Midshore Meals til Monday aims to feed the school-aged children of Dorchester County during the long days they do not receive nourishment from the public school system
Written by Joe Willey
Since its founding in 2017, MidShore Meals til Monday (MtM) has had a clear and noble goal: to end childhood hunger on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Though the task may seem too large to conquer, the dedicated employees and volunteers are undaunted in seeing the mission fulfilled.
Founder Leslie Bishop grew up seeing her mother support organizations that cared for children. After her mother’s death, she wanted to do something that would honor her memory. Since there was no cohesive effort to help feed children in Dorchester County, Bishop founded MtM.
Beginning at Vienna Elementary School in eastern Dorchester County, Bishop and MtM provided weekend bags of food to 25 students. Before the end of the school year, 50 children were receiving healthy, nutritious food to bridge the hunger gap over the weekend.
For the first few months, she did everything — including packing bags at her kitchen table. But as word spread, loyal volunteers joined the effort. Many are still involved. Later, MtM became a nonprofit as a component fund of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation. In 2018, the organization became a Maryland Food Bank partner. MtM became a stand-alone nonprofit at the beginning of this year.
The work of MtM and its number of volunteers exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pam Allen, MtM Executive Director, first volunteered during that period. Others joined to help provide food when many families struggled because of job loss or layoffs caused by the resulting shutdowns. MtM packed bags every day, going from distributing 400 to 1,100 bags each week.
Since its founding in 2017, MtM has distributed over one million pounds of food. Currently, MtM programs assist more than 800 elementary, middle, and high school students in Dorchester County. “The most important thing is that we focus on a promise to children; we are still going to be there if they need food in middle and high school,” says Bishop. Sadly, as of last year, the Maryland State Department of Education reports that 57% of students in Dorchester County are economically disadvantaged, and over 95% qualified for free or reduced-price meals, according to federal income guidelines.
While other organizations look to grow, MtM wants to be obsolete. But Bishop knows that for now, MtM has work to do. “We solve hungry, but we don’t solve hunger,” she says. MtM does provide food, but perhaps it gives something else: hope.
For more information, to volunteer or to donate, please visit the MtM website at MidShoreMealsTilMonday.org. CS