Friend of Manna Food Center
With Thanksgiving falling late in November, it feels to me like we celebrated one holiday and then, with the quick turn of the calendar page, we are into the holiday season! I hope you had a chance to pause and savor an abundant and tasty Thanksgiving. As a Manna Food Center supporter, you can be assured that thousands of your neighbors were grateful for the services Manna provides.
|
|
Manna participants pick up food at the East County Manna Market on Thanksgiving Eve.
|
|
One woman left our marketplace Thanksgiving Eve saying to me, “Thank you, thank you, thank you…you just don’t know what this means. You just don’t know.” I want YOU to know that because of your generosity, Manna Food Center was able to offer good food in welcoming spaces to everyone who turned to us—1,158 people Thanksgiving week alone!
Earlier this month was another celebration -- Giving Tuesday. We celebrated giving back to the community and many of you showed their generosity with financial donations to Manna Food Center. Your support helps us replenish our shelves and fill our fridges with food. Your donations also make it possible for us to educate neighbors on
how to prepare healthy holiday meals
and open our spaces to groups sharing skills such as GED tutoring, breast-feeding tips for new moms, and English language learning for adults.
Giving Tuesday also means the clock is ticking for end-of-year contributions. Depending on your age, your tax status, and other circumstances, there may be financial incentives to gifting required-minimum distributions or other contributions to Manna Food Center. Some individuals and families designate donations from
Donor Advised Funds
at the end of the year. Last month
we shared tips from Rebecca Rothey
, Vice President of Development and Senior Philanthropic Advisor at
the Greater Washington Community Foundation. If you didn’t have a chance to act with those tips in mind, now is the time to do so!
However you chose to give
, on behalf of the Manna Board, staff, and volunteers I want to thank you for giving us so much. As we gear up to end the year strong, I am so aware we could not serve without you. Thank you for being part of our team as we create together a community where there is Food for All.
|
|
Tis' the Season to Give
Tips for End of Year Giving
|
|
Are You Retired?
Support Manna through your Year End Giving
Planning to take your Required Minimum Distribution early? You may want to consider making charitable donations through a Qualified Charitable Distribution* (QCD). A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity. QCDs can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met.
|
|
|
|
|
Shop with Amazon Smile and give back to Manna!
|
|
|
It’s the holiday season and along with chillier temps come requests from Manna to you, members of the community, to participate in food drives to stock our shelves and, in turn, our participants’ pantries.
As our warehouse gets filled with cans of vegetables (low sodium, please!) and boxes of pasta (whole grain, please!) we express our gratitude to the Manna drivers who transport bins of food around the County. We give thanks to the shoppers for generously choosing to purchase a little extra to share with a neighbor. We are grateful to the grocery store staff for hosting and advertising our drive and the corporate level executives who encourage individual stores to get involved in charitable acts.
We seldom follow this thread of appreciation back to the people who first planted the wheat or the put the seed in the ground. Yes, it may be large scale operations that bring the bulk of the food to grocery store aisles and often many stops between the soil and the dinner plate, but
there is always a farm and farmworkers to ultimately thank for food making its way to our plates
.
|
|
|
Community Food Rescue Week 2019
Celebrating an
Apple's
Journey from Farm to Table
|
|
|
|
This year’s Manna Food Center’s
Community Food Rescue Week
(Oct 20-26) demonstrated how our community is feeding more and wasting less with five public events.
CFR Week’s aim is to raise public awareness about food waste, hunger, and food recovery in Montgomery County. This year’s events thanked CFR network members, expanded the CFR network, celebrated our accomplishments, and reinforced our close ties with supporters and partners.
The common thread of each event followed post-commercial harvest apples along their journey-- gleaned at the orchard, distributed to neighbors in need, cooked into delicious apple crisp, and sampled at events. CFR week finished with a composting demo to show how even food scraps can be used to enrich the earth. Read on for highlights of each event.
|
|
|
Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons coconut oil
- 2 cups chopped baby spinach
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- Chopped peppers (optional)
- Chopped avocado (optional)
- Shredded lettuce (optional)
- Sour Cream (optional)
- Salsa (optional)
- Onions (optional)
- Meat (optional)
- Cheese (optional)
Directions
- Heat a large pan to medium-high heat. Add coconut oil to the pan, and melt. Add spinach and sauté until wilted.
