Sue Daugherty, RDN, LDN, and CEO of MANNA, discussed its beginnings as the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance providing meals and companionship to people living with AIDS and how its grown to provide nourishment, hope, and healing to residents in the Greater Philadelphia area, Southern New Jersey, and beyond. MANNA offers evidence-based nutrition services, driven by dietitians, chefs, drivers, and thousands of volunteers to cook and deliver nutritious, medically appropriate meals and provide nutrition counseling to neighbors who are battling serious illnesses such as cancer, renal disease, and HIV/AIDS. With 11 different diets to address the different needs of the clients’ conditions, volunteers prepare, package and deliver the food, providing 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, for clients and their dependents. Sue has just announced that MANNA is the first organization in Pennsylvania to earn a new accreditation from the national Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC), delivering medically tailored meals (MTMs) as part of treatment plans for patients with complex and chronic illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney failure. She notes that not only do patients do better when following a prescribed diet, they are less likely to need additional hospitalization. She spoke of the need for insurance coverage for MTMs and the FIMC’s efforts to expand food delivery service to people outside of large urban areas.
We talked about the ongoing need for volunteers and annual fundraising events, such as Pie in the Sky sales at Thanksgiving, soup and guacamole sales during the football season and their 35th Anniversary Gala September 25th.
To learn more about meal delivery or to volunteer visit MANNAPA.org