Monday, May 24, 2010

All,

"All you can eat" sends a message of:
  • Self-absorption
  • Gluttony, excess, hoarding
  • It's not free... a price is to be paid

"All, you can eat" indicates:
  • A moment of reflection
  • An openness to giving, sharing the loaf
  • Freedom from constraints
A simple comma changes everything. It gives a bit of space, a pause to consider what might be.

Perhaps you can be a comma, that pause, that moment of reflection that changes everything...

Monday, May 17, 2010

No Customers

Many marketing experts are encouraging nonprofits today to think about the people that come to them for help, as customers. The thought process supporting that is that if we treat them like a customer, we will serve them better.

Actually, that can be a dangerous approach. The mindset behind a customer relationship is that the individual has a choice; that they can decide whether to utilize your services or not. Most individuals that come to Manna do not have a choice. As soon as we start treating them like customers, that they can leave if they don't like our services, we marginalize them.

What really works is to not treat them as anything, but to simply act as a servant...

Monday, May 10, 2010

Good Rocks

Found by the sidewalk a few blocks from Manna.

What small, yet powerful action might you take to promote the good in this world...

Monday, May 3, 2010

Imagine Manna


That's exactly what happened. Nearly 30 years ago, a man had a vision that there would be a place where everyone might be fed; not only in the physical sense, but in mind and spirit as well. That man, John Touchberry, passed from this earth last week, having fully lived 80 years.

Today, we're all used to having Manna around, but establishing a soup kitchen back in the early 80s entailed risks. A number of folks tried to prevent Manna from even opening, for fear of "those people" it would attract.

While it would be simple enough for us to look back on the quantity of meals served at Manna, or the tons of food distributed, or the number of families assisted in his lifetime, John would not be satisfied with sentimental reflections. Instead, he would challenge us to look beyond where we are; to look for other opportunities to learn and grow in order to serve others.

Manna is in the early stages of looking for a new facility, and it is appropriate, more than ever, for us to look forward and dream of what we might yet be. What can we imagine? Can we look beyond the edges of where we are today and dream what that might mean for this community? How can we improve our service to others? John would certainly have some ideas...