Many hands make necessary work

In the April 9 edition of Mountain Xpress, Asheville’s nonprofits were featured as a critical part of the Western North Carolina (WNC) community. Reporter Hal Millard interviewed the president of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Pat Smith, who remarked that “… government, business and nonprofits work together for a healthy community.”

MANNA FoodBank agrees that the synergy created by government, business and nonprofits is essential in servicing the needs of the community. Donations of time, money and in-kind contributions from groups and individuals all over WNC ensure MANNA’s success. However, I feel compelled to emphasize the increasing need. Terri Farless, a staffer at MANNA, says that “people who were scraping by before are now seeking emergency food aid on a regular basis as a result of the spikes in gas and food prices.”

The article also referenced MANNA’s IRS 990 Form, setting our operating budget in excess of $12 million. The IRS requires the assignation of a monetary value to non-cash items, such as almost $9 million worth of donated food. Hopefully, citizens of WNC can better gauge the scope of MANNA’s cash revenues with this number in mind.

Other partners not mentioned in the story are the hundreds of smaller nonprofits—325 of whom are MANNA’s partner agencies in the community—and the media. The smaller nonprofits often provide hand-to-hand direct service to our neighbors facing hunger, while the media tells the story of the need.

The mission of MANNA FoodBank is to unite, educate and involve people in the work of ending hunger in Western North Carolina. Working together with government, businesses, the community at large and all of our partner agencies, we will achieve this goal.

— Kitty Schaller
Executive Director
MANNA FoodBank
Asheville