Food insecurity is a growing problem on the Route 1 corridor due to Covid-19 and the economic downturn. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the St. Mark’s Food Pantry served about 80 families a week. Now it’s projected to serve as many as 600 as Thanksgiving approaches.

Started about 30 years ago, the food bank has been run by an all-volunteer staff from St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church at 7501 Adelphi Rd. in Hyattsville, distributing food at 8 a.m. every Tuesday.

The pantry provides free food to the homeless, unemployed, senior citizens, and families in need, but it has seen demand spike in recent months, to up to 450 families a week and closer to 600 as Thanksgiving approaches.

As a result, the pantry has started to run out of room, expanding into an annex area to accommodate donations from the Capital Area Food Bank.

This summer, the church set up a GoFundMe for the food pantry which has raised $19,000 so far. You can donate online here.