Our #SwipeItForGood partner of the month is Manna Meal, a charity located in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, that has been feeding those in need for over 40 years. To learn more about Manna Meal and all they do for our community, we interviewed Amy Wolfe, the Executive Director.
“It literally started when Jim Lewis, the rector of St. John’s, was approached by a man who stated he was homeless and hungry. He gave him peanut butter and jelly and soup.”
Manna Meal serves breakfast and lunch every day of the year. They often serve as many as 325 people a day as well as offering mental health, clothing, and housing resources.
“Our sole mission is to feed people. We have been providing some of our most vulnerable neighbors meals for over 4 decades,” explained Amy.
COVID-19 has brought many challenges to our community, and Manna Meal faces those challenges every day. To help support the growing need, they have added dinner services for Wednesdays and Saturdays.
“COVID-19 hasn’t stopped hunger and it has not stopped Manna Meal either. Not only have we quickly adapted to the drastically increased number of meals served but also our approach to service. Our standard operating procedures have been adjusted as the dining room is limited to 50% occupancy, the utilization of all disposable to-go boxes, masks being handed out at each service to anyone entering the building as needed, and the halting of our volunteer services. All to maintain our “never having missed a meal” so that we can keep up with the demand and need.”
All events and volunteer programs have been put on hold at Manna Meal to keep the community and staff safe, so we asked Amy how the community can help support Manna Meal when it’s needed possibly more than ever.
“During this pandemic, out of an abundance of caution, for the time being suspended our volunteer program. Relying on our small staff of ten to absorb additional functions of the volunteers has been challenging, but we continue to rise to the occasion. We thrive on the generosity and support of the community. Monetary donations can be made at www.mannameal.org”