The Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance, called MANNA, is moving.
Details and photos of the new facility will be on display at the organization’s 25th-anniversary event that takes place 7-11 p.m. Oct. 9 at the 23rd Street Armory, 22 S. 23rd St.
“Certainly that night, I think, is going to be such a celebration,” said Sue Daugherty, executive director of MANNA, “not only of our past, but looking toward our future.”
The organization that provides meals to people who are living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses is finalizing details for a lease on a new building in the Callowhill area that will more than double its capacity to make meals, Daugherty said. The new space will allow production of 2.5-million meals per year, up from 1 million meals now.
MANNA’s space on Ranstead Street is part of the Marketplace Design Center, which was recently sold. The nonprofit plans to move in September 2016, said Emily Gallagher, MANNA communications coordinator.
Anniversary party
For the 25th-anniversary event, the loading dock at MANNA will become part of the party space. There will be high-top tables for people to mingle while they eat. ChefAID veterans Robert Bennett, Eric Gantz, Jose Garces, Michael Schulson and other Philadelphia chefs will provide the food.
Neiman Marcus will put on a short fashion show during the VIP cocktail party that starts at 6 p.m. Brian Sanders’ JUNK, a local dance company, kicks off the main festivities with an aerial performance.
Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton will help MANNA honor Steve Korman, founder of Korman Communities, a real-estate development company. Korman has been a financial and ideological supporter of MANNA for more than 15 years. He serves as chairman of the organization’s advisory board.
Guests will also view a video highlighting MANNA’s history and its thousands of clients. Pennsylvania Ballet dancers will perform, followed by a dance party set to the music of the Eddie Bruce Orchestra.
VIP tickets cost $350. Regular tickets cost $200. They can be purchased at the door or online at www.manna25th.org/tickets.
MANNA history
Moving is not the only new development for MANNA to celebrate. Over the last quarter-century, Daugherty said, the organization’s evolution has mirrored the evolution of treatment for people with HIV/AIDS.
“We were really more of a comfort agency in the beginning, dealing with end-of-life issues,” Daugherty said.
But, as people started to live longer after their HIV diagnoses, Daugherty said MANNA had to help people manage their lives with the virus. Daugherty, a dietitian, worked with her colleagues to revamp MANNA’s menu in the early 2000s. Meals used to include a lot of comfort food like macaroni and cheese.
Patients started coming in with cholesterol levels that were off the charts, Daugherty said, noting it was a side effect of the medicines used to treat HIV. She and other dieticians came up with a more heart-healthy menu.
MANNA soon participated in research that helped inform its mission. The organization pushes the outlook that food can act as medicine in terms of helping people manage their overall health.
The research, which examined health-care costs of patients using MANNA’s nutrition services versus a comparison group, was performed by OMG Center for Collaborative Learning and published in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health.
“We embarked on research to prove our worth in dollars and cents,” Daugherty said. “We see ourselves as the pharmacy for your food prescription.”
Around 2006, MANNA started crafting meal plans for people living with illnesses beyond HIV/AIDS. Now the organization serves people with more than 70 different illnesses.
In March, MANNA and Health Partners Plans, a nonprofit health-maintenance organization in Center City, signed a deal that would cover certain HPP Medicaid members in Philadelphia to receive medically appropriate meals and nutrition counseling.
MANNA does not have financial requirements for its patients, but Daugherty said 97 percent of them are living in poverty. The organization started giving out birthday cakes to clients, many of whom lack emotional support systems.
“There’s a sense of relief that one thing is taken off their plates,” Daugherty said.