Asheville NC Rotary - Featured Projects

On Tuesday, February 9th and Tuesday, February 16th in 2010, the Rotary club of Asheville will have the opportunity to provide the 20 volunteers needed to fill the MANNA Packs. We will do this between 5 and 7 pm on both of these dates at MANNA on 627 Swannanoa River Road (MAP).

This is a project where youth can be involved, so it is a great opportunity for Rotarians with children to begin learning about service to their community and to others.

For more information:

Contact Donna Pierce or Julie Duriga

To sign up:

Use this link to Google Docs.

Enter your name and contact information then exit by clicking on the "back" arrow to return to the Rotary website, or by clicking the X in the upper right corner to exit both the spreadsheet and your internet browser.

Packs for Kids Program Background & Details

There are tens of thousands of children in western NC whose families are below the poverty level, and who do not have enough money for sufficient food.

On weekdays, when these children are in school, they get a nutritious meal during the day through the government-funded school lunch program.

On weekends, however, these children go home to families who may not have enough food to eat over the weekend. The MANNA Packs for Kids program identifies these at-risk children with the help of school counselors and administrators. Throughout the week, volunteers fill brown paper bags with food, and on Friday afternoons these children are discreetly provided with 4 pounds of supplemental food items.

The backpacks are brought home every friday night with food and returned empty on Monday mornings. The use of backpacks for the food keeps the process discreet and helps avoid stigmatizing any of the children.

Rotary Club of Asheville is proud to support this program and every week's program speaker has a MANNA Packs for Kids gift made in their name.