Manna From Heave Makes Christmas Time Easier for Bridgeton Area Families
Manna From Heaven, from Top Row: Sherman Demby, Correy Fennel; Bottom Row: Darlene Wade, Martha Price, Angelia Edwards, Linda Sanders. Photo by Justin Roig
BY JUSTIN ROIG | For AC JosepH Media
BRIDGETON — The nonprofit Manna From Heaven made sure many area families had a great Christmas by giving away 200 food bags at its 24th annual Christmas Food Giveaway at 188 South East Avenue on Monday, Dec. 22.
The giveaway tradition started more than two decades ago when Bridgeton native Angelia Edwards, the organization’s founder and Bridgeton Board of Education member, learned of a grandmother in need in her community.
“I was on the school board years ago and found out that a grandmother was taking care of her two grandkids because the mother was incarcerated at the Cumberland County Jail,” Edwards told Front Runner New Jersey.com. “When we found out that she didn’t have much food, that’s when we started the tradition.”
Since then, the food distribution event has grown year after year. Recipients were given vouchers prior to the giveaway. These vouchers were returned in exchange for bags containing food items which were loaded into their cars by volunteers from a box truck.
Those who did not have vouchers with them were encouraged to return near the end of the giveaway to receive food.
Volunteers load food bags into a taxi. Photo by Justin Roig
Around 190 people were expected according to Edwards. She said the Bridgeton School District provided Manna From Heaven with the names of families in need from the district’s eight schools.
Edwards highlighted the importance of food distribution events for vulnerable demographics such as children.
“When your belly is growling, who wants to learn about A, B, C, one two three,” Edwards said. “The only thing you hear is a roaring stomach when you’re hungry.”
Leslie Bridges Evans, a Manna From Heaven volunteer since 2017, put an emphasis on treating those receiving assistance with dignity.
“You know you must treat people right. You must treat people how you want to be treated. You know, you can’t give out food and then don’t know how to treat people.”
Sherman Demby, president of Manna From Heaven, has been involved in the organization since its inception. Demby said he has seen the need for events like this increase in the past year.
“It has grown so, so much, I want to say, like three, four-fold, it has grown, which lets us know that there is a heavy need for this service in this community,” Demby said.
For Demby, volunteering with Manna From Heaven is about “paying it forward.”
“Partly because of my faith, but partly at one point in time in my life, I was a recipient of said services. So because it was done for me, you always pay it forward.”
Much of the City of Bridgeton is considered a food desert according to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. One in 9 New Jerseyans is food insecure, with 1 in 7 being children, a 9.5% increase since 2024.
Over 70,000 people in Cumberland, Salem, Atlantic, and Cape May Counties are food insecure, with 20,000 of them being children, according to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.
For those dealing with food insecurity giveaways like these help alleviate the cost the holidays can put on working families. Mark Boardley of Bridgeton spoke of how the event helped him and his family.
“Well, right now, I’m the only one in the household working, and it helps a lot.”
Lucelenia Ramos, another recipient, spoke about how the affordability crisis is affecting the community.
“Minimum wage, even high-paying jobs, it affects everyone,” Ramos said. “Because every time they put the money up, they raise the prices on food.”
Ramos also spoke about how receiving this food helps her both financially and materially.
“It helps because I don’t have to worry about spending extra cash for food, and it’s a blessing to receive food to be able to feed my family,” she said.
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