To our MANNA community,

Like you, we are watching for and will continue to monitor closely impacts stemming from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), which was signed into law on July 4, 2025. While the legislation makes sweeping changes to federal spending, including serious cuts to safety-net programs like Medicaid and nutrition assistance, I want to be clear: we remain fully committed to our mission of delivering nourishment, dignity, and hope to those who need it most, as highlighted in this recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer featuring MANNA.

In fact, in some ways, we’ve been here before. Cuts to Medicaid will disproportionately impact marginalized and vulnerable populations, diminishing their access to essential healthcare services and undermining public health initiatives. That’s exactly what happened in the 1990s within the HIV/AIDS population, when MANNA was formed. During those trying times, MANNA’s founders and early staff and volunteers found ways to nourish our neighbors in need, and we are fully committed to doing the same now.

Our operations are continuing as usual. Every meal is being prepared with the same care, medically tailored to each client’s needs, and delivered to their doorstep with compassion. But we also know this is not business as usual when it comes to the bigger picture.

We know significant cuts to healthcare and nutrition programs are on the horizon. And while cost savings are presumably the driving force behind these decisions, the data is clear: medically tailored meals save money — and lives.

In Pennsylvania, an entire year of MANNA meals costs less than just three nights in the hospital. Two years of our program still costs less than the national average hospital stay of just under six nights. By helping people manage serious illnesses through proper nutrition, we help reduce emergency room visits, shorten hospital stays, and support better health outcomes.

That’s why we’re not just continuing our work. We’re amplifying it.

We’re advocating for medically tailored meals to be fully integrated into the healthcare system: recognized, reimbursed, and protected. Because when the goal is better care at lower cost, food as medicine needs to be a part of the solution.

To our clients: We’re here for you and will continue to fight for you.

To our supporters: Your partnership fuels this work.

To policymakers: We’re ready to work with you to build smarter, healthier systems, with food as medicine as a central part of care.

Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Sue Daugherty, RDN, LDN
Chief Executive Officer, MANNA