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November 2016
Newsletter
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| Notes From our Chief Executive Officer |
Dear friends,
As you can probably imagine, at Thanksgiving more people than usual turn to Manna Food Center for healthy, tasty, food. Throughout the year we average about 3,600 neighbors visiting monthly. As our nation celebrates a spirit of gratitude, that number rises. Neighbors, like seniors, who may have been just on getting by on limited incomes want to make sure they can set a bountiful table for their grandkids. As the days get darker and colder, seasonal income for landscapers and construction workers goes down, making need go up.
At the same time, so many of our neighbors, like you, mark Thanksgiving as an opportunity to care for others and share prosperity. Manna has already been processing tens of thousands of pounds of food donated by the community already this fall. On behalf of all of us, I want to THANK YOU. You are
helping make Thanksgiving bountiful: The Yom Kippur food drive kicked off the first rush of food with more than 32,000 pounds collected from dozens of synagogues in each corner of Montgomery County. The young players of
MSI and their families "scored" more than 7,400 pounds, even when there was a delay for bad weather. Kids Helping Kids is still in full swing at private and public schools. Of course,
Community Service Week brought volunteers and shoppers to Giant Food stores with almost 20,000 pounds collected.
Our staff and volunteers collect, sort, box, and share all that food-supplemented with fresh produce we
purchase and rescue from local farmers-so that all of our neighbors can experience abundance and feel gratitude for gifts received. Please consider joining us with a tax-deductible Thanksgiving contribution to help Manna pay the costs of our trucks criss-crossing the county, our staff working over-time, and the
purchase of turkeys to support the 10,000 families requesting holiday meals through the Montgomery Co Holiday Giving Project.
Thanks to the generosity of Montgomery County neighbors, Manna Food Center can once again be ready to welcome all who turn to us. I appreciate you, and wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy Thanksgiving holiday.
Jackie DeCarlo
CEO
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| What Exactly is A Choice Pantry? |
In more choice news, Manna & Silver Spring United Methodist Church opened a second choice pantry this past Saturday! More information in next month's issue.
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A Season of Giving Celebration This Saturday
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 Join Manna's CEO, Jackie DeCarlo, as she helps light
Rockville Town Square's new
20-foot interactive holiday tree this Saturday, November 19th. This 10th anniversary Season of Giving event, scheduled from 5:30 - 8:00 PM, will feature live entertainment and the opportunity for the community to give back to those in need.
NBC 4 Washington's traffic reporter Melissa Mollet will emcee the event and Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton is scheduled to officially "light" the tree.
The public is encouraged to bring a new or gently-worn coat and new and unwrapped toys to benefit the
National Center for Children and Families
.
Manna
will be accepting canned food donations at the event as well. Anyone who donates these items during the event will earn a ticket for a free turn in the photo booth.
Rockville Town Square merchants will be offering specials and promotions with a portion of proceeds benefiting Manna.
Kids are invited to make a craft sponsored by
VisArts
and the public can write letters to our Troops throughout the evening with the help of
Operation Gratitude
.
We hope you can join us for A
Season of Giving!
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Yom Kippur Food Drive: A Huge Success!
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Thanks to the congregations that participated in the annual Yom Kippur Food Drive! Together these congregations donated 32,735 lbs of food to help their neighbors during this very busy time.
Email now for more information on how you can organize a food drive.
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Adat Shalom Congregation
Beth Ami Temple
Beth Shalom Congregation
Bethesda Chevy Chase Jewish Community Group
Bethesda Jewish Congregation/ Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church
B'nai Israel Congregation
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Congregation Beth El
Congregation B'nai Tzedek
Congregation Har Shalom
Congregation Machar
Congregation Or Chadash
Kehila Chadasha
Kol Shalom Congregation
Shirat HaNefesh
Temple Emanuel
Temple Shalom
Tikvat Israel Congregation
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Make your special event more special!
Planning a holiday party for your business, organization, or family? You can make a real difference in Montgomery County when hiring a caterer.
Community Food Rescue (CFR) provides an easy way to share unused catered food with people in need food assistance -including approximately 70,000 residents in Montgomery County. Donating surplus food also prevents good food from going to waste.
The donation was auto-matched to the
Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH)
, the county's only year round 24/7 men's shelter. A CFR volunteer food runner picked up the donation and delivered it to MCCH and their clients enjoyed these prepared foods for dinner.
H
ow CFR food donation helps your caterer:
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Farmers and Hunters Help Manna Feed Families
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You may already be familiar with Manna's Farm to Food Bank program, our partnerships with local producers that provide thousands of pounds of locally grown vegetables to share through our food distribution sites. Because of this program during the growing season our refrigerator is overflowing with nutritious veggies and now, with a few additional key partnerships we've been able to stock our freezer with local goods too.
Thanks to a collaboration with
Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) we were able to fund the processing of three locally raised steer, that's more than 350 pounds of grass-fed beef cuts. The steer were generously donated by Keith Ohlinger of Heritage Hill Farm in Howard County. Lower in saturated fat, higher in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E, grass-fed meat is a valuable but typically cost-prohibitive item for Manna to procure. Were it not for the support of FHFH this quality protein would never have made it from farm to food bank.
