By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(April 2, 2020) Members of the community have been coming together to help provide meals for students after Gov. Larry Hogan closed Maryland public schools for two weeks – from March 16-27 – to help stop the spread of coronavirus, and the support has been overwhelming.

School closures have since been extended to April 24 by State Superintendent Dr. Karen Salmon.

Many students who receive county-funded meals at school could be in a food-insecure situation at home, which is why the community is working to provide food for those students.

Baked Dessert Café Owner Robin Tomaselli has been providing lunch bags filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, granola bars, fruits and other small snacks, as well as a breakfast option.

“The program has been fantastic, but the need is increasing by the day. What we’re asking everybody now, is if you have some extra income or feel like you can do a little less for yourself, to donate,” she said. “The demand for nonperishable goods is very real.”

Baked Dessert Café in Berlin is working with several community partners: SonRise Church, the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department, The Iron Horse of Willards, Boxcar 40 of Pittsville, Willards Lions Club and Uncle Willies of Willards, to collect and distribute nonperishable items to students in need.

“The response from the community has been incredible,” Tomaselli said. “I think everybody has stepped to the plate. We have fantastic community partners. The educators in this county and the Worcester County Public Schools Board of Education are working tirelessly to figure out how to meet the demand of the kids who need to be provided for.”

According to Hope Palmer, Tomaselli’s partner in organizing the meals, over 300 meals were provided last week. The week before, 350 meals were given out.

Donations will be collected at SonRise Church, 10026 Main Street, Berlin, Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Lunch will be distributed Tuesday through Friday from 1-2 p.m. at Henry Park, 111 Flower Street and the Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department, 7442 Gumboro Rd.

For more information, or for an updated list of drop-off and distribution locations, visit the “Baked Dessert Cafe” Facebook page or call Tomaselli at 301-785-6161.

Buckingham Presbyterian Church is also getting involved with its blessing box, set up outside of the property on 20 South Main Street in Berlin, where residents can take what they need or drop off donations.

“It’s been a huge success,” Lindsay Ashton, youth group coordinator and events and activities director for the church, said.

The blessing box officially opened in February, but was inspired by the church’s youth group last year.

Donations can include anything from canned fruits and vegetables, boxes of pasta, beans and chili, cereals, soups, snacks and baby formula, as well as other basic necessities like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, underwear, gloves, and shopping bags.

Members of the community can also make monetary donations through the Buckingham Presbyterian Church Facebook page to help collect more supplies.

For more information about the blessing box, visit the Buckingham Presbyterian Church Facebook page, or contact Ashton at 410-629-1029.

Meals are also being provided in West Ocean City, Ocean City and Fenwick, Delaware.

William “Biff” Neely, who owns Billy’s Sub and Pizza on 140th Street in Ocean City and on Route 54 in Fenwick, has been offering free hot subs, grilled cheese, hot dogs, dinosaur chicken nuggets or slices of pizza for students who are on the school meal program.

“I was cleaning up the Route 54 location [on March 22] and my wife texted me to bring a sub home for my daughter to take to daycare,” Neely said. “And as I was making it, I was thinking, ‘We have to give food for my daughter for when she’s in daycare,’ and then I was thinking, ‘Well, what about all these other kids that are not going to school when they get their breakfast, lunch, so on?’ So, I was just thinking they’ve got to eat, too.”

Neely is not sure how many meals he has given out since he made the announcement on Facebook, but he expects the number to rise.

For more information, call Billy’s Sub and Pizza in Ocean City at 410-250-1778.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill in West Ocean City has also been providing meals for children, inspired by Baked Dessert Café and Worcester County Public Schools, who posted their intentions to offer meals on Facebook.

“I saw the chamber put up an e-mail saying, ‘is there anything we can do,’” Restaurant Proprietor Greg Czarnecki said. “So I just called Lisa Layfield and said, ‘I’d love to help whatever I can do.’”

Since inception, Carrabba’s has offered over 450 hot meals for students, including macaroni and cheese, personal pizzas and pasta dishes. Last week, over 120 meals were provided for students.

Czarnecki said he is grateful to be a part of a tight-knit community.

“I’ve been here about a year and a half,” he said. “And being a chain restaurant in a local community, this community has really taken me in as a local and I’m really grateful for it. So, I wanted to give back too.”

Though schools are closed, the Board of Education is also working with the community to ensure students receive meals.

According to Carrie Sterrs, Worcester County Public Schools coordinator of public relations and special programs, around 9,030 meals, which ranged from hamburgers, hot dogs and sandwiches, as well as snacks and juice, were provided to 3,010 students, from March 23-27, at seven locations.

Over three days the week prior, – March 17, 18 and 20 – around 1,262 meals were provided to 3,786 students at five locations.

Meals are being provided at seven locations throughout the county, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with two locations in Snow Hill, two in Pocomoke and three between Berlin and Ocean City.

Staff will come and bring bagged lunches straight to parents’ cars. For more information about the lunch program, contact Odtis Collins at 410-632-5015.

Donation drop-off locations for nonperishable items:

• SonRise Church, 10026 Main Street, Berlin. Contact Pastor Tim Robinson at 412-571-1373

Lunch distribution locations Tuesdays to Fridays from 1-2 p.m.:

• Henry Park, 111 Flower Street. Contact Robin Tomaselli at 301-785-6161
• Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department, 7442 Gumboro Rd. Contact Paul Suplee at 443-880-1986
• Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, 12320 Ocean Gateway, West Ocean City. Contact Lisa Layfield at 443-880-2433

Lunch distribution locations, Worcester County Public Schools, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.:

Snow Hill:

• Ebenezer United Methodist Church (107 S. Collins St.)
• Snow Hill Elementary School (515 Coulbourne Lane)

Pocomoke:

• Windy Gardens (800 Lynn Haven Dr.)
• Pocomoke Middle School (800 8th Street)

Berlin/Ocean City:

• Buckingham Elementary School (100 Buckingham Rd, Berlin)
• Bay Terrace Apartments (517 Bay Street, Berlin)
• St. Paul’s by the Sea Episcopal Church (302 Baltimore Ave., Ocean City)