KPC Buddhist Relief Supports Prince George’s County!
Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services building
Laurel Advocacy & Referral Services (LARS)
For the first time, on April 1, 2026, Ani Dara and Noreen delivered food staples to Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services (LARS) located in Laurel, Prince George's County, using our beautiful and well-received KPC Buddhist Relief van.
Location of LARS
LARS is located on a lovely, quiet street in Laurel resembling a private home, like its neighboring homes. Clients enter through the front door, while deliveries are made at the back of the building.
We received a very warm welcome by staff members and volunteers. It took no time at all for the volunteers to unload our offering of 475 lbs. worth of condiments, cereals and protein (lentils, canned chicken and tuna) - and swiftly place them in the well labeled and categorized pantry shelves in the cool basement - where the pantry shelves, refrigerators and freezers are located.
Cristina and Ani Dara
LARS volunteers
Brief Overview and Tour by Cristina Urdinola, LARS case manager
LARS has been in operation since 1987. They serve a huge portion of PG County’s population as well as the nearby counties of Howard and Ann Arundel. On a once-a-month basis, families in need of food enter the front entrance of the building, and fill in the Food Pantry Checklist (in English and Spanish). Depending on the families’ size, volunteers may also fill grocery bags with what they requested from the basement pantry.
The pantry also provides supplies for infants, hygiene and household items, plus diapers for infants and adults. They serve about 600-800 households per month.
Every Friday, they do a produce distribution that is open to all, called Fresh Produce Fridays.
The Capital Area Food Bank is the main supplier of their food assistance program. They also have a partnership with the Olive Garden restaurant, which provides LARS with frozen cooked meals. Other private organizations, groups and families donate food, including halal meat which they distribute to specific populations on a weekly basis. While we were there, a Coastal distributor truck arrived with a pallet of fresh broccoli and zucchini.
Additional Services LARS provides to the community:
Financial assistance such as rent and utility bills
Social services, including assistance with SNAP benefit applications, etc.
Supporting the elderly and,
the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) program.
LARS also is currently supporting 87 clients transition out of homelessness into rental units located in Laurel, Riverdale, Greenbelt, Capitol Heights and Baltimore.
Other Ways KPC Buddhist Relief will support LARS
Before leaving, Ani Dara connected with Tamara, our main contact, to share a few grant opportunities — including a Food Lion grant for Feeding America partners and a Whole Foods refrigerated van program — and will be introducing them to So What Else as an additional food source.
More photos below of their pantry:
And, on a Note of Connection…Pho Wheels donated to KPC!
Our kind and generous friends at Pho Wheels are only 10 minutes away from LARS, on the same road back to KPC. So, we stopped by to patronize them for lunch.
You can imagine our delight when Lien Pham kindly treated us to lunch and then surprised us by generously donating eggrolls and tofu for our KPC Temple residents' dinner for that night!
KPC Buddhist Relief supports Bowie Interfaith Pantry Delivery
Michaeline of Bowie Pantry with Buddhist Relief donation
First delivery to Bowie Pantry in January
On March 31, 2026, Noreen delivered 108 salad dressings and 180 canned chicken to Bowie Interfaith Pantry.
Bowie sits just west of Annapolis in PG County — an area not served by LARS — and this marks three months of monthly donations there since January. The pantry distributes pre-packed food bags.
They are starting to distribute greens donated by local farms and they were completely thrilled that we donated the dressings, besides the much needed and greatly appreciated canned chicken!
