Manna On Main Street Receives $10,000 Donation

LANSDALE, PA — Lansdale's Manna on Main Street, one of the region's preeminent food cupboards, has received a $10,000 grant to aid its mission to end hunger.

The award comes from the Jacques Pépin Foundation, a nonprofit that works to honor the celebrated chef through community-based initiatives for those in need. The funds will go to Manna's Common Grounds Training Program, which is a a free, eight-week culinary training and job readiness program.

The Foundation's executive director praised Manna's efforts to create career chances and reach underserved populations.

“The JPF’s mission is realized in part by supporting programs that create opportunities through culinary training, and giving grants to these important, impressive, local organizations,” the director, Rollie Wesen, told Patch. “Manna on Main Street is committed to meeting participants where they are, and supporting them long-term."

Manna's Common Grounds team translated their program in Spanish and Arabic so that it could reach a wider audience.

Manna said their program has reached 120 people around the region since 2016.

"(This grant) will help us strengthen and expand our culinary training to reach more people in southeastern Pennsylvania," Sheldon Good, Manna's director, said in a statement.

Manna was one of just eight programs nationwide awarded with summer funding by the Pépin Foundation.

The Foundation has awarded $1.2 million to some 60 nonprofits since 2019.