Director’s Corner

At this very chaotic and challenging time in our community and country, I am especially grateful for the many MUM supporters who have given their time, food, money, and other contributions to support our neighbors. We rely on donations and volunteers to provide our vital services, and your generosity fills our hearts and fuels our work. We truly could not meet the moment and accomplish our mission without your help! Thank you for sharing your love and caring for our neighbors!

In 2025 we saw a large increase in needs in our community due to changes in federal programs and benefits, federal government layoffs and local job losses, immigration enforcement, and the government shutdown and interruption in SNAP benefits. We started and continue to see former federal workers who were laid off and are still looking for jobs, people who have lost their SNAP benefits, and increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness. If January was an indication, 2026 looks to be just as difficult for many of our neighbors. The stories that we hear from our neighbors of their frustration and determination, fear and resilience, sadness and hope, weigh on our hearts and inspire us to do all we can to help.

In the midst of these challenges and with your help, MUM was able to support our neighbors in need. In 2025, we:

• Helped over 3,000 people through our programs and connections to other community resources to meet their needs and achieve more stability.
• Provided over 2,770 people with over 117,660 pounds of food, over half of which was fresh produce and lean proteins. 
• Provided emergency financial assistance to 271 people to restore or keep their utilities on, to 161 people to stay in their homes and avoid eviction, and to 14 people to procure needed prescriptions.
• Expanded partnerships to host mobile food distributions at Albert Einstein High School and St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, and a food as medicine program with Wheaton High School’s Health and Wellness Center. 

I want to say a special thanks to the many donors who participated in our Giving Tuesday and other end of the year fundraising efforts, through which MUM raised over $66,000! This will help us to reach more people with emergency financial assistance and food amidst continued challenges and uncertainty for many of our neighbors. 

MUM also has wonderful corporate partners supporting our work. We are grateful to the Wheaton Macy’s Wheaton Macy’s for donating $1,500 in gift cards for neighbors to purchase clothes for their students at the beginning of the school year and for raising $710 through their “Round Up Give Back” campaign in October. The Giant Food Community Bag Program raised $59.00 for MUM in November.Our partners at Kensington Park Senior Living collected over 1,000 pounds of food at their annual “Stuff the Truck” Thanksgiving event, where residents and partners also donated $750 in gift cards and $1,275 to support our programs. 

We appreciate the many ways community partners work with MUM to meet the needs in our community. Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church collect and deliver food to MUM monthly and also donate money to MUM through their budgets and special collections. Special thanks to Cedar Lane, which raised over $2,700 in the Share the Plate collection in November! We are also grateful for the Woman’s Club of Kensington, which donated diapers, wipes, feminine hygiene products, and food monthly, and provided lovely gift baskets for women in December. Over 1,400 pounds of food were also collected through the annual Greg Gannon Canned Food Drive in December.

I love the creative ways that our supporters raise funds and collect donations for MUM! Special thanks to Marilyn and Keith Emery, who hosted their annual Haunted Trail on Old Scream Road in October to raise funds for MUM. Jonah Chen completed his Eagle Scout project by collecting diapers, wipes, and hygiene products and built a storage space for these items at MUM’s office food pantry. Some other wonderful supporters ran a race and raised money for MUM as a team. Thanks to all of these wonderful people and to the many others who have given in all sorts of ways to support MUM’s work!

MUM is grateful for the many volunteers who help us with deliveries of food, stocking our shelves and refrigerators, registering and making appointments for neighbors, helping neighbors shop the full choice office food and mobile food pantries, picking up food, weighing and sorting donations, data entry, administrative tasks and so much more.  As MUM continues to grow, we are grateful for our volunteers and hope many more will help us to meet the growing needs in our community. 

Finally, as MUM enters our 30th anniversary year, I invite you to share stories, pictures, and memories of your involvement with MUM and its history, as well as your hopes for its future. We will be sharing more information on how we will celebrate this milestone in the coming months. In the meantime, please continue to share the love by supporting MUM and our efforts to lift up our many neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet!

With Love and Gratitude,

Dayna Brown
Executive Director

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Volunteers distributing food at MUM’s new partnership with St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Nurture Our Neighbor Food Ministry 

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Volunteers setting up the new monthly food distribution at Wheaton High School