Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance aka MANNA

MANNA’s goal is to improve the health and quality of life for those suffering from serious illness who need a specialized diet to help them recover. In FY21 MANNA will serve more than 1.4 million medically tailored meals to an average of 1,400 clients per month, and provide ongoing nutrition counseling personalized for their level of health education. Our program empowers our clients with the nutritional support and education they need to heal.

MANNA serves individuals suffering from critical, nutrition-impacted illnesses in the Greater Philadelphia. Our service is available in 9 counties including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania, and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey. Each client receives 21 meals a week prepared by our professional chefs and multitude of volunteers in our state-of-the-art kitchen. Meals are prepared from scratch, flash frozen, and delivered once weekly. MANNA offers 12 diet options, including one specifically for children, and clients can receive any combination of up to three modifications. With hundreds of possible diet combinations, MANNA’s meals meet each client where they are in their battle against illness and accommodate any co-conditions. MANNA also provides meals for dependents of our clients to ensure that their entire household is properly nourished, helping the client to focus on their own nutrition.

In addition to medical nutrition, MANNA’s clients also have ongoing access to individual nutrition counseling with its registered dietitians, a component unique to MANNA’s program in the Philadelphia area. Since their diets are often complex and difficult to follow, MANNA’s dietitians provide personalized guidance to help clients understand their unique nutrition needs and how to prepare proper meals on their own. As a result, MANNA not only helps its clients regain their health, but also helps them stay healthy long-term.

This year MANNA celebrates 30 years of providing nourishment and hope to people suffering from serious illnesses throughout the greater Philadelphia area. Our staff includes registered dietitians and professional chefs who are supported by thousands of community volunteers. We have a deep network of referral sources including health centers, specialty treatment centers, and community-based organizations all across the region.

MANNA’s activities are guided by a robust 3 year strategic plan, updated annually, which allows the organization to both plan ahead and respond to changing needs as they arise. Our strategic plan continues to prioritize growth in service within the Philadelphia region, and focuses on identifying and reaching underserved client populations where appropriate nutrition is essential but still lacking. Over the last several years, we have made major strides towards our larger goals around meeting client needs and affecting policy on a national scale. This has included a move to our current state-of-the-art facilities in 2017, doubling our previous kitchen and storage capacities, along with the decision to create our independent research arm the MANNA Institute in 2019. As MANNA celebrates our 30th year, we are committed to deepening our impact in the Greater Philadelphia area, and to growing our community of care even stronger.

Over the past year MANNA delivered 1,418,025 medically tailored meals to 4,606 individual clients and 407 dependents in the Greater Philadelphia area. MANNA also ensures that our clients have access to nutrition counseling from our licensed dietitians. Last year we provided more than 1209 counseling sessions to 981 clients.