MANNA FoodBank awarded $7M from community foundations to help upfit new facility

Feb. 6, 2025 – MANNA FoodBank will receive $7 million in grant funding from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) and the North Carolina Community Foundation (NCCF) to support critical infrastructure needs and long-term recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene.

Each community foundation awarded $3.5 million to MANNA. The funding will support MANNA’s essential infrastructure needs including providing support toward the 15,000 sq.ft. freezer, cooler/refrigerator build out, purchase and installation of a required sprinkler system, generator, permanent racking for their 84,000 sq.ft empty shell warehouse and more. This allows MANNA to continue to serve Western North Carolina and the Qualla Boundary effectively and efficiently during this process and for decades to come.

“As the sole food bank serving WNC and the Qualla Boundary, this generous investment is a shared commitment to ensuring no one in Western North Carolina goes hungry in the face of any environmental, economic, or health-related crisis,” said Claire Neal, CEO of MANNA FoodBank.

“With immense gratitude to incredible partners like CFWNC and NCCF and all who have come alongside us, we are beyond overjoyed to share that this project is now funded. We are deeply grateful to both foundations for supporting our mission to provide food with dignity for our neighbors in need for generations to come.”

MANNA’s new facility has been 6½ yearsin the making, with plans originally set in motion in 2018 when staff and Board members recognized the need for a larger, safer, and more efficient space.

However, the project faced major obstacles, including the COVID-19 shut down when MANNA had to pause expansion efforts and focus entirely on skyrocketing food insecurity. When construction costs later became prohibitively high, MANNA pivoted to searching for an existing warehouse instead of building from the ground up.

That decision proved critical. Just two days before Hurricane Helene struck, MANNA’s Board voted to pursue 99 Broadpointe Drive. Remarkably, when the flood waters devastated their headquarters in Asheville, MANNA was able to secure a temporary lease for the Mills River warehouse, allowing the food bank to move immediately and continue food distribution in the wake of the disaster.

The next essential steps will be for MANNA to complete the upfitting of the new warehouse over the next 12-18 months while they continue their disaster response and food distribution efforts throughout the build-out process.

When the construction is nearing completion, MANNA will host a Community Engagement opportunity and a very special celebration.

MANNA works with a network of more than 250 nonprofit partners to distribute food resources across 16 counties, including the Qualla Boundary. Both foundations support communities across MANNA’s footprint.

CFWNC has been making grants since early October for Helene relief and recovery and with this award has distributed over $24 million.

“NCCF has been a strong partner and has been raising funds to support longer term needs,” said Elizabeth Brazas, CFWNC President. “Donations to both of our emergency funds were made by people from across the country, and their support is helping a critical partner become fully operational.”

Both community foundations hope that this funding allows MANNA to focus on its mission, not its facility or move.

“Funding MANNA’s capital needs broadly benefits Western North Carolina and will ensure its capacity as the economic fallout from the hurricane continues,” Brazas said.

The grant to MANNA is the first awarded by NCCF from its Disaster Relief Fund to support long-term recovery, resiliency and unmet needs related to Hurricane Helene through grants to nonprofits serving Western NC. Over $29 million has been contributed to the fund and will be provided to organizations in the months and years ahead.

“Since Helene struck, we have been collaborating with CFWNC and other organizations throughout the west,” said Jennifer Tolle Whiteside, NCCF President & CEO. “This grant to MANNA is critical to addressing food insecurity in Western North Carolina. It is also a prime example of how community foundations can come together to strengthen nonprofits serving our community in the aftermath of disasters.”

NCCF expects to make community grants focused on long-term disaster recovery through its affiliates in Western NC in the next eight to 10 weeks.