- Add rice, beans, sea salt, garlic powder, and cumin. Cook until all ingredients are heated through. Remove from heat.
- Top with optional toppings and serve!
|
|
|
 |
5 Tips for Shopping on a Budget
- Make a shopping list.
- Avoid aisles that do not contain foods that are on your shopping list.
- Buy some items non organic.
- Check produce for local or seasonal items as they can be cheaper.
- Purchase frozen or canned instead of fresh.
|
|
|
|
5 Healthier Foods Under $2
- Brown Rice
- Frozen Vegetables
- Canned Tuna
- Canned/Jarred Marinara Sauce
- Canned Refried Beans
|
|
|
|
Do You Know A Hero?
Heroes Against Hunger Nominations Are Now Open!
|
|
2019 capped heroes:
Adventist HealthCare (corporate hero), Jeff Miller (individual hero), The Community Foundation In Montgomery County (community hero)
|
|
At Manna Food Center’s annual Heroes Against Hunger Awards Reception, we recognize community champions in the fight against hunger in three categories – Individual Hero, Corporate Hero & Community Hero. The award winners, nominated by you and chosen by Manna’s Board of Directors, demonstrate a true passion for fighting hunger and feeding hope in Montgomery County.
Featuring delicious food, a dynamic silent auction and a short, meaningful program, this year’s reception is scheduled fo mid-Spring 2020 will be the best to date. Nominate our community heroes and make plans to join us!
Submit a nomination today
. Self nominations are encouraged. The deadline to submit a nomination is midnight on
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
. Award recipients will be notified in early February. If you have any questions, e-mail
Mardia
|
|
|
Available Volunteer Opportunities
|
|
Want to be a Manna Market Volunteer?
|
|
We are excited to announce that Manna’s Market in Silver Spring has opened! We are currently scheduling individual volunteers to volunteer as Market Volunteers
and Market Reception Volunteers. There are weekday, weeknight and some weekend shifts.
Market Volunteers
will help our participants in the market and assist in restocking shelves.
Volunteer must be 16 or older or 14 and older with a parent
.
This opportunity is now open to small groups (up to 5 volunteers) during the daytime!
Market Reception Volunteers
will primarily help to greet, check-in, and schedule participants through our Salesforce database.
Volunteer must be 18 or older and be able to commit to a weekly schedule.
Please contact the Volunteer Manager,
katie@mannafood.org
for a full description of activities and available shifts.
|
|
|
|
Warehouse Reception
9311 Gaither Road, Gaithersburg
Monday thru Friday
9-12pm and 12-3pm
Be the welcoming face of Manna!
Help welcome and direct guest at Manna’s Gaithersburg warehouse as people picking up food for schools and participants, and individuals coming for meetings. Volunteers will also receive food donations and well as the mail and other packages.
We may ask volunteers to help with administrative tasks that arise from time to time.
The amount of work can fluctuate and there can be down time when you are not assisting guests. So you would be welcome to bring another activity with you such as something to read, or a crossword puzzle etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
12301 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring
Bi-lingual Spanish, French, Amharic and Haitian skills are a plus.
Office volunteers (18 years of age or older) support our referral program which enables participants/clients to receive food from us. Volunteers receive referral information by phone, fax, and email and input it into our participant database. This allow us to determine how many boxes need to be prepared each day and create a sign-in/out sheet for client pick-up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food Runners
Join Community Food Rescue (CFR), Montgomery County's network for food recovery. Help deliver rescued food to area shelters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nutrition
Volunteers
Manna's free nutrition programming makes crucial health information more accessible to communities in need. You can help fight hunger and learn new skills as a nutrition education volunteer!
|
|
|
|
A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Donors
|
|
We extend a warm and sincere THANK YOU to all of the organizations and businesses that have donated food and funds between October 16, 2019 - November 15, 2019.
