September 2019
eNewsletter
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Friend of Manna Food Center
The start of a school year brings a sense of excitement - even if you aren’t a parent, student, or teacher. Something about the academic year remains with those of us who have had the privilege of a formal education; the sense of possibility is keen once classes begin. Here at Manna Food Center, the anticipation is even greater this fall.
After years of planning and months of actual transition, we are settling into our new spaces. Our market and learning space in Silver Spring is opening its doors soon, and our warehouse is almost completely renovated. We have a vision of a Montgomery County where all people at all times have access to good food in welcoming spaces. Our recent renovations and relocations will better make that possible.
In this issue, you’ll read about some of the celebrations we are having to welcome you into those spaces. I hope you will attend so I can thank you personally for helping us come this far!
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One Weekend, Two Celebrations
Save the date to celebrate with food & friends!
Saturday, October 19
Celebrate the grand opening for our new marketplace at 12301 Old Columbia Pike. Join elected officials and community leaders to tour the market and enjoy food and entertainment.
Sunday, October 20
Come see our newly renovated warehouse at 9311 Gaither Rd. Enjoy light refreshments and a tour of our upgraded facilities.
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Jackie signals we've got two celebrations coming up as she discusses final details for the marketplace with our construction contractor, Mike, from Therrien Waddell.
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Did you catch Jackie on the air with Kojo Nnamdi?
Last week, Jackie joined Food Rescue D.C. director Kate Urbank and WAMU reporter Sasha-Ann Simons to talk about food insecurity in the DC region. The show focused on understanding issues around hungry that impact urban and suburban communities. Jackie also shared some of the innovative programs here at Manna to combat hunger - including Manny, our mobile kitchen & pantry, Community Food Rescue, and choice markets to expand options for participants.
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“Manny”, our mobile kitchen and pop-up pantry, has been on the move this summer, going to classes and events to get ready for the school year. Manny was at White Oak Middle School and Greencastle Elementary School for events where East County community members got a ‘taste’ of our program. We sampled beautiful tri-color bell peppers with guacamole and beet chips with a savory corn and black bean salsa to both kids and adults. One student even told us how much she loved the sweet bell peppers and that “the yellow pepper is her favorite because it’s sweet and juicy”.
The best part? All of the food used came straight from our warehouse! We engaged with the community by sampling these foods and giving a tour of Manny (which doubles as a Mobile Kitchen for classes and a Pop-Up Pantry for outreach). We also distributed information about becoming a participant to receive food from Manna and gave out information about how to volunteer.
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Meet Priya
We welcome Priya Narang, the new Manny Mobile Kitchen Coordinator, to the Manna team! She is coordinating and teaching the mobile cooking classes, scheduling pop-up pantries, and all things “Manny”.
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Autumn Couscous Salad
with Dried Cranberries & Pecans
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Time
: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup couscous, preferably whole wheat
- Salt
- 2 large carrots, grated
- ½ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
- ¼ cup chopped scallions (or red,white,or yellow onion - diced)
- ¼ cup olive oil, or more as needed
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon (or about ¼ cup)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- Pinch of cayenne, or to taste
- Black pepper
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Put the couscous in a small pot. Add 1½ cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and remove from the heat. Let sit for at least 10 minutes, or up to 20.
- Put the slightly cooled couscous in a large salad bowl along with the carrots, nuts, dried fruit, onions, oil, and lemon zest and juice and sprinkle with the spices and pepper. Use 2 big forks to combine, fluffing the couscous and tossing gently to separate the grains. (The salad can be made up to this point and refrigerated for up to a day; bring to room temperature before proceeding.)
- Stir in the parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning, moisten with a little more oil and lemon juice as you like, and serve.
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Breaking Bread Restarts on October 16!
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Breaking Bread is on hiatus as Manna gets settled into its new administrative offices. We will resume our monthly Continuing the Conversation meetings on October 16, 2019 at 4pm with new faces and voices. Mark your calendar now to join us in our ongoing conversation about new solutions to ending the experience of food insecurity in Montgomery County.
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Available Volunteer Opportunities
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Want to be a Manna Market Volunteer?
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We are excited that Manna’s Market in Silver Spring is ready to open to our participants. We are planning a soft launch beginning next week, Tuesday, September 10
th
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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
.
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.
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Food Distribution
Please note
: As of July 8 warehouse operations have moved to a temporary location while the warehouse is under renovation.
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Bi-lingual Spanish, French, Amharic and Haitian skills are a plus.
New Location
: 12301 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring
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.
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Satellite Distribution Centers
Volunteers needed to help distribute prepacked boxes, assist clients to their car, and take in food donations.
Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30pm-7:30pm
Gaithersburg Middle School
Wednesdays 3pm-7pm
Clifton Park Baptist Church
(formerly Long Branch Satellite)
Thursdays 1:30pm-5pm
Germantown
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Food Runners
Join Community Food Rescue (CFR), Montgomery County's network for food recovery. Help deliver rescued food to area shelters.
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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!
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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 July 16, 2019 - August 15, 2019.
Without your incredible generosity, we would not be able to feed families in our community.
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Ada and Albert Wibel Foundation
Alfred D. Noyes Children's Center
Architectural Ceramics
Bargain Movers
Bethesda Central Farmers' Market
Bethesda Co-Op
Box Associates Limited Partnership
Capital Area Food Bank
Central Farm Markets at Westfield Montgomery Mall
Church of Christ at Manor Woods
City of Gaithersburg
City of Rockville
Clinton AME Zion Church
College Gardens Civic Association
Color Me Mine Rockville
Dakade Charitable Fund
DC Metro Sai Samsthan
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
Family Outreach Program
First Fruits Farm
German Foods North America, LLC
Giant Food
Greater Washington Community Foundation
Harris Teeter
Healthy Directions, LLC
Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church
Imperfect Produce
King Farm Community Garden
Larry E. Paul Certified Financial Planner
Mead Family Foundation
Medstar Montgomery Medical Center
Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union
Montgomery County
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Montgomery County Department of Recreation
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery Faith Fellowship
Montgomery Manor Homeowners Association
Moshman Charitable Foundation Inc.
Norbeck Country Club
Norman's Farm Markets
Olney Farmers & Artists' Market
Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Penzey Spice Company
Response Tech
Rockville Farmers' Market
Roots
Safeway
Saint Mark Presbyterian Church
SEBA Gardens
Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Inc.
St. James Episcopal Church
State of Maryland
TD Charitable Foundation
Temple Emanuel
The Samuel, Nadia, Sidney and Rachel Leah Fund
Trader Joe's
True Buddha Temple Maryland
U. S. Department of Energy
Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville
Village of Martin's Additions
Watkins Pond Community Garden
Wegmans
Whole Foods Market
WhyHunger, Inc.
William E. Cross Foundation, Inc.
Woman's Democratic Club of Montgomery County
World of Change
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If you're interested in donating food, making a financial contribution, or volunteering, please contact us at:
Manna Food Center
9311 Gaither Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
301-424-1130
Remember to support Manna through your workplace giving campaign.
United Way # 8846 - CFC # 23028
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