Manna The Durango Soup