Not looking ahead

An important part of what the staff and board of directors do at Manna is to look out over an extended time horizon. We ask a lot of questions about how can we better serve the community next year and in the years to come:

• Are there emerging needs that are not entirely visible
• How are the demographics in our region evolving
• How might changes in government and other agencies influence what we do
  

As we concentrate on the long view, we ask our daily volunteers to help in another area: focus intently on the needs of the day. We ask them to make that extra effort to be gentle, supportive and generous as the people come in to eat or to take home groceries to their families. Though they may hunger for food, we feed their souls as well.

Indeed, looking to the future is very important, and we plan carefully for the years ahead. At the same time, tending to today is critical, because for many of the people we serve, today is all they are able to deal with...