Advocate for Our Neighbors Facing Hunger
MANNA FoodBank is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to highlighting the issues affecting the people we serve in Western North Carolina.
On Wednesday, September 28, the White House will be hosting the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. This is the first conference the White House is hosting on hunger and food insecurity in over 50 years. The previous conference led to the creation of essential programs, such as school lunch programs, WIC and food labeling.
If you want to view the Conference, a virtual option will be provided. To stay up-to-date with the Conference and all of our advocacy initiatives, sign up for our Advocacy newsletter.
At MANNA, we are committed to serving marginalized communities in ways that value who they are, their lived experiences, and their unique barriers to accessing food. We are developing solutions to hunger that are community-driven, equitable, accessible, honor a diversity of needs, and value everyone. Our food programs and public policy efforts aim to build a society where everyone can live, learn, work and thrive—because having enough food is a fundamental human right.
This commitment to advocating for the people we serve includes connecting directly with elected representatives, highlighting the issues that directly affect the people we serve, and partnering with advocacy-focused organizations to build a movement of engagement and support at every level – in addition to our daily work to source and distribute food to thousands of our friends and neighbors. We invite you to join us.
Food for Today. Learn about food insecurity in your neighborhood by supporting local food pantries and community markets. MANNA works with hundreds of partners who distribute food to communities throughout Western North Carolina. Find a partner close to your neighborhood on our Food Finder map, connect with them on what the need for food in your neighborhood looks like, and how you can support this work right in your own community. To see our partners’ food distributions in action, check out our WNC Food Distributions playlist on our YouTube channel.
Food for Tomorrow, and for a Lifetime. MANNA is dedicated to engaging in longer-term solutions that will secure food for Western North Carolinians today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime. MANNA’s Helpline and outreach staff and volunteers work daily to help connect people to the programs that help put food on peoples’ plates today and tomorrow, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps). MANNA is also working to build community-led solutions at mobile market distributions by partnering with businesses and nonprofits who provide information and services to address needs beyond food.
How You Can Help
Register to Vote
Participating in the democratic voting process can have a major impact on influencing the legislation and policy that affect peoples’ daily lives. As a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, MANNA is dedicated to working with our elected representatives – both locally, at the state level, and nationally – to find solutions that support the people we serve. Register to vote, and be part of a larger solution to end hunger nationwide.
Check your voter registration status here.
Learn more about why voting is important to the collective work to address hunger by watching our video:
Your Voice Matters: Register to Vote
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and advocacy action alerts here
Help us build a powerful movement to eliminate hunger in Western North Carolina. Through the concerted efforts of people like you, we can ensure that our elected representatives get the message: we must address food insecurity’s root causes so that we can eliminate hunger now and for the long-term. When we are better informed, and our representatives are better informed about the issues facing our communities, we can build better solutions together.
MANNA’s monthly Fresh News newsletter keeps our community up-to-date on things happening at MANNA and the need for food across WNC. MANNA’s advocacy newsletter works to keep you informed about issues affecting our community, while providing simple actions that you can take to help create a hunger-free WNC. By signing up for the advocacy email list, you will also be a part of our alert system, which means that you will receive emails containing specific calls to action, such as contacting legislators during pivotal policy moments.
Get Involved with MANNA
There are many ways to support the daily work to end hunger in WNC. One of the easiest ways is to make a donation. Learn more about the different ways you can help, and how powerful small donations truly are in helping to fuel the work to feed thousands of WNC families.
MANNA’s daily work is not possible without the caring hands of thousands of volunteers – volunteers truly are the “heartbeet” of MANNA! Learn about volunteering at MANNA, and how your time works to support the fabric of our WNC community.
Food Drives and Community Events
Another way to advocate for MANNA is to host a food drive, or get involved with a MANNA sponsored community event. You can even make a difference through your participation, volunteer efforts, or even by sharing the upcoming event on your social media networks.
Current State and National Representatives of MANNA’s 16-County Service Area
NC US Senators
Richard Burr (R)
NC US Representatives
Madison Cawthorn (R) – 11th District
Virginia Foxx (R) – 5th District
NC State Senators
Chuck Edwards (R) – State Senator of District 48 – includes Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania County
Julie Mayfield (D) – State Senator of District 49 – includes Buncombe County
Kevin Corbin (R) – State Senator of District 50 – includes Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain County
Ralph Hise (R) – State Senator of District 47 – includes Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk and Yancey County
Warren Daniel (R) – State Senator of District 46 – includes Avery County
NC State Representatives
Brian Turner (D) – State Representative of District 116 – includes Buncombe County
Dudley Greene (R) – State Representative of District 85 – includes Avery County
Jake Johnson (R) – State Representative of District 113 – includes Henderson, Polk and Transylvania County
John Ager (D) – State Representative of District 115 – includes Buncombe County
Karl E. Gillespie (R) – State Representative of District 120 – includes Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon County
Mike Clampitt (R) – State Representative of District 119 – includes Haywood, Jackson and Swain County
Mark Pless (R) – State Representative of District 118 – includes Yancey, Madison and Haywood County
Currently Unrepresented – State Representative of District 114 – includes Buncombe County
Timothy D. Moffitt (R) – State Representative of District 117 – includes Henderson County