Manna strives to help fill the gap for our Neighbors who experience food insecurity. Manna also wants to be a good steward of resources. At this time, Manna regularly reuses/recycles the following:
CLOTH BAGS
For a number of years Sustainable Tallahassee, made and donated 50+ reuseable bags each month to Manna. As need for Manna grew, St. Paul’s spearheaded another group of Manna volunteers in making t-shirt bags. Over a period of 2-3 years, more than 2500 t-shirt bags were made by volunteers.
When Manna neighbors numbered over 250, making that many bags each month was not sustainable. A St. Stephen’s volunteer brought to Manna’s attention that many women who receive a cloth bag when having testing at The Women’s Imaging Center were not taking the bags home. The bags were being thrown away. The Center now allows Manna to pick up the bags each week. Between 300-600 of these bags are picked up by Manna volunteers each month.
Manna uses approximately 350 of the cloth bags each month and has the capacity to store about 2 months’ worth. Once Manna reaches capacity, extra bags are taken to Grace Mission where they are used for Grace’s various activities.
BROWN PAPER GROCERY BAGS
Manna distributes approximately 300 grocery bags of dry goods each month. Recently, a decision was made to double the bags which means Manna uses 600 paper bags each month.
Brown paper bags are donated by Manna churches. Halfway through the year in 2025 Manna has not had to purchase any bags. Using donated bags results in a savings of between $360 to $720/year.
PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS
Manna encourages the use of reusable grocery bags. However, a large number of plastic bags are still in circulation. Manna uses the bags primarily for portioning out frozen meat and at the Choice Produce table.
PLASTIC EATING UTENSILS
Kitchen junk drawers are receptacles for plastic “to go” ware. Manna collects plasticware through member churches. A majority of it is donated to Grace Mission for their weekly meals. Grace relies on disposable plates/utensils to feed their participants. The first part of this year, Manna has supplied a minimum of 350 sets of disposable plastic ware to Grace.
CARDBOARD
A majority of items purchased/donated to Manna comes in some type of cardboard. Rather than just put it in the recycle bin:
- Second Harvest will take back all banana boxes for reuse
- Dent Street Community Gardens and the Fait Garden will pick up flattened boxes to be used as mulch
- Native Nurseries will take the small (2-3” high) cartons to put the plants customers purchase in
- Meow or Never Cat Rescue will take the small (2-3” high) cartons for disposable litter boxes
These are a few of the projects Manna volunteers participate in that go “beyond food”. When you donate to Manna you support food assistance and the hope for a more sustainable Tallahassee.