Everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, and in every community in America, people are working hard to provide for themselves and their families. Yet 34 million people (1 in 10), including more than 9 million children (1 in 8), experience food insecurity in the U.S.* And here in Western North Carolina, as you probably know by now, MANNA continues to hit new record highs of the number of people turning to us for food every month. That includes more than 1 in 4 children, and their families, seniors, veterans, front line workers, and people who are experiencing a crisis. With this enormous need for food across the mountains, there has never been a better time to act, and help make a life-saving difference.
September is Hunger Action Month – an annual nationwide month of action to spread awareness and inspire everyone to join the movement to end hunger. Every action – big or small – is one step closer to a hunger-free WNC, and an America where no one is hungry.
*Feeding America, 2023
Food for Today, Tomorrow, and for a Lifetime
At MANNA, we are marking 40 years of working daily to meet our mission to involve, educate, and unite people in the work of ending hunger in WNC.
We honor this mission through our work to provide food for today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime. We work to support food for today through our daily food distribution activities with our incredible volunteers and partner network. We are working to provide food for tomorrow through our Food Helpline, supporting residents in signing up for SNAP to help supplement their households’ grocery needs. And we are working to provide food for a lifetime by our ongoing work to educate our community and elected representatives so that we can all seek solutions together that end hunger in Western North Carolina, and across the country.
Actions You Can Take This Month (and All Year Long)
This month, we invite you to grab a friend and get involved in our mission. Along with volunteering at MANNA or one of our partners, you can check out one of this happenings:
Sept. 1 – 30:
Hops for Hunger with 12 Bones Brewing and Appalachian Mountain Brewing, where every pour of a pint with purpose provides 4 meals! (see below for details)
Monday, September 11:
Empty Bowls tickets go on sale!
Wednesday, September 13:
MANNA Day Sponsored By Ingles – We CAN Fight Hunger
Join us at the Mountain State Fair for one of our most important annual food drives! Bring 5 cans of food and get free entry to the Mountain State Fair!
Friday, September 15:
Hunger Action Day
Wear orange – the color of hunger awareness – and raise awareness for the issue of hunger here in WNC with your friends, coworkers, and community circles.
