ELIGIBILITY: The referral agency establishes eligibility for referring clients.
• Clients need a referral each time they come to Manna.
• Clients must live or work in Montgomery County.
• Clients must earn less than $63,000 for a family or four or $30,000 for a single person. Clients can also be eligible by being part of any kind of assistance program.
• Clients can receive food once every 30 days.
MAKING A REFERRAL
• Referrals must be made at least a day in advance. We accept referrals until 5pm the day before a scheduled pickup.
• Referrals can be emailed to Manna at referral@mannafood.org
• Referrals can be faxed to Manna on 301-294-7968. We prefer faxes or emails, especially if an agency has more than one referral. Please use the enclosed form for faxes. No cover sheet is required.
• Referrals can be phoned to Manna to 301-424-1130. If you reach a voicemail, you can give the referral to us through voicemail. Please speak slowly and clearly when leaving the referral and please spell the name of your client. Please leave complete information so no callback is required.
• Client’s name, address, birth date, telephone number, number of adults and children, pickup date and site are essential information required for a referral.
• A referring agency may refer up to a maximum of 25 clients per day.
• Diapers and baby food can be requested if the size of diaper, stage of food, or brand of formula is specified, and are subject to availability.
• Vegetarian/vegan or diabetic box can be requested. No other special requests can be accommodated.
FOOD PICKUPS
• The client must show ID in order to pick up food.
• A client may pick up food for one additional client who has a referral by bringing a copy of the other client’s ID.
• A referring agency staff may pick up for up to 25 clients with their agency ID.
• Clients are eligible to receive one food pickup per household, not per person.
HOLIDAYS AND INCLEMENT WEATHER
• All Manna sites are closed on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, the day following Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
• In the event of inclement weather, call Manna at 301-424-1130. We usually follow the Montgomery County Government policies, but we may decide to close a satellite site if it is not safe for our drivers and clients to be on the road. If Manna is closed, we will automatically honor the referral the next day.
Download a referral form in Word format or .pdf format.
Referrals can be emailed to Manna at referral@mannafood.org or faxed to Manna at 301-294-7968. We prefer emails or faxes, especially if an agency has more than one referral. Please use the form (Download a referral form in Word format or .pdf format.) for faxes and emails. No cover sheet is required.
Please make sure the client:
- agrees on a convenient pick-up day and site location and knows the directions to the pick-up site
- understands the referral is good for one day only
- knows the food weighs on average 70 pounds