Without your incredible generosity, we would not be able to feed families in our community.
|
|
Academy of Fine Arts
Adat Shalom Congregation
APA Inc.
Aronson LLC
Aspen Hill Christian Church
Bayard Rustin E.S.
Bessemer National Gift Fund
Bethesda Central Farmers' Market
Bethesda Chevy Chase Ice Hockey
Bethesda Co-Op
Beverly Farms E.S.
Box Associates Limited Partnership
Boy Scouts of America
Brandeis AZA-BBYO
Burtonsville E.S.
Butler Montessori School
Cabin John M.S.
Cannon Road E.S.
Capital Area Food Bank
Carl Sandburg Learning Center
Central Farm Markets at Westfield Montgomery Mall
Century Distributors, Inc.
Chesapeake Helpers Society
Chinmaya Mission Washington Regional Center
Church of the Redeemer
City of Gaithersburg
City of Rockville
Clinton AME Zion Church
Congregation B'nai Tzedek
CSG Enterprise, L.P.
Cub Scout Pack #773
Dakade Charitable Fund
DC Metro Sai Samsthan
DC Metronomes
Dufief E.S.
Fill The Banks
First Fruits Farm
Fox Chapel E.S.
Gaithersburg Chapter #5358 of AARP
Galway E.S.
Georgetown Preparatory School
Georgetown Visitation Prep School
Germantown E.S.
Giant Food
Girl Scout Troop 2317
Glen Haven E.S.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Goshen E.S.
Guggenheim Investments
Harris Teeter
Health & Human Services
Herbert Hoover M.S.
Imperfect Produce
Jackson Road E.S.
John F. Kennedy H.S.
Julius West M.S.
Kingsview M.S.
Larry E. Paul Certified Financial Planner
Lincoln Property Company
Lutheran Church of St. Andrew
Metrognomes Hallmark Club
Microsoft Store #63
|
|
Monster Golf
Montgomery County
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery County Road Runners
Montgomery Faith Fellowship
Mt. Calvary Baptist Church
MYHA
Nasdaq OMX
National Council of Jewish Women
NIST Child Care Center
Norman's Farm Markets
North Bethesda M.S.
Northwest H.S.
Olney Farmers & Artists' Market
Olney Help
Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Parkside Plaza Community Affairs
Penzey Spice Company
Piney Branch E.S.
Poolesville H.S.
Response Tech
Ridgeview M.S.
Rock View
Rock View E.S.
Rockville Farmers' Market
Ronald McNair E.S.
Roots
Rosemont E.S.
Safeway
Saint Mark Presbyterian Church
Sargent Shriver E.S.
Seneca Community Church
Sequoyah E.S.
Shady Grove Adventist Hospital
Silver Spring Presbyterian Church
Sligo Creek E.S.
Social Security Administration
Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Inc.
Spark M. Matsunaga E.S.
St. James Episcopal Church
St. Jude's Leisure Club
State of Maryland
TD Charitable Foundation
Temple Beth Ami
Temple Emanuel
Temple Shalom
The V. and S. Foundation
Tikvat Israel Congregation
Tilden M.S.
Trader Joe's
Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville
Vantage Point West At Leisure World
Village of Martin's Additions
Voortman Cookies
Walter Johnson H.S.
Washington Grove E.S.
Watkins Mill H.S.
Wegmans
Whetstone E.S.
Whole Foods Market
William Tyler Page E.S.
Wolpoff Family Foundation, Inc.
Woodlin E.S.
|
|
|
|
|
If you're interested in donating food, making a financial contribution, or volunteering, please contact us at 301-424-1130 or
info@mannafood.org
.
Manna Food Center Office & Market
12301 Old Columbia Pike
Suite 200
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Manna Food Center Warehouse
9311 Gaither Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
Remember to support Manna through your workplace giving campaign.
United Way # 8846 - CFC # 23028
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
