March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 46 F

Katcef Brothers Teams Up With Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival for Anne Arundel County Food Bank

Katcef Brothers, in partnership with Stella Artois, the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival, and the Anne Arundel County Food Bank (AACFB), today announced the second annual “Sing the Blues and Buy a Family a Meal” campaign, to support families suffering from food insecurity in Anne Arundel County, Maryland and build excitement for the upcoming 2022 Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival.

Between May 21 and May 22, Stella Artois and AACFB will station a tent at the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival to encourage $5 donations to “Sing the Blues and Buy a Family a Meal.”

All donations received at the tent will go to AACFB, which will use them to buy meals for families. Donors will be given a complimentary Stella Artois chalice and will be entered in a raffle to win a “Sing the Blues” Stella Artois prize pack.

For each $5 donation, AACFB can provide 15 meals to area families. Last year, Katcef Brothers, Stella Artois and local retail partners raised just under $5,000 for AACFB to buy roughly 15,000 meals for local families.

“As families across Anne Arundel County continue suffering from food insecurity, it’s important for our community to do what it can to support them,” said Neal Katcef, President of Katcef Brothers. “There’s no better time for us to give back to those in need than during the return of our annual Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival.”

“We couldn’t more be excited for the Blues Festival to return to the Chesapeake Bay for the first time in four long years this May,” said Don Hooker, Founder of the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival. “Katcef Brothers has been an important partner to the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival for over two decades. We are thrilled to continue our relationship by helping families in our community and putting on a great show.”

“The Anne Arundel County Food Bank is committed to ensuring that under-resourced residents of Anne Arundel County have access to healthy foods that are needed to thrive,” said Leah Paley, Executive Director of AACFB. “We are grateful for the support from our partners, Katcef Brothers, the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival and Stella Artois, and can’t wait for the Blues Festival this May.”

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significantly detrimental impact on food insecurity in Anne Arundel County. Over half (52%) of the residents that received service from AACFB in 2021 did so for the first time. Further, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, AACFB helped five times the number of households each month than before, up to 34,000 households per month from a previous average of 5,600. AACFB distributed 5.8 million pounds of food in 2021 and directly fed 62,500 individuals per month during food pantry visits.

The visits to AACFB member food pantries continue to remain at high levels, 384% busier than pre-pandemic. Additionally, AACFB food pantries reported a 78% increase in the number of visits to member food pantries this March. The cause of this increase is attributed to inflation making grocery shopping more expensive, combined with the Child Tax Credit ending.

Katcef Brothers is an Annapolis-based, family-owned beer wholesaler affiliated with Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest brewer and the producer of Stella Artois. Katcef Brothers serves retail establishments in Anne Arundel and Howard Counties.

The 2022 Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival will be held on May 21st and 22nd at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, Maryland. Known for bringing world-class music to the Annapolis area, Joss Stone, the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, The Spinners, Samantha Fish, North Mississippi Blues, Bernard Allison and many more will perform at the 2022 Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival.

Previous Article

Songwriter Hall of Famer Steve Dorff to Appear at Classic Theatre of Maryland

Next Article

Coping With the Loss of a Pet? Chesapeake Life Center Offers Online Workshop

You might be interested in …