BY JIMMY SHOCKLEY, Eastern Shore Post —
Chincoteague’s Manna Cafe is celebrating 10 years of serving and delivering food to those on the island as an all-volunteer effort.
The organization was started by Fran and Bill Lytle in 2017 for people with two critical needs.’
“We found out there were people who needed food, but also companionship,” Fran Lytle said.
The organization operates in the fellowship hall of Chincoteague’s Christ United Methodist Church, despite having no other affiliation with the church.
The church does not charge Manna Cafe to operate on its premises. It is held on the first two Mondays of every month.
Manna Cafe has 30 to 40 volunteers on any given day. Beginning this month, Manna Cafe has started hosting special needs students from Nandua High School as additional volunteers.
All volunteers have different roles — some cook food, some serve it, and some deliver it.
Because Manna Cafe prioritizes socialization, delivery drivers do not just drop off food on doorsteps and walk away — they instead sit and talk with the homebound people to whom they deliver it.
To build relationships among volunteers and those requesting service, the same volunteers deliver to the same houses every time the cafe is open.
The cafe is open the first two Mondays of every month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. On those days, it also delivers somewhere between 60 and 70 meals to those in need.
Manna Cafe has drawn comparisons to a soup kitchen over the years, but Fran Lytle insisted that the organization is far from being the stereotypical soup kitchen.
“We’re not going to serve food we wouldn’t eat ourselves,” she said.
The Lytles and the volunteers said they serve food they are proud of — and diversify what is being prepared week to week.
Volunteers arrive at 8:30 in the morning and begin preparing food immediately in anticipation of people arriving at 11.
The Lytles work on recipes in their own kitchen at home before making them at the fellowship hall for others to make sure what they are serving is as good as it can be.
Over the last nearly 10 years, the Lytles have kept track of how many fresh, completely free meals Manna Cafe has served.
At the end of last year, it was 108,000, and Fran Lytle expects to have served 114,000 by the end of Manna’s 10th year.
Although it costs nothing to eat at Manna Cafe, with rising costs of ingredients they encourage donations from those who can afford it so they can continue helping others.
“Everybody deserves delicious food,” she said.
