Salisbury Lions Club Donates $1,000 of Fresh Produce

19 hours ago

Braden Hamelin,

Salisbury, Md. — The Salisbury Lions Club partnered with the Maryland Food Bank to purchase and deliver $1,000 worth of fresh produce from local farmers Friday, sending the food to Adopt-A-Block Food Pantry in Salisbury for their bi-weekly pop-up market event.

The pop-up market featured hundreds of pounds of food available to people facing food insecurity in the area, and the addition of a huge quantity of fresh produce made for a special food distribution event.

“Usually, we struggle with fresh produce. It’s one of the most sought-after items. People want fresh food, it’s expensive and we don’t often get it,” said Vicki Wootten, the director of operations at Adopt-A-Block.

Friday’s event featured the largest quantity of fresh produce Adopt-A-Block has ever had during the pop-up markets.

“A lot of this stuff came right from the farm last night. It was picked last night. So, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Wootten said. “I’ve never seen this much produce and especially fresh produce. Fresh from the farm. It’s a miracle. It’s a blessing.”

The Salisbury Lions have been working on this partnership since the winter, as they saw a need in the community after the federal government canceled a key USDA grant last year.

The canceled grant, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, had provided funding for organizations like the Maryland Food Bank to purchase food from local farmers to send to food pantries.

“The entire state of Maryland didn’t have the money to be able to buy from the local farmers for the local food pantries. So, I basically figured, let’s see what we can do to bridge this gap,” said Vicki Vegis, a Salisbury Lion member.

The organization has raised $17,000 in support for local food banks and farmers and plans to work with other local food banks in similar programs.

“We’re going to seek out local partnerships, additional partnerships to be able to help our local farmers and help those people that are in need. And we’re right now, we’re keeping it in Wicomico County,” Vegis said.

Volunteers from Adopt-A-Block braved a sudden intense rainstorm as the distribution got underway, helping food recipients carry food out to the parking lots.

Amy Cawley, the manager of the Farm to Food Bank Program at the Maryland Food Bank, explained that having access to high-quality fresh produce is crucial for people facing food insecurity.

“[Food] coming in fresh from the farm picked yesterday being distributed today helps improve their quality of life might help lower blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease,” Cawley said.

She added that being able to purchase produce from local farmers is important in supporting food growers.

“For the farmers it’s huge. I mean, everything’s expensive. I’m a farmer’s daughter. So, fertilizers are expensive, seeds are expensive, irrigation is expensive. Labor has gone off the charts,” Cawley said. “The ability to purchase produce from local farmers helps them sustain themselves, keep going, feed their families.”

Cawley said that food insecurity is a growing problem in the state. Since she started at the food bank in 2011, the number of Maryland residents facing food insecurity has risen from one in nine to one in three.

“Maryland’s one of the most expensive states to live in. So, food insecurity is getting closer and closer to home every day,” Cawley said.