A Summer of Healing and Harvest

Summer in Western North Carolina is a season of color and warmth. Roadside stands are full of fresh produce, farmers are harvesting their tomatoes, squash, and peppers—all while families play with their kids in the sun before heading back to school.

During the winter after Hurricane Helene, the damage was impossible to ignore. Broken trees lined the roads, fields lay bare, and the hillsides stood scarred. But as spring gave way to summer, something extraordinary happened: the mountains began to heal. Leaves unfurled across the fallen trees, and fields sprouted green again.

This renewal is more than just a sign of nature’s resilience. It’s a reminder of our region’s spirit. Across WNC, farmers and gardeners have been hard at work, coaxing new life from the soil. Their labor fills MANNA’s trucks, our partners’ shelves, and ultimately, the tables of our neighbors.

Yet even as the land recovers, the need has never been greater.

In June, MANNA Community Markets and our partner agencies were visited more than 190,000 times—the highest number in our 42 years of serving this region. This surpassed our previous record of 189,000 visits, which occurred just two months earlier in April.

That’s more than 190,000 moments of neighbors seeking help to feed themselves or their family.

The good news is that even as the need is growing, so are our community efforts. This summer, the Asheville Veterans Affairs office donated 35,000 pounds of food. Disaster relief support from across the country is fueling our new “Essential Foods Program” to bring more fresh produce, meat, cheese, eggs, and dairy to all 16 counties in WNC and the Qualla Boundary. And in our warehouse, roofing has gone onto our new refrigerator space, ensuring that when construction is complete, more of these filling, nutritional foods can be stored and reach those who need it most.

With your support, we can make sure every table in WNC is full of food again.