In photos: Millionth MANNA Pack delivered in Haywood County

Posted on by Pat Barcas
Larry Leatherwood and Bill Owen of the Rotary Club of Waynesville help deliver the millionth MANNA Pack to Jonathan Valley Elementary School in Waynesville. Photo by Pat Barcas

MANNA FoodBank staff and volunteers delivered the organization’s millionth MANNA Pack for Kids to Jonathan Valley Elementary School in Waynesville on Friday, Feb. 19.

The MANNA Packs for Kids program provides emergency food assistance to public school students throughout the 16 counties MANNA FoodBank serves. Ten years ago, Beth Stahl, youth programs manager for MANNA, started a partnership with Oakley Elementary School in Asheville to deliver the very first MANNA Pack to a child in need. That year, MANNA distributed a grand total of 50 bags of food through the program.

The packs ensure that the children of Western North Carolina who depend on free and reduced school breakfast and lunch will also have food when they are not at school over weekends and school breaks. Now Stahl works with MANNA’s network of MANNA Packs partners and volunteers, distributing over 4,800 packs every week in partnership with 149 schools across Western North Carolina.

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About Pat Barcas
Pat is a photojournalist and writer who moved to Asheville in 2014. He previously worked for a labor and social rights advocacy newspaper in Chicago. Email him at pbarcas@gmail.com. Follow me @pbarcas
View all posts by Pat Barcas →

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