This is not Manna's first time working with FHFH. Every year hunters across Maryland harvest more deer than they can eat or share with their friends and family. Additionally, farmers are issued management permits to reduce deer numbers that are damaging their crop yields. Farmers and hunters donate their deer or livestock to inspected, approved meat processors that participate with FHFH and Manna picks up the lean protein and shares it with families we serve. On the day of this writing, we picked up over 1200 pounds of FHFH-provided venison, enough protein for over 6000 meals.
We want to continue to provide healthful meat options like these and FHFH is critical to that mission. Please consider supporting
FHFH in their important work!
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| Join Us! Cheers For Charity @ Dawson's Market |
Make plans to join us for Cheers for Charity, a wine tasting & cheese pairing fundraiser hosted by Dawson's Market for Manna.
This relaxing, social event will take place t
he Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26th from 5pm - 8pm. A minimum donation of
$5 per person gets you in, with 100% of the proceeds coming directly to Manna. Thanks to our generous partners at Dawson's Market for this opportunity to partner.
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Available Volunteer Opportunities:
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Food Distribution
Volunteers help, Mon-Fri from 9am-3pm, pack and sort food, bag produce and meat, assist clients to their car, and take in food donations.
Must be 17 years of age of older. This opportunity is approved for SSL hours.
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Client Services Representative
Help log referrals by phone, fax, and email in to our database. Volunteers must be able to commit to a minimum of 6 months.
English/Spanish bi-lingual skills are required.
Shifts Currently Available:
Day or Evening Floater
(Shift varies based on need)
2nd Saturday of the Month, 10am-2pm
(monthly commitment)
for more information.
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Satellite Distribution Centers
Volunteers help, Tuesday at Catholic Charities and Wednesday at Long Branch Community Center from 3pm-7pm, distributing prepacked boxes, assisting clients to their car, and taking in food donations.
Must be 17 years of age of older. This opportunity is approved for SSL hours.
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Food Runner
Join Community Food Rescue (CFR), Montgomery County's network for food recovery. Help deliver rescued food to area shelters.
Click here to learn how you can help feed more and waste less.
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For more information about these and any other volunteer opportunities visit our
website
.
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| A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Donors |
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We extend a warm and sincere THANK YOU to all of the organizations and businesses
that have donated food and funds between September 16, 2016 - October 15, 2016.
Without your incredible generosity, we would not be able to feed families in our community.
Airpark Auto Service
Bahadori Accounting & Tax Service, Inc.
Bannockburn Elementary School
Bargain Movers
Bethesda Central Farmers' Market
Bethesda Co-Op
Bloomberg L.P.
Branded '72
Capital Area Food Bank
Chevy Chase United Methodist Church
Christ the Servant Lutheran Church
Church of Christ at Manor Woods
Church of the Redeemer
City of Gaithersburg
City of Rockville
Colesville Presbyterian Church
DC Metronomes
Dream, LLC
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
FINRA
First Baptist Church of Rockville
First Fruits Farm
Future Vote/ Mo. Co. Board of Elections
Giant Food
Glens Garden Club
Harris Teeter
Ingleside at King Farm
Jared and Irene Drescher
Jewish War Vet. Ladies Aux.
Journey's Crossing Congregation
Kaiser Permanente
Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-Op
Larry E. Paul Certified Financial Planner
Lifechurch of Maryland
MCPS Speech Lang Fund
Montgomery County
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery County Thrift Shop Board
Montgomery Soccer Inc.
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MRI Global
National Council of Jewish Women
Neighbors in Need Montgomery Fund
New Life Seventh Day Adventist Church
NIH Federal Credit Union
Norman's Farm Markets
Olney Farmers & Artists' Market
Otsuka America Pharmeceutical, Inc.
Response Tech
Robert Pence Remodeling, Inc.
Rockville Farmers' Market
Rockville Help
Roots
Safeway
Saint Mark Presbyterian Church
Sandy Nails
SCUP Committee
SEBA Gardens
Seven Locks Baptist Church
Shondra and Greg Jenkins
Shrine of St. Jude
Sodexo Foundation
State of Maryland
Stromberg Conservation, LLC
TD Charitable Foundation
Terps Against Hunger
The Goddard School, Gaithersburg
Town & Country Movers, Inc.
Trader Joe's
True Buddha Temple Maryland
Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville
Verst Group Logistics
Village of Martin's Additions
Voortman Cookies
Washington Society of Jewish Deaf
Watkins Pond Community Garden
Wegmans
Whole Foods Market
Winston Churchill High School
Woodley Garden Club
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If we accidentally missed your business or organization in our list, please email
Therese Lampe
and we will make the correction in our next list. We wish we could also list each of the individuals who contribute to Manna; thank you all again for your support!
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If you're interested in donating food, making a financial contribution, or volunteering,
please contact us at
:
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Manna Food Center
9311 Gaither Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
301-424-1130
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Remember to support Manna through your workplace giving campaign.
United Way # 8846 - CFC # 23028
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