Zombie Run boosts Manna Food Pantries
- November 4, 2014
- / Shannon Nickinson
- / training-development
Zombies have a heart after all.
The Pensacon Day of the Dead Zombie Run on Nov. 1 raised 973 pounds of food to help Manna Food Pantries in its mission to battle hunger in the Pensacola metro area.
“That is enough to provide food for one day to 195 people,” said DeDe Flounlacker, executive director of Manna.
The fundraising event couldn’t have been better timed for Manna, which is heading into its busiest time of the year, both in terms of donations and in the number of people served.
Manna’s warehouse at Tarragona Street flooded in the late April deluge, temporarily closed down. In October Manna closed on the purchase of an old textbook depot on higher ground at North Tarragona and North Hayne streets, which was purchased from the Escambia School District for $125,000.
Manna resumed service in July after the flood, and Flounlacker says since then, the pantry has served 6,000 people.
“Every week, we are running between 500 to 700 people a week,” she says.
[caption id="attachment_6338" align="alignright" width="300"]
Manna Food Pantries warehouse at Tarragona and Gonzalez streets in downtown Pensacola.[/caption]
Manna’s fiscal year wrapped up on Sept. 30, and the data paint a grim portrait of the need in the Pensacola metro area.
— More senior citizens need food than ever before. This fiscal year, 18 percent of the people who came to Manna were seniors; last fiscal year it was 12 percent, says Flounlacker, who attributes the increase to more grandparents raising grandchildren.
— More military families needed help. Manna classifies “military families” as a broad-brush group that includes active duty, National Guard, veterans and retired military personnel. Their numbers rose 3 percent among Manna’s client base in this fiscal year.
— More people who were coming in because of an unexpected expense.
“Many people live paycheck to paycheck,” Flounlacker says. “Maybe they’re not in poverty right now, but that one thing will happen that throws everything out of whack. Maybe the car breaks down or they have an unexpected illness and they get into this vicious cycle of having to pay bills they weren’t expecting to have.”
If you want to help Manna in its mission to leave no one unfed, they could use donations of proteins such as peanut butter, canned chicken and canned tuna; canned fruit; and cereal.
“We really encourage people to give us the healthiest food that they possibly can, too,” Flounlacker says. “ We have lot of clients who are diabetic or have obesity issues. if you go to get that can of fruit, get it in its natural juices instead of in sugar.”
Donations are welcome at the Manna warehouse at 116 E. Gonzalez St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Manna Food Pantries warehouse at Tarragona and Gonzalez streets in downtown Pensacola.[/caption]
Manna’s fiscal year wrapped up on Sept. 30, and the data paint a grim portrait of the need in the Pensacola metro area.
— More senior citizens need food than ever before. This fiscal year, 18 percent of the people who came to Manna were seniors; last fiscal year it was 12 percent, says Flounlacker, who attributes the increase to more grandparents raising grandchildren.
— More military families needed help. Manna classifies “military families” as a broad-brush group that includes active duty, National Guard, veterans and retired military personnel. Their numbers rose 3 percent among Manna’s client base in this fiscal year.
— More people who were coming in because of an unexpected expense.
“Many people live paycheck to paycheck,” Flounlacker says. “Maybe they’re not in poverty right now, but that one thing will happen that throws everything out of whack. Maybe the car breaks down or they have an unexpected illness and they get into this vicious cycle of having to pay bills they weren’t expecting to have.”
If you want to help Manna in its mission to leave no one unfed, they could use donations of proteins such as peanut butter, canned chicken and canned tuna; canned fruit; and cereal.
“We really encourage people to give us the healthiest food that they possibly can, too,” Flounlacker says. “ We have lot of clients who are diabetic or have obesity issues. if you go to get that can of fruit, get it in its natural juices instead of in sugar.”
Donations are welcome at the Manna warehouse at 116 E. Gonzalez St., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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