn said.

In September, Baltimore Hunger Project will be partnering with Fallstaff Elementary School in Baltimore to provide their first graders with weekend food packages throughout the 38-week school year. Food items include, for example, ravioli, Vienna sausage, milk, juice, applesauce, raisins, cereal and other similar food items.

“We envision a Baltimore where all children have the food to sustain them each and every day, enabling them to succeed in school and in life.”

This food is kid-friendly, meaning it is lightweight, easy for kids to handle and no cooking is required. When the children return to school on Mondays, they will start the school week with a better and healthier foundation for learning.

“The most rewarding aspect of being a part of Baltimore Hunger Project is the positive response and support we have received from the schools, community advocates and family and friends who have rallied around us,” she said.

How can the community get involved?

• Donate: The cost of each nutritional pack to provide the students is $5. One student can be sustained for the school year for as little as $200; two students for as little as $400; ten students for $2,000.
• Share: Spread the word about Baltimore Hunger Project and its mision.
• Follow: Keep up with the latest news about the community organization by following BHP on Facebook.

Contributions can be made by check payable to Baltimore Hunger Project and mailed to Lynne B. Kahn, 1829 Reisterstown Road, Suite 430, Baltimore, MD 21208.

Kahn ended the interview with a quote — a reminder to us all that we must do our part to help one another.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

—Nelson Mandela