For the past three years Kelly and Ruben Villasenor have created a Halloween Haunted House on Green Valley Drive in Newbury Park that has been the center of all kinds of neighborhood activity, including collecting food for Manna. This year they gave out more than twenty pounds of candy to over 250 people who visited their spooky venue while collecting over 780 pounds of food for Manna. Manna's executive director Jennifer Schwabauer was one of the visitors this year and took this great...
One of the latest movements in the food assistance world is product rescue. Albertson's started a program called Fresh Rescue in 2005. Through this program Albertson's takes food that is at or past its expiration date, yet still fresh and edible, and transfers it to programs, such as Manna or homeless shelters. The Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank is a partner with Albertson's, along with Costco and Vons. We also work with Sprouts, although this partnership is new to the Manna family. Manna benefits...
One of the biggest legislative problems Congress has not yet resolved is the farm bill – the House and Senate are in a standoff, with each presenting extremely different versions, while a deadline looms this month. What is at stake? The ability of millions of poverty-stricken Americans to provide nutritious meals for their families. The farm bill provides subsidies for farmers, and funds for conservation and crop insurance. The government program also provides funding for the Supplemental Nutrition...
There is a special local program that helps adults with disabilities learn to be more independent by helping others in need – Villa Esperanza Employment Services. By collaborating with community employers, Villa Esperanza Employment Services is able to specialize in creating custom staffing solutions for adults with developmental disabilities to fulfill client staffing needs in a variety of jobs. By matching jobs to specific client interests and abilities, and while providing ongoing job coaching...
The Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank operates a "Client choice" model for distribution of emergency food that is similar to a grocery store. Clients are able to select their own food, unlike other pantries which provide fixed boxes of food with limited items and no opportunity to select the items they want. The client choice option allows recipients the ability to choose from a wide variety of foods, which enables them to better meet their own personal dietary needs. Some advantages of the client choice...