AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
With just 15 minutes till closing time, the line of vehicles approaching the white tents in front of ACAN, Inc.’s food pantry finally slackened. Wearing their masks, volunteers Theodore Pack, Laura Chrystal, Furman Carr, Melody Pearson and Pat Rogers had carried box after box filled with lean meats, fresh produce, fruits, dairy and other items to the cars. No one would leave hungry and, best of all, they didn’t even have to get out of their cars.
Four Anne Arundel County police cars parked behind the building meant that officers from the Northern District at Brooklyn Park were also on hand to help.
Inside, ACAN’s executive director Margo Arnoux sat at her desk catching up with her never-ending paper work. Looking around the small office, which is cluttered with overflow food pantry supplies there’s no room for elsewhere, she reflected on the enormous changes ACAN experienced during 2020.
Shortly after launching the pantry’s COVID Pandemic Crisis Response last March, ACAN’s beloved director Janet Pack unexpectedly passed away. She’d suffered a massive heart attack. Arnoux, who had been her assistant, couldn’t have been more shocked or devastated.
“I’d been Janet’s right hand and we’d talk at least three times a day about what we were doing and how we could bring all these dreams she had to fruition. They would now be interrupted,” Arnoux said.
“I thought there was no way I could do this job without her. But then I heard her voice in the back of my mind saying ‘Baby girl, save your tears for somebody else. You need to keep feeding those people,’ and I knew we all had to keep going and realize her dreams. Janet had taught me so much that, in retrospect, it’s like she was preparing me to carry on pandemic or not. Ironically, the day after she died, we were offered funding by Arundel Community Development Services, Inc. (ACDS).”
ACAN has been providing healthy food for Anne Arundel County’s most vulnerable residents from their small building at 429 Asbury Drive for many years now. Unfortunately, with locked-down businesses and lost jobs and wages, the number of families the pantry serves has tripled. Because of COVID restrictions, the staff and volunteers abruptly changed the way they did things and geared up fast.
Prior to COVID, ACAN was an indoor self-choice pantry where customers could select the items they wanted to eat. Now, the staff and volunteers innovated a new drive-thru system, expanding into socially distanced tents and tables outside for food distribution. They also shifted to preparing grocery boxes that could safely be handed into customer’s cars.
Thanks to funding from ACDS and The CARES Act, (The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020), they were able to ramp up operations to provide food for approximately 2,000 individuals each month.
ACAN differs from some food pantries in that they are partners of The Maryland Food Bank. So, in addition to accepting donations from individuals and local supermarkets or through food drives by community organizations, churches and schools, they get a substantial amount of pantry items directly from The Maryland Food Bank for which they pay a minimal amount to cover handling and packaging.
“Because the food bank receives donations in bulk, they must maintain a staff to break them down into manageable quantities,” Arnoux said. “Frankly, there’s no way we, or other other partner agencies, could handle a donation of 7,000 pounds of chicken.”
ACAN picks up an average of 10,000 pounds of food every week from the Maryland Food Bank in Baltimore and various local grocery stores using two vans. By combining donations from a local Men’s Bible Study Group and a grant from the Maryland Food Bank, they purchased a Ford transit at the end of 2019. Also, CARES funding from ACDS made it possible to repair the charity’s “baby van”, purchased earlier in 2019 with donations from the Good Neighbors Group.
ACAN stocks its pantry with healthy foods including fresh produce and fruits like oranges, bananas and………… 
…….a whole shopping cart of apples.
ACAN has always been very open and welcoming to county residents needing food. All that is required from recipients is that they show a driver’s license proving that they are Anne Arundel County residents. Arnoux pointed out that it’s easier for first-time families hesitant or embarrassed about asking for help because they can just pull up in their cars, they are wearing their masks, and the volunteers are so welcoming.
“No one abuses the system. If you show up here, you need food,” Arnoux said.
When the food pantry was started 17 years ago by members of Asbury Church’s largely African American congregation, canned and dry goods were the primary donations they received and distributed. That changed when Janet Pack became director. She was aware that diabetes and heart disease were all too common in the African American community – in part because of poor nutrition. She was passionate about creating and maintaining a “healthy food pantry” and succeeded in finding ways to provide lean protein, fresh vegetables and fruit. She even taught classes on good nutrition.
Peeking around the door frame, police officer Sgt. Melanie Jamieson politely inquired if the volunteers would like help bringing supplies back in. According to Arnoux, it’s been great having the officers pitch in to help whenever they need it.
“We have a limited number of volunteers who are mostly older and we’d have had real trouble handling the task without their help,” Arnoux said.
Officer Jameison indicated it’s a labor of love for them.
“We do stuff throughout the county but we especially like helping ACAN because they have a lot of stuff going on here. We try to give them as much help as possible,” she said. “We love coming here. The atmosphere is amazing. Everybody is so nice and so gracious and seeing the reactions of the people who come here distraught but leave smiling just warms our hearts.”
The officers brought quite a few supplies before taking off and the dynamic group of volunteers began carrying in the rest. With most everything in, Pat Rogers and Melody Pearson checked open boxes while Theodore Pack disassembled the tents. They feed off each other’s energy and, by now, they have a very smooth and organized routine.
Closed for the day, ACAN volunteers began bringing supplies back inside to be stored. 
Volunteers Pat Rogers and Melody Pearson checked the boxes brought in and shuffled some of the supplies.
Space was a big challenge before the pandemic but the pantry has been shifted around so there’s room to store everything in an orderly fashion. Having the tents has actually allowed ACAN to double usable space. Nevertheless, they give away as much as they can each day so they don’t have to find room for it.
With the work finally complete, Arnoux and the volunteers took a few moments to bask in the sun in front of their little building.
ACAN depends on support from the community and its businesses. There are several ways you can donate: by mail at 429 Asbury Drive, Severna Park, Md. 21146, online at AcanSevernaPark.org or text “give” to 443-233-0870.
Good Neighbors Group’s S(o)UPER BOWL FOOD DRIVE
ACAN is one of the groups that will benefit from the Good Neighbors Group’s 2021 S(o)UPER BOWL FOOD DRIVE that begins the Sunday before the Super Bowl and culminates on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s a fun competition between neighborhoods to collect as much food as they can to restock local food pantries at a time when their shelves may be bare. To join in the fun or for information, visit Home – Good Neighbors Group.
