MANNA changed Jay's life. Help MANNA change more lives.
Jay was a MANNA client during the early years of the AIDS crisis in the 1990s. The hot meals delivered daily by a volunteer driver provided comfort, community, and strength. He recently reconnected with MANNA and has become a regular volunteer, making medically tailored meals to help current clients not only survive, but live long and happy lives. Now he's asking you to join him in supporting the organization that helped keep him alive. Donate to Jay's fundraiser to help MANNA nourish more neighbors in need.
"'Streets of Philadelphia' is an iconic song about dying of AIDS. MANNA helped to ensure that my version of that song had a happy ending."
Jay has become a writer, speaking particularly to the experience of surviving the initial AIDS crisis and living long enough to experience aging as an HIV+ person. He recently wrote about the Bruce Springsteen song "Streets of Philadelphia," the connections to his own life, and the lessons of the history of AIDS. Read his story here.
Join Jay as a MANNA Volunteer!
Jay is now a regular in the MANNA kitchen. He encourages others to join him, saying "looking to add meaning to your life? Volunteer with MANNA and come find our grace!"
Volunteers work 3-hour shifts in the MANNA kitchen on Monday 7am-8pm, Tuesday-Thursday 7am-4:30pm, and Friday 7am-1pm. Volunteers can also sign up to deliver meals in their own cars, picking them up Tuesday-Friday 8am-12pm and delivering across the service region for about 90 minutes.
Volunteering in the kitchen is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
1. Create an account on our volunteer website
2. Complete the new volunteer orientation online or in person
3. Schedule volunteer shifts using our online calendar!
About MANNA
MANNA was founded in 1990 when seven members of the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia began delivering meals to their neighbors dying of AIDS. As our knowledge of utilizing food as medicine deepened, our program evolved to include medically-tailored meals created in our in-house kitchen and professional nutrition counseling.
After recognizing the widespread need for our services, MANNA began serving anyone at nutritional risk due to critical illness in 2006. Since then, MANNA has served more than 50,000 clients with over 100 different illnesses. Each year we are delivering more than a million medically tailored meals to thousands of critically ill neighbors across greater Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.
MANNA is a Food Is Medicine Coalition Accredited organization, and a leader in evidence-based nutrition. The MANNA Institute researches the impact of nutrition on health among people with serious illnesses, and MANNA advocates for policy changes to make medically tailored nutrition available to more people.