Articles by Jenna Umbriac

June 3, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

Moving Beyond the Safety Net

This past Wednesday evening, I attended the screening of American Winter, a documentary that follows the stories of several families trying to survive in this current economic and social climate. Montgomery County councilwoman, Valerie Ervin, brought the screening to this area as a way of encouraging dialogue and creating awareness of the poverty that exists […]

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May 22, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

Let’s Talk About Kids

I’ve spent most of the past month at Manna learning how to manage our Smart Sacks’ program, that is, our weekend food assistance program for children experiencing hunger in Montgomery County schools.  Currently, we partner with 56 schools in the county and distribute just over 2,000 bags of food to students who would benefit from […]

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May 22, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

American Winter Screening – May 29

Join Councilmember Valerie Ervin and special guests May 29 at AFI Silver Spring, 7 p.m. for a free screening of American Winter, a powerful documentary film about families that follows the personal stories of families struggling in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Click here to register. American Winter is […]

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May 17, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

Volunteers Make the World Go Round

Our volunteers are so important to us – without volunteers, Manna couldn’t collect, sort, or distribute all of the wonderful fresh produce and non-perishable goods we receive every year. Volunteers supplement our tiny staff, and allow us to serve hundreds of families each day with 70lbs of healthy food. Yesterday, one of our corporate partners, […]

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May 14, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

photo paint pallette

Kids! Create A Masterpiece for Manna

Community Appreciation Event ART exhibition Manna Food Center is recognizing 30 years of fighting hunger and feeding hope in our community. We are inviting all students in Grades K – 12 to participate in a community-wide art exhibition to celebrate the collaboration and care of the community that helped build Manna. Submission theme is “fighting […]

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May 8, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

Stamp Out Hunger! (Video)

The National Association of Letter Carriers annual Stamp Out Hunger drive happens on May 11 this year. Your Montgomery County letter carrier will pick up food left at your mailbox and deliver it to Manna Food Center: an easy way to contribute for our stock the shelves campaign. Manna’s own Jamal is featured in the […]

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May 5, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

Give and Ride Success Thanks to You!

Thanks to all the Ride On bus riders this week, we’ve started picking up bins from Ride On’s Give and Ride food drive, and boy are they heavy! Imagine three large bins full of cans – or take a look! That’s 3,087 pounds of cans collected by Ride On drivers just this week. We’ll pick […]

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May 3, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

photo Nataly Astorima

Our Intern Nataly Says Goodbye

Nataly Astorima, a Public Health Science student at the University of Maryland College Park, interned with Manna over the last few months. She worked with our nutritionist Jenna Umbriac to do surveys of our clients and speak to the community. Check out her experiences! Over the past 5 months, I have had the privilege of […]

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April 30, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

photo empty shelves at food bank

Your Help Feeds a Community

During the spring and early summer, the non-perishable donations slow down here at Manna Food Center. In the high holiday times, so many think of their hungry neighbors and drop off non-perishable items at our doors, but after the holidays, people tend to forget that there is still hunger in Montgomery County. In April alone, […]

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April 27, 2013 | Jenna Umbriac

Give and Ride with Ride On Starts This Weekend

Ride On bus passengers can help needy families and receive a free bus ride by donating canned or nonperishable food during Ride On’s annual food drive. The food drive, started by a group of bus drivers over 20 years ago, goes from Sunday, April 22, through Saturday April 28, 2012. During the week, food collection […]

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