January 6, 2021
A 30th Year to Remember
We began this year with big plans to celebrate our 30th Anniversary – full of love, memories, and gathering with our extended community.
While the year certainly played out much differently than we planned, we still found ourselves surrounded by the love and support of the community who has been with us for 30 years, as well as so many new friends, supporters, volunteers and donors.
While the pandemic shut down much of Philadelphia, MANNA continued to be recognized as an essential service. Our doors stayed open, our client census climbed to the highest numbers we have ever seen, and our community rallied behind our clients and their families – some of the area’s most vulnerable citizens.
Inside our kitchen, we made many changes for the health and safety of our volunteers, staff, and clients. We instituted masks and social distancing, reduced the number of volunteers per shift, condensed our hours, changed our delivery protocols, and added additional safety trainings and health questionnaires.
From increased expenses in our kitchen to the urgent need for PPE, we are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from Philadelphia’s philanthropic community – foundations, corporations, families and individuals.
That brings us to our incredible volunteers – Volunteers are Essential. Since the onset of the pandemic in early March, 2,648 unique individuals have heroically volunteered in our kitchen or on the road delivering meals – totaling over 58,000 hours.
From all of us here at MANNA – thank you for standing with us. Whether this is your first year as a member of our community or your 30th, we are grateful to you.We couldn’t do it without you.
Here’s to a safe and healthy 2021.