As we head into summer, we're excited to reflect on a spring season filled with celebration, growth and impact at MANNA — from the delivery of our 25 millionth medically tailored meal and another successful Guac Off, to expanded client meal choice and new healthcare partnerships that will help us reach even more neighbors in need. This quarter, we're highlighting memorable events, important advocacy and awareness efforts, exciting program updates and the incredible volunteers, supporters and partners who make our mission possible. Here's what you helped MANNA achieve over the last few months — and what's ahead! ✨ | | |
Philadelphia Food & Nutrition Security Task Force Releases Recommendations: MANNA Chief Operating Officer Nicole Laverty, RDN, LDN, joined Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and fellow members of the Philadelphia Food & Nutrition Security Task Force to release recommendations aimed at improving food access, strengthening local food systems and addressing food insecurity across the city.
The recommendations include expanding access to SNAP and developing a coordinated Food is Medicine strategy. This fall, City Council is expected to introduce legislation to establish a Philadelphia Department of Food & Nutrition Security, marking an important step toward advancing equitable access to nutritious food for all Philadelphians. Read more here.
| MANNA Celebrates 25 Millionth Medically Tailored Meal: On June 10, 2026, MANNA celebrated the delivery of its 25 millionth medically tailored meal, marking a major milestone in more than 36 years of providing life-sustaining nutrition to individuals living with serious illnesses across Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. We are grateful to Philadelphia Department of Public Health Commissioner Palak Raval-Nelson, representatives from the Office of Councilmember Rue Landau and the many volunteers and supporters who joined us to mark this exciting MANNA milestone. Read more here. | | MANNA Remembers our Roots, Honors HIV Survivors: June 5th was HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day (HLTSAD), the anniversary of the first reported HIV cases in 1981 and a day to honor those living and thriving with HIV. At MANNA, we take the day to reflect on our history and power our ongoing work for our clients living with HIV/AIDS. This year, we sat down with Jeanette, a former MANNA client and HIV survivor, and Emily Sadowy, our Manager of Nutrition & Client Services, for a video that explains the vital role MANNA can play in the survivors' journey. | | MANNA Attends Inaugural Food is Medicine Conference: In June, MANNA staff joined fellow leaders from across the country in Washington, D.C., for the 2026 Food is Medicine Coalition Conference (FIMCON), a national convening dedicated to advancing Food is Medicine as an essential part of healthcare. Representing MANNA were Chief Executive Officer, Sue Daugherty, RDN, LDN, Chief Operating Officer Nicole Laverty, RDN, LDN, and Director of Policy & Research Jule Anne Henstenburg, PhD, MS, RDN, LDN, FAND. Read more here. | |
Reid B. Reames Fellowship: Two students were awarded Reid B. Reams Fellowships to conduct research with the MANNA Institute, Brianna Carbone (pictured: bottom left) and Blossom Akagbosu (pictured: bottom right). Both are upcoming second-year medical students at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
Brianna is excited to join MANNA's team since she volunteered to help cook and package medically tailored meals at a FIMC organization in Washington, D.C. while earning her bachelor’s degree in Biology at American University. She strongly believes that improving diet and nutrition knowledge will have profound impacts when treating chronic conditions and is excited to apply all that she learns at MANNA to treating patients in the near future.
Blossom is currently exploring different medical specialties, with a growing interest in Family Medicine. She earned her bachelor's degree in biology from the College of Staten Island and outside of medicine, Blossom enjoys baking.
We are excited to have them working with the MANNA Institute this spring and summer!
| | 🍎 Nutrition & Client Services Updates
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Client Meal Choice Expansion: MANNA's Client Choice initiative continues to make significant progress. Choice of all dinner entrees has now been fully rolled out to all clients, giving every participant the opportunity to select meals that best meet their preferences and needs. Building on that success, a new kids menu choice feature will launch next month, allowing pediatric client families and clients with dependent children in the household to customize meal selections for the first time. In addition, the first phase of brunch choice is scheduled to launch during the first week of August, marking another milestone in expanding client choice across our meal program.
The dinner choice rollout has been highly successful, providing valuable operational insights that are informing the implementation of the brunch choice phase. Current efforts are focused on refining workflows, enhancing existing technology to support the expanded program, and ensuring a seamless experience for both clients and staff. To further improve efficiency, MANNA has also invested in a new, larger, and more reliable label printer, streamlining the meal labeling process and strengthening operational capacity as the Client Choice program continues to grow!
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Independence Blue Cross: In June, MANNA hosted Independence Blue Cross CEO Kelly Munson, IBX senior leaders and associates for hands-on volunteer service, packing meals that help strengthen the health and wellbeing of community members facing serious illness.
Thank you to IBX — an incredible partner since 1995 — for supporting our mission, Volunteer Program and leading with service through the IBX Blue Crew volunteer program.
| | Hamilton Lane: We were honored to have our partners at Hamilton Lane spend a week volunteering in the MANNA kitchen in May! Over the course of three days, Hamilton Lane team members helped prepare more than 3,000 medically tailored meals for neighbors battling critical illnesses across our community. | | 🤝 Healthcare Partnerships
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Provider Portal Continues to Improve Referral Experience: MANNA's new Provider Portal continues to streamline the referral process for healthcare partners. Since launching in October 2025, the portal has received more 5,179 referrals — including 1,213 from payer partners — with 2,400 referrals approved.
Providers complete referrals in a median of just 13 minutes, and more than 450 referrals have been shared with care providers, enhancing closed-loop communication and care coordination.
