APWU Health Plan in the community

Meals on Wheels (MOW)

At its inception, Meals on Wheels served 10 homebound clients with a handful of volunteers. Now, hundreds of thousands of home-delivered meals are prepared and delivered to thousands of clients through the coordinated efforts of Meals on Wheels staff and more than 2,000 volunteers.

Throughout the 60s and 70s, Meals on Wheels expanded its service area to include Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties. The program initiated service in limited areas of Frederick and Montgomery Counties in the late 1990s, and began preparing home-delivered meals for Prince George's Counties in 2011.

MOW needs volunteers to bring meals to the homebound. Drivers and visitors are needed for meal delivery between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm. Volunteers team up with one person driving and the other dropping off the meals.

Our Daily Bread (ODB)

With more than 80 programs serving more than 160,000 Marylanders each year, Catholic Charities relies on the generosity of volunteers to help fulfill its mission of helping those in need. Every year, more than 15,000 volunteers lend their greatest gifts of time, talent and resources to help meet critical human service needs in the Baltimore region. ODB offers a variety of volunteer opportunities for individuals, families, businesses and groups of all faiths and ages and works with volunteers to find opportunities that match your skills, talents and interests.

ODB needs volunteers to serve lunch daily to the hungry of Baltimore City. Lunch shifts run from 9 am to 1 pm. Volunteers will attend a half-hour orientation on their first day of volunteering.

The Maryland Food Bank

The Maryland Food Bank was founded in 1979 and is an affiliate of Feeding America. Its mission is "to lead the movement and nurture the belief that together we can improve the lives of Marylanders by ending hunger." The Maryland Food Bank coordinates the procurement of food that has been donated from retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and government agencies and distributes it to organizations providing free food to the hungry within the state of Maryland.

The Maryland Food Bank distributes to more than 600 network partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters. Individuals wishing to donate bags or boxes of food for Maryland's hungry have two choices:

• Deliver the food directly to the Maryland Food Bank at 2200 Halethorpe Farms Road. Please call 410-737-8282 to arrange your delivery.
• Donate to a food drive. To find a food drive near you, please call the main number: 410-737-8282 ext. 223 and ask to speak with our food drive coordinator.

Toys for Tots

The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation's most valuable resources – our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.

You can contribute to your local Toys for Tots campaign in several ways. You can donate a toy at one of the area toy drop locations, host a Toys for Tots event at your home, office or other venue and collect toys for Toys for Tots or volunteer at the local warehouse.