An open letter to all of the religious centers in the state of Maryland

Dear Religious Centers:

Last night in Baltimore County I attended a meeting at the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Lutherville, Maryland which involved a weekend feeding program for the homeless children in our state.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the various religious centers, whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim and/or any other religion, there is a significant problem in our state where virtually thousands and thousands of children are food insecure and go hungry each and every weekend.  There is no need for this to take place in our state and we can be the first to address this dire concern.  We cannot expect these children who are hungry all during the weekend to be prepared to be educated during the week if they arrive at the school hungry.  We cannot expect their bodies and brains to develop properly without food.  We cannot expect them to excel without proper nutrition and now we must all, as citizens of this state, combine our resources, our energies and our desires to make sure that "no homeless child" is ever hungry again.

Our backpacks provide food for the entire weekend for three people, i.e., the student, a sibling and the caregiver or parent and is given to the child at the end of the school week to ensure that the family is fed over the weekend.  It was designed to cover the many aspects of homelessness and therefore the contents do not require refrigeration or cooking.

We are doing our part with the help of St. John's of Baltimore City UMC, Grace UMC, ss Philip and James RC Church and Heart's Place Services in Baltimore City and have grown from 21 people being fed five years ago to 300 now being fed over the weekends, and plans for feeding 450 people next year.  Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Lutherville has taken up the banner and is working to relieve the hunger within Baltimore County, but we need more representatives throughout the state to participate in this program to end homeless children hunger.  We thank Ms. Monica Butta, her husband Chris Tang, the Pastor and their neighbors who have gathered around a table to make a better life for these children.

We have a formula backpack already prepared and it can be adapted to meet the requirements of the various religions, but we need the sponsors to facilitate it in the communities of our state.

Come and join our revolution to make sure that all children are fed so that they can prosper and grow.

Contact us here so that we can assist you in providing for the needs of children of our state.

There is so much work to be done and I know that all of you want to participate in making the lives of these children better.