The Maryland Food Bank was founded in 1979 as the first food bank on the East Coast. In its first year, the Maryland Food Bank distributed 400,000 pounds of food to 38 assistance sites in Baltimore City. In 1981, the Maryland Food Bank expanded its focus, opening a branch on the Eastern Shore to better serve some of Maryland’s most impoverished counties. During much of the 1980s, the food bank worked to establish a strong foundation as the state’s central hunger-relief organization, building partnerships with food retailers and working with large agencies to create regional redistribution centers.