Service Learning: It’s Just Another Manna Monday

It’s Just Another Manna Monday!

“It’s truly wonderful to see the entire school community embrace Manna and its mission and to be able to make a real impact in the fight against hunger.”

- Debbie Pakaluk, Service Learning Coordinator

A Manna Monday at Norwood is a day when the school community comes together to collect food donations to help Manna Food Center fight hunger in Montgomery County. As the premier food bank in the county, Manna provides food to 32,000 individuals each year and helps to distribute food to soup kitchens, food pantries, and emergency shelters. Nearly every social service organization in Montgomery County relies on Manna to provide food to their clients.

But they can’t do it alone. With more than 63,000 county residents experiencing hunger and food insecurity, Manna relies on donations and volunteers to support their work. That’s where Norwood comes in. Six times a year, the School holds “Manna Monday” food drives—a day dedicated to bringing in healthy food donations for Manna. There’s even a little incentive for students, faculty, and staff: Anyone who contributes a healthy food item to the Manna collection bin gets a “Free Dress Day.” It’s a win-win deal: drop some cereal, rice, canned veggies or fruit into the bin to help feed hungry people in our area, and enjoy the day in your comfy clothes.

Norwood’s enthusiasm for helping Manna eliminate hunger isn’t limited to Manna Mondays. The community’s dedication is on full display on Field Days as well, when the blue team and the white team compete to see who can bring in the greatest number of food donations. Teams accrue points for every donation, which are added to the totals that determine the winner of the annual Blue/White Challenge.

Additionally, Norwood students can count themselves as part of the 40,000 volunteers who donated more than 70,000 hours of their time last year to help feed the hungry in Montgomery County. As one of the sites for Norwood’s service learning program, a team of eighth graders spends a morning at Manna on Service Days (which coincide with Manna Mondays) to sort food, check expiration dates, and pack boxes at the warehouse in Gaithersburg.

According to Debbie Pakaluk, service learning coordinator at Norwood, students and employees have collected nearly 50,000 pounds of food for Manna since 2007.

“It’s truly wonderful to see the entire school community embrace Manna and its mission and to be able to make a real impact in the fight against hunger. Everybody gets to participate—from our youngest students who are just beginning to grasp the meaning of our motto, ‘How you lead your life matters,’ to the oldest students who assist with some of the heavy lifting in the warehouse. And, of course, we couldn’t do it without our loyal parent volunteers who help collect, sort, and box donations on Manna Mondays. It’s a real community effort.”

Since 1983, Manna has worked to fight hunger, instill hope, and transition recipients from a place of scarcity to prosperity. Since 1952, Norwood School has made character education and service learning an important aspect of its program. Today, this partnership provides a meaningful service experience for Norwood students, a common goal for our school community, and consistent support for an important need in our area. Another win-win.