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Launch with UPMC CHC: In April, MANNA officially launched services for UPMC Community HealthChoices (UPMC CHC) members across Southeastern Pennsylvania, expanding access to both Home-Delivered Meals (HDM) and high-quality, Food is Medicine Coalition–accredited Medically Tailored Meals (MTM) for eligible participants. The CHC program in Pennsylvania is designed to support older adults and individuals with physical disabilities who choose to remain living safely and independently in the community rather than in institutionalized settings.
Through this partnership, MANNA provides nutritious meals and nutrition support tailored to the complex medical and social needs of participants, helping to improve health outcomes, reduce barriers to care, and support long-term community-based living. This launch further strengthens MANNA’s commitment to advancing evidence-based Food as Medicine interventions for Medicaid populations across the region.
| MANNA in Delaware/Launch of ChristianaCare Pilot: MANNA is proud to announce the launch of our first-ever pilot program in the state of Delaware in partnership with ChristianaCare. Beginning in June, this innovative program in New Castle County will support recently discharged patients living with congestive heart failure (CHF) through access to MANNA’s medically tailored meals and nutrition care services. By partnering with ChristianaCare, we are expanding Food as Medicine interventions across state lines to help improve recovery, reduce hospital readmissions, and support better health outcomes for high-risk patients in the community. | | 🎉 Recent & Upcoming Events
| | Volunteer Appreciation Party: To close out Volunteer Appreciation Week in April, we celebrated our incredible volunteers with a night to remember at the MANNA County Fair! The evening was filled with games, prizes, dancing, and plenty of fun, bringing our community together in true fair style. We awarded Blue Ribbons to a group of standout volunteers who truly went above and beyond this year, presented the Golden Tractor Award to our Volunteer Drivers of the Year, and honored our highly anticipated Volunteers of the Year with the Silver Spoon Award! We’re so grateful for each and every person who gives their time, energy, and care to support our mission. Special thanks to MANNA'S 2026 Volunteer Program Presenting Sponsor, Independence Blue Cross. | | |
CHEF Radio Live!: On Wednesday, April 29th, we celebrated the fifth and final CHEF Radio Live!, presented by Highmark Blue Shield and Steve and Linda Richardson Korman, at Cescaphe Ballroom. Together, we honored Philadelphia’s vibrant Latinx food scene and the incredible community of chefs who make this city so special. Over the course of 5 years, this event has raised more than $370,000 — that’s nearly 46,000 medically tailored meals for neighbors facing critical illness!
We cannot thank enough Chef Eli Kulp, who was presented with MANNA's Golden Fork Award at this year's event, for all the support he has given to MANNA. Through the CHEF Radio Live event, he has helped build something extraordinarily impactful — bringing together incredible chefs, storytellers, and an unmatched creative energy to uplift Philadelphia’s vibrant restaurant community, all while supporting MANNA’s Food as Medicine mission. Thank you also to Chef Co-Chair Dionicio Jiménez, all of the participating chefs, sponsors and guests for their support! Watch the recap here.
| | Guac Off - Guac it Out of the Park!: On Thursday, May 28th, we celebrated MANNA's 12th Annual Guac Off! With beautiful waterfront views, delicious guacamole, refreshing cocktails and an incredible community of supporters, this year's event was a huge success. Congratulations to Duo Taco, winner of both the Judges' Choice and *new* Brittany's Fave awards, and Hi-Lo Taco, our People's Choice champion. Thank you to our participating restaurants, sponsors, volunteers and everyone who helped make this year's Guac Off a grand slam in support of MANNA's mission! Watch the recap here. | | Save the Date - Bulk Pie Orders Open August 3: MANNA's Bulk Pie Orders return on August 3, making it easy to thank employees, clients and partners with a delicious holiday gift that gives back. Order 80 or more pies by September 30 to receive 20% off, with additional early-bird discounts available through November. Every pie purchased helps provide medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling to neighbors living with serious illnesses. For more information, contact Katie at kmoroney-miller@mannapa.org. | | Plan for Tomorrow, Nourish Neighbors Today | | |
Inspired by MANNA's 35th anniversary year in 2025, our 35 for 35 Legacy Challenge seeks 35 dedicated supporters to name MANNA as a beneficiary in their wills, trusts, estates, retirement accounts or other long-term financial vehicles. Legacy gifts like these have a transformational impact on MANNA's mission and cost you nothing today.
For each legacy pledge we receive, a group of generous donors has agreed to donate $1,000, or the equivalent of six full weeks of meal deliveries for a critically ill client, to MANNA.
Since we launched the Challenge in August, we have received 22 new legacy pledges and $22,000 donated to MANNA. We are just 13 pledges away from hitting our goal. If you want to help MANNA hit this goal and be part of our bright future, reach out to Brandon at bboyd@mannapa.org.
| | An Update on Our Client Waitlist | | |
Over the past six months, MANNA has been working to eliminate its client waitlist, which grew as Medicaid reimbursement revenue declined significantly over the past two years. To address this challenge, we turned to the same force that has sustained our mission since 1990: our community of supporters.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of donors, our recent fundraising campaign not only reached its goal but exceeded it. Hundreds of individuals and organizations contributed gifts ranging from $10 to $50,000, united by a commitment to ensuring that people living with serious illnesses can access medically tailored meals as quickly as possible.
Because of this support, MANNA has restored service levels to approximately 1,330 clients each month and expects to expand capacity further in the coming weeks. While increased funding allows us to serve more clients, demand for our services remains at record levels. Requests for meals reached an all-time high this spring, driven in part by reductions in federal food assistance programs and rising living costs.
Although there is still work ahead, we are making meaningful progress toward our goal of eliminating the waitlist entirely. Thanks to your generosity, more neighbors facing cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, and other serious illnesses will receive the nutrition support they need without delay.
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This quarter, MANNA was featured in multiple outlets and news articles, including:
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MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance)
420 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130
mannapa.org | (215) 496-2662
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