By Donna Thornton/News Editor
You can enjoy hotcakes Sunday evening (Nov. 18) at McDonald’s in Southside to help fund the MANNA program (Metropolitan Area Noon Nutrition Association) in Etowah County.
At Tuesday’s Gadsden City Council meeting, MANNA volunteer Jimmie Leonard told council members about the MANNA program, and ticket sales for the hotcakes dinner Sunday.
MANNA is a non-profit organization staffed by local volunteers and three part-time workers, Leonard explained. MANNA buys meals from Riverview Regional Medical Center’s cafeteria, operated by Morrison’s, and with the help of 170 volunteers, delivers meals to homebound people along 22 routes in Etowah County.
In 2011, Leonard said, MANNA delivered 579,000 meals – 240 meals a day.
Leonard said the program can supply meals of special diets with a physicians order.
The program’s volunteers deliver meals to disabled or elderly people who may have no other option for obtaining a good nutritional meal.
Along with food, MANNA volunteers make contact with people who might otherwise have no one to check on their well-being..
“MANNA brings them a smiling face,” Leonard said.
Council members vouched for the excellent work done through the MANNA program and its value to the people of Gadsden and Etowah County.
“It’s a wonderful program,” City of Gadsden Mayor Sherman Guyton said. In short, he said, the program needs money and it needs volunteers.
Leonard said tickets for the hotcakes dinner are $6. Hotcakes will be served from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at McDonald’s in Southside. Tickets may be purchased at McDonald’s on the night of the supper, or by contacting MANNA at 256-543-5876.