Dr. Hattie N. Washington, president and founder of Aunt Hattie’s Place, located in Sandy Springs, MD, is excited about becoming the Capital Area Food Bank’s most recent partner agency. The partnership enables Aunt Hattie to shop for donated food at the low cost of 19 cents a pound to help feed the boys ages 12-19 who live in her residential facility. Aunt Hattie is committed to developing “at-risk” youth into productive, contributing members of society. In this regard, she refers to her organization as a residential leadership training program rather than a foster home, and making healthy food available to the youths in her care is an organizational requirement.
By partnering with the food bank, Aunt Hattie said she is able to reduce her food budget for her organization. In addition, she said she is not only able to use the savings to expand program operations, but now “her boys” are able to enjoy the regular nourishment of fresh fruits and vegetables. Another benefit of partnering with the food bank is the opportunity to obtain various types of fresh produce free of charge. Because it varies by season, Aunt Hattie is now able to introduce her boys to fresh produce that they might otherwise not be exposed to without an impact on her organization’s budget.
Aunt Hattie also uses the food bank’s “Deals on Wheels” program, because of the distance from her Sandy Spring, MD facility to the Washington, DC food distribution center. Under this program an agency has the option of having food delivered to its pantry for a nominal fee of $45 regardless of the distance involved. This option also frees up time for agencies to focus on their primary programs.
Welcome Aunt Hattie’s Place! You are now among the food bank’s over 700 partner agencies.