COVID outreach events provide Maryland's Hispanic families with food and medicine

BALTIMORE -- The Maryland Department of Health is encouraging Hispanic families to prepare for contracting COVID-19 during the holiday season by providing them with information, food and medicine, according to state officials.

The department co-hosted with its community partner Centro de Apoyo Familiar four outreach events in December that aimed to prepare Hispanic families for the possibility that someone in their household could catch the virus, state officials said.

The events are part of Gov. Larry Hogan's COVIDReady Maryland plan, which aims to expand testing and treatment of COVID-19 and keep Marylanders boosted against the virus.  

During the outreach events, the department and its community partner gave out boxes of food and medicine. Hundreds of volunteers worked to prepare the boxes of food and medicine, according to state officials.

Along with those boxes, event participants were provided with free at-home COVID test kits, masks, fresh food, and toys for the upcoming holidays, state officials said.

The Maryland Department of Health and Centro de Apoyo Familiar will hold two more events this month with the intention of giving away more than 800 tests and information about bivalent booster shots.

Centro de Apoyo Familiar shows that it has a food distribution event planned for Dec. 17 at Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia Baltimore in Brooklyn, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

A second food distribution event is scheduled for Dec. 23 at Ministerio Edificando la Familia in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.