FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Talk about a special delivery. Sixty food banks in needy Prince George’s County neighborhoods are getting free twice-a-month deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables thanks to a local foundation.

The foundation funded by the developer of National Harbor has committed to providing the equivalent of one million meals a year for three years.

“We decided to do a three-year program so that we really could help and it not just be a one-time thing,” says Lauren Peterson, director of the Peterson Family Foundation, which is making the donation.

Earlier this year, the foundation donated $1 million to benefit Prince George’s County Schools and the D.C. region’s Teach for America program.

A visit to one of those schools inspired this latest project.

“In the neighborhood I went to, I saw a food bank on the corner,” says Peterson, who was told that parents at the school really depend on it. “So, I explored whether maybe we could grow that program.”

Feeding families and improving schools are related efforts, she says.

“Good nutrition makes good minds,” says Peterson who points out that year-round food bank donations will help families over summer breaks when children don’t benefit from school-based nutrition programs.

Local farms will donate most of the food that will be made available through charities Gleaning For The World, and the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network. The networks work with volunteers and farmers who have crops that are edible, but not marketable.

The food donations will target six communities in the county executive’s Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative.

The neighborhoods include East Riverdale/Bladensburg, Glassmanor/Oxon Hill, Hillcrest Heights/Marlow Heights, Kentland/Palmer Park, Langley Park and Suitland/Coral Hills.

“If we are going to see substantive changes in our communities that face significant economic, health, public safety and educational challenges, I think it’s clear that we need to address all elements of residents’ lives, and hunger and nutrition are two critical elements,” said Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker in a news release.

Peterson meanwhile believes philanthropy can be contagious.

“We’re always hopeful that there are other people in the county who will want to step up and want to help on their own,” Peterson says.

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