Help us send 200 more handwoven potholders to Baltimore by November 20, 2026
The Thanksgiving Potholder Project (THXGPP) shares handwoven potholders made by weavers from across the nation with families who receive Thanksgiving meals or boxes from local food providers. This year, weavers are supporting six food providers in five states, including the Franciscan Center of Baltimore. Here is how that partnership began.
Before THXGPP brought potholders to the Franciscan Center of Baltimore, I was a volunteer in a hairnet. Not the most attractive sight, but that didn’t matter.
I first met the Center in September 2023 during an AmeriCorps in-service day as a volunteer serving grab-and-go meals. The Center normally served meals indoors, but its dining hall was under renovation. So kitchen staff packed hot meals into large wheeled warming carts and delivered them to volunteers for distribution under tents in the gated parking lot. Volunteers wore hairnets, aprons, and gloves as they served meals to neighbors. It was an impressive display of collaboration and commitment to community.
That day, I also learned a little bit about the Center’s culinary academy. Dignity Plates is a 13-week program that teaches the fundamentals of a culinary career. Students train in the kitchen that prepares fresh meals for 400 to 600 people each day. I was told that the application process requires applicants to demonstrate not only financial need but also a sincere interest in the profession and a commitment to stick with both the academic and hands-on parts of the program.
The Center also holds an outdoor food distribution once a month, so I came back to learn more about how that program worked.
On Distribution day, food arrived on pallets, and volunteers from the community and local universities built a big U-shaped line of tables around the parking lot. We opened giant bags or boxes of produce, repacked them into household-sized bags, and piled them on the tables. At the end of our shifts, volunteers could take home leftovers. At that point, the Center did not have an indoor food pantry, so when it hosted pop-up indoor pantry events, I volunteered at those too.
Over the next several months, I volunteered whenever I could and coordinated an AmeriCorps team to organize a mini warehouse room where food boxes, clothing, and other donations were stored. Without a pantry, food boxes ended up wherever space allowed, which could make it hard to read best-by dates and track other inventory details.
During that time, I met Reverend Angela Hall, Assistant Executive Director, who connected me with Sabrinia Gay, Director of Responsive Services, to coordinate our first THXGPP distribution. In 2024, we offered more than 500 potholders to community members in the newly renovated dining hall. While we displayed and offered potholders, we learned more about the culinary program and met the head chef, who described how he teaches heart-healthy methods. He beamed with pride when I asked him about some of the graduates.
Everyone working in the kitchen that day was invited to visit our table and choose a potholder. I had set aside a box of PRO size just for them. Budding chefs deserve the finest potholders around, and we were pleased and proud to offer this small token of appreciation for their dedication to the community and the program, along with our fond wishes for their future success.
Since then, the Center has created a beautiful in-house food pantry where community members ‘shop’ for their own food once a week. The pantry is managed by the amazing Jessica Clark, who, upon learning that I would be in Washington State this year and unable to be there in person, offered to keep the THXGPP potholder tradition going.
I will miss being with the Franciscan Center in person for this year’s Thanksgiving feast and potholder distribution. Please join me in showing Jessica and the Franciscan Center some potholder love.
The Center has almost 300 potholders and a goal of 500. Please send yours to arrive by November 20. Traditional or PRO size, any color or pattern, is welcome.
Mail to:
Franciscan Center of Baltimore
Attn: Jessica Clark, Pantry Manager
101 W. 23rd Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-5607
Deadline: November 20, 2026
THANK YOU, WEAVERS!
You make a difference in a family’s life with every potholder you make and share.
