Walk-ins and children are welcome when Christ Church holds its Fall Food Drive from noon to 4 p.m. today, Oct. 5. Please take a one-hour shift outside the Dorsey’s Search Giant supermarket, 4715 Dorsey Hall Drive, Ellicott City, Md., 21043. We’ll be asking shoppers to collect non-perishable groceries for the Howard County Food Bank and its partner, SAFE Food Pantry (SAFE). Christ Church held its Spring Food Drive at a Giant store in Clarksville last April, when shoppers enthusiastically responded to our requests to buy suggested items on a list.

The Community Action Council of Howard County (CAC) operates the Food Bank, using a client-choice model just like a grocery store to help low-income residents. People can fill their shopping carts without having to use up their federal food assistance benefits, known as SNAP, making a slim household budget go much farther. CAC tells us demand is greater this year than before, so please do your part to help fill the gaps.

The Food Bank’s partner, SAFE, provides free gluten-free and allergy-safe foods to eligible households. It celebrates its 10th anniversary in October as a volunteer-run nonprofit whose full name says it all: Supplying Allergy Friendly and Emergency Food Pantry. SAFE distributes through the Food Bank and at its own site and maintains a donation bin at Christ Church at the rear of Parish Hall.