Picture above: (left to right) Louise O’Connor, a MANNA FoodBank board member, and Jan Ianniello, pantry director for Montmorenci United Methodist Church, accept a special holiday donation from Melissa Leavell, Director of Advertising for Ingles Markets. Ingles has donated over 2.2 million pounds of food to MANNA FoodBank to date in 2016.
Ingles Markets, MANNA FoodBank’s local partner for over 30 years in the work to end hunger in WNC, recently donated 50+ turkeys to MANNA FoodBank’s partner pantry Montmorenci United Methodist Church to support their holiday food assistance.
As MANNA partners know all too well, the lack of food for a family in need is even more pronounced during the holiday season, when people are coming together to spend time with those closest. For these families, receiving something as expensive as a turkey is not just a holiday treat – it is healthy food on their tables.
“Ingles Markets is, and has always been dedicated to supporting our local community,” says Tom Outlaw, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ingles Markets. “We hope to bring the giving spirit of the holidays to families that simply don’t have the resources to spend on things like turkey for their holiday dinner. We are happy to provide these turkeys to families that are most in need.”
“This donation comes at a time when families in need are watching the world around them celebrate the holiday season in ways that are simply unreachable for them in their current situation,” says MANNA FoodBank CEO Hannah Randall. “There is a significant gap between how families struggling with hunger celebrate this joyous season, and how the rest of society celebrates. We are so grateful that Ingles understands this holiday grocery gap, and steps up to help fill the tables of these families with the very foods that we all associate with this time of year.”
Our continued gratitude to our local grocery partner, Ingles Markets, for their tireless work to end hunger across Western North Carolina!