Last month, 14 Johns Hopkins dietitians-in-training provided nutrition education and distributed food to South Baltimore residents as part of a United Way outreach effort in neighborhoods where nearly 40% of the population lives below the federal poverty level.

Volunteering at City of Refuge, a nonprofit organization that addresses food insecurity and other social issues such as homelessness, the students handed out beverages, canned goods, produce, poultry and health products to 109 attendees. In addition, tips on how to eat healthfully on a budget and recipes for the food that the attendees received were provided in English and Spanish.

This visit and two other food distribution events were part of a Community Engagement Week organized by the dietetic education programs in the Johns Hopkins Clinical Nutrition Department. This new initiative is a training rotation for students enrolled in the Johns Hopkins Dietetic Internship Program and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Human Nutrition – Dietitian Graduate programs.

“From our perspective, understanding where some of our patients may come from and the barriers they face when making food choices — financial, transportation, food safety or otherwise — is critical to our work as registered dietitians,” says Andrea Miles, Johns Hopkins Dietetic Internship Program director at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. “Volunteering for this event was impactful in so many ways for our students.”

The second and third events, also in December, took place at Curtis Bay and Bay Brook elementary schools in South Baltimore. The same Johns Hopkins group partnered with other United Way volunteers to organize donations from the Maryland Food Bank to distribute to area families.

Many students at Curtis Bay and Bay Brook rely on school meals for their breakfasts and lunches, and the communities these schools serve are in food deserts, meaning it is difficult for residents to access fresh, good-quality food that is affordable. Some families must take two buses each way to the nearest grocery store, shedding light on not only the important work United Way does for neighbors in need, but also ways students may need to address similar challenges in their future patients.

“It felt rewarding to give back to the community and contribute to an initiative that directly supports individuals in need,” says Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health student Jingyao “Bella” Chen. “Despite learning about food insecurity and having discussed it extensively during our courses, it truly made me think more deeply about the broader challenges people face — such as language barriers — and how these factors intersect with health and nutrition. This reflection will undoubtedly influence how I approach my work in the future.”

This was the first time the Johns Hopkins Clinical Nutrition Department has collaborated with United Way.

“Volunteering with United Way was very fulfilling, both personally and professionally, and I would encourage all my colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medicine to consider partnering with them in a similar way. We all have skills that would greatly benefit communities in need,” said Marcy Kane, manager of nutrition education and research at Johns Hopkins Bayview and director of the human nutrition – dietitian graduate program.

For more than 50 years, Johns Hopkins has partnered with United Way, raising millions of dollars for programs that support the organization. Members of the JHM community also find that applying their knowledge and skills to critical areas of need is a valuable way to give.

Johns Hopkins Medicine’s annual United Way campaign runs through Jan. 31, 2025. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit hopkinsmedicine.org/unitedway.