Dear Partner Agencies,
The COVID-19 Pandemic has touched each of our lives and organizations in a number of ways, each of us with unique hardships and challenges as a result. One of the largest impacts across the non-profit sector has been a drop in volunteer hours and increase in demand. To ensure that we're able to meet the growing need from our Partner Agencies MANNA will be making changes to the way we prioritize the focus of our volunteer's efforts.
The biggest shift in our operations with be in how volunteers sort food. MANNA currently has volunteers sort food into 13 separate categories, this is a very time consuming process. Volunteers will now be sorting items into 3 general item codes and you will see this reflected on our online ordering system starting tomorrow, April 1st. We've outlined the changes below:
New item number:
80000 (Mixed Food Box)
Replacing item numbers:
20010 (Fruits & Vegetables), 20030 (Pasta & Pasta Sauce), 20090 (Meals & Entrees), 20020( Baking Mixes Only), 20170 (Cereal), 20130 (Dented Cans)*
Potential example of items in a single Mixed Food Box (80000):
- Meals and Entrees
- Canned Fruits and Vegetables
- Pasta and Pasta Sauce
- Baking mixes only, no icing (Muffin, corn break, or cake mixes, flour)
- Cereals, Oatmeal, Granola, Cream of Wheat
- Breakfast Bars
*Dented cans are tested in a vacuum seal chamber for punctures or broken seals by Team MANNA before distributing.
New item number:
80010 (Misc Foods)
Replacing item numbers:
20190 (Snacks, Chips & Candy, Crackers), 20020 (Pickles), 20050/ (Condiments), 20180 (Grocery Ingredients), 20100 (Baking Ingredients, not mixes)
Potential example of items in a single Misc Food Box (80010):
- Snacks, Cookies, and Candy
- Pickles
- Crackers
- Condiments (Ketchup, Mayo, Mustard, Dressings, etc)
- Sweeteners and Oils
- Other Misc Foods that are no considered Meals, Entrees, or Canned Foods)
New item number:
80020 (Beverages, Liquid and Dry Mixes)
Replacing item numbers:
20060 (Assorted Beverages Liquid & Dry mixes), 20160 (Coffee), 20070 (Water)
Potential example of items in a single Beverages, Liquid and Dry Mixes Box (80020):
- Juice and Juice Blends
- Colas
- Sports Drinks
- Coffee
- Drink Mixes
- Water
C
hanges to Produce Ordering
In addition to changes with our volunteer sorting we will also be making changes to how produce is ordered to assist our Operations team with the increased volume of orders and for consistency for all agencies.
Produce ordered under the 0006 item code will now be a Produce Mix of the requested pounds ordered. Our operations team will spread those ordered pounds across all produce items that we have on hand. We will not be able to take special requests on orders of Produce Mix (0006).
SAM produce will not be changing in any way. All SAM produce will continue to be separate item codes as required by the State.
What will not be changing
No other products or item codes in our online ordering system will be effected by the changes. To clarify the following categories will
not be changing:
- Dairy
- Frozen Foods
- Eggs
- Assorted Pet Food/Pet Care
- Assorted Kitchenware
- Assorted Household Paper Products
- Assorted Health and Hygiene Products
These changes will take effect starting tomorrow, April 1st. There will be no changes to existing ordering placed within our system or orders placed by end of day today.
Some existing item codes will briefly remain until the previously sorted items are depleted.
We understand that this is a significant change to our ordering system that will affect the way each of our Partner Agencies order food from us and distribute to the community. As an organization we feel that this is the most efficient way to use our volunteers and continue to meet the growing need and increase in order sizes that we are seeing across our network.
This change will officially take effect tomorrow, April 1, 2020
and will remain throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As always, if you have questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to the Agency Relations team.
Together we are stronger,
The Agency Relations Team
