Manna House helping people and pets | al.com

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama

-- When the Manna House first opened in 2004, it's mission was primarily to provide food for needy people.

But needy people often have pets and the people getting food for themselves occasionally asked about pet food.

One young volunteer, Sarah Nicely, started purchasing pet food to give away to the pet owners. She eventually began getting donations from the community.

"That's how so many of our ministries begin," said Manna House Director Fran Fluhler. "I never thought about the people who come here needing food for their pets, but Sarah saw a need and ran with it."

Unfortunately, Sarah died after a short bout with pneumonia in April 2010 at age 28. She would be proud of the work Manna House continues by distributing food to needy families for their pets, said Fluhler.

As a result of Sarah's vision, Manna House has been chosen as a distribution center for pet food from the Rescue Bank ( www.rescuebank.org ), a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the animal rescue community through a network of regional affiliates.

Each center receives truck loads of food to be distributed to qualified 501C3 rescue groups.

Marna Thrift, a Manna House volunteer, was instrumental in getting the Rescue Bank to select the local program, PaWs (Purrs and Waggs Supplies) to become part of the national network which has 28 distribution centers. She asked Fluhler for permission to use the Manna House warehouse to store the food.

Fluhler agreed and the first monthly truck load of 32,500 pounds of food arrived on Nov. 3 in Huntsville. Local rescue organizations have already taken nearly 30,000 pounds. The groups must pay five cents per pound to help pay for the cost of delivery, said Thrift.

"By teaming up with Manna House, we were able to make an immediate impact throughout North Alabama," she said. "If we had tried to do it ourselves, it would have taken more than a year to get started."

Volunteer Lisa Shedd is the contact person for local shelters, which should make appointments for pick-up on Mondays or Thursdays, 4 to 7 p.m. She said 14 area groups have already signed up for the program.

"Many shelters we distribute to in turn help not only the animals in their shelters, but low or no-income families that are struggling to keep their pets," said Shedd.

While the Rescue Bank food is only for nonprofit rescue groups, the Manna House has other donated food from the community for the patrons with pets.

Joyce Horne and Cora Toney were recently waiting for food for themselves outside the Manna House. Each has two dogs and they were also hoping to get some pet food while there.

"I means a lot they are able to help me with my dogs," said Toney, 67. "The dogs don't understand when you don't have food for them."

Horne said she is "so excited" to receive the dog food.

"Sometimes when I run out of their food, I have to fix them table scraps, but I know that's not good for them," said Horne. "This is a real blessing for me."

John Kane, director of the Rescue Bank based in Houston and San Diego, said the nonprofit organization began in 2006 following pet rescue efforts during Hurricane Katrina.

"Many volunteers who worked together during Katrina decided to continue working together," said Kane. "We really operate on the food bank model."

The Rescue Bank, co-founded by Houston attorney Elizabeth Asher, collects pet food primarily from the Mars Petcare US, but also receives food from Del Monte and Purina, said Kane, one of four "core" volunteers in two offices.

Shedd believes the program will made a big difference in the community.

"This program is my heart for the community trying to survive these hard times and keep their pets," she said. "With this program, our many shelters and Manna House working together, we will be able to do that."

Source: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/11/manna_house_now_helping_people.html

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