By: Janeen Johnally

More than 200 people came out in wintery weather March 7 to celebrate the grand opening of DMG Foods, The Salvation Army’s first non-profit grocery store. Community members, business leaders, elected officials and store employees made some of the first purchases at the registers. The overall response was welcoming and positive from attendees and shoppers.

DMG – as in “Doing the Most Good” – combines social service with a traditional grocery shopping experience to offer nutritional guidance, shopping education, meal planning and supplemental benefits to customers.

“We are so pleased as The Salvation Army to be able to offer this ministry, in partnership with others, to say we want to make a difference. We don’t want to send people away; we want to help feed them,” said Commissioner Willis Howell, Southern territorial commander.

Representatives of the Maryland Food Bank served hors d’oeuvres to attendees while Salvation Army personnel assisted customers signing up for the store’s loyalty program.

Keynote speakers in addition to Commissioner Howell included Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh and Amy Kleine of The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

Pugh did the honors of cutting the ceremonial ribbon alongside other executives from project partners including BGE, Harkins Builders and Banta Campbell Architects.

“Thank you, Salvation Army, for believing in Baltimore. Thank you for being the kind of partner our community needs,” Pugh said.

DMG Foods is at 400 E. 29th Street in Baltimore. Its hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The store is closed Sundays.

To learn more about DMG Foods and how you can support this program, please visit: www.dmgfoods.org

Janeen Johnally is the communications director for the Central Maryland Area Command.