How Love & Cornbread Got Started

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Love & Cornbread started with an impulse. In August 2020, the world was in chaos and I felt sad and disconnected. I wanted to give my city a hug. Since feeding people has always been my way of showing love, I cooked up a big batch of homemade mac & cheese and gave it away on a busy corner in Penn North, one of Baltimore’s least resourced neighborhoods. All 35 servings disappeared quickly, but the food sparked lively conversations with the people I was serving. We bonded over memories of our grandmothers’ secret recipes, we ranked our favorite side dishes, and we vigorously debated the amount of Old Bay required to season mac & cheese correctly. Serving homemade food made with love unlocked a new and unexpected level of connection among complete strangers. I was hooked. I kept coming back every Saturday at noon to provide more homemade meals and chat with more neighbors. That’s how Love & Cornbread was born.

 

Three years later, Love & Cornbread has prepared from scratch and served with love more than 40,000 meals. We are proud to have a large crew of volunteers, many of whom live and work in Penn North. Love & Cornbread has not missed a single Saturday of service since August 2020 and that consistency, combined with the quality of our food and the warmth of our welcome, has helped us earn the trust of the community.

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- Sue May, Co-Founder

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