Orioles, Giant Food launch hunger drive as food bank demand rises
The Orioles and Giant Food are aiming to turn a $100,000 campaign into about 200,000 meals as SNAP changes and higher costs push more Maryland families toward food aid.
As food costs stay high and new SNAP rules are set to pull more Marylanders into the cracks, the Orioles and Giant Food have launched a month-long drive that could deliver about 200,000 meals to the Maryland Food Bank if it reaches its $100,000 goal. The food bank says 1 in 3 Marylanders faces hunger on any given day, while state data show Maryland SNAP serves more than 680,000 people monthly, including nearly 270,000 children, with an average benefit of about $180.
The O’s Fight Hunger Challenge runs through May 31, and Giant Food will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000. The Orioles and Giant Food say every $1 donated helps provide 2 meals, making the full campaign worth a realistic estimate of 200,000 meals if the target is met.
Camden Yards gave the effort a visible stage on May 11 during the Yankees game, when volunteers collected donations, and the campaign is scheduled to return May 24 against the Tigers. The club also has tied the effort to a Samuel Basallo bobblehead giveaway presented by Giant Food on May 23 for 15,000 fans, folding the fundraiser into the ballpark calendar instead of leaving it to an online appeal.
That visibility matters in Baltimore because the Orioles and the Maryland Food Bank have partnered for 39 years. The food bank, founded in 1979 as the first food bank on the East Coast, says its first year included 400,000 pounds of food delivered to 38 Baltimore City assistance sites. Today it serves Baltimore City and 21 of Maryland’s 23 counties and distributes nearly 120,000 meals a day, more than 40 million a year.
The campaign is arriving as the safety net is under strain from both policy change and higher costs. Maryland’s Department of Human Services says a 2025 federal law changed SNAP in Maryland, imposing work requirements on up to 80,000 additional Marylanders and reducing benefits for some households. Elise Krikau, the food bank’s chief philanthropy officer, has said more people may need charitable food assistance because of those changes and because fuel costs remain high, which raises the expense of moving food across Maryland.
For Baltimore, the significance is not just charitable. It is institutional. One of the city’s most recognizable brands is using its reach at Camden Yards to support a basic need, and the result could be a meaningful burst of food assistance at a time when demand remains elevated across the region.
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