By Tim Gardner
After five years of operation, the MANNA FoodBank will host its last Community Market in Avery County on Thursday, December 14 at the Old Rock School Gymnasium in Newland. The gymnasium is located at 185 Shady Street and is adjacent to Newland Elementary School.
Anyone or any family struggling financially to afford groceries is not only welcome, but encouraged to go there then to receive a variety of free grocery staples, fresh produce, and perishable items from the MANNA FoodBank.
The Community Market will open at 11:30 a.m. and will remain so until its food items run out. It has touch free and drive-through pick up service.
For further details, contact Tammie Woodie by phone at (828) 733-6006 or by email at tammywoodie@averyschools.net. More information about the Community Market can also be obtained by calling Avery County Parks and Recreation Director Robbie Willis at (828) 733-8266 (or visiting him in his office in the Old Rock School Gymnasium) or Dick Larson of the Feeding Avery Families organization at (828) 260-5389.
“Our MANNA FoodBank Community Markets in Avery County have often had dozens of people come to pick up the items we give away,” Woodie stated. “And people have gone home with several boxes loaded with various food items at each one,” Woodie stated. “Robbie, Dick, and myself encourage everyone who needs food to come to our last Community Market. It’s been a blessing for us and all others involved to help those in need of food. I ask all who read this article to please tell others about our Community Market and post on your social media and/or web page to help let as many others as possible know about it.”
Volunteers are needed to help with the packaging of food items and their distribution to recipients at the final Community Market. Anyone desiring to volunteer for this most needy cause should contact Woodie at the previously listed phone number or email address for further information or just show up by 9:45 the morning of the Community Market and let its staff there know that you would like to assist.
“I deeply appreciate everyone who still helps, or has helped, with the Community Markets in any capacity,” Woodie added. “Everyone who helps receives a great blessing and tremendous self-satisfaction from doing so. One of the top spiritual callings anyone can have is to help others who are in great need, especially providing them with food.
“Teddy Bare and Brandon Campbell of Robbie’s Parks and Recreation staff, Craig Reiger of Camp Lutherock, and Samantha Knight and her staff of Avery County Community Paramedicine have assisted with the Community Markets for a long time and I want to particularly recognize them for their great help and services.”
MANNA FoodBank, headquartered in Asheville, NC, is a private, not-for-profit service organization working to end food insecurity in the 16 counties of Western North Carolina, including Avery County and the Qualla Boundary (territory in Cherokee for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians). MANNA links the food industry to more than 200 partner pantries and other human service organizations to get food to thousands of families’ tables through compassion and dignity.
MANNA stands for Mountain Area Nutritional Needs Alliance. It is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization.
Woodie said that those in Avery County who need food and related grocery items in the future should visit the Community Market’s partner agency, Feeding Avery Families, located at 189 Old Vale Road in Newland. More information about Feeding Avery Families can also be obtained by phoning its office at (828) 783-8506 or logging onto its Internet website (feedingaveryfamilies.org).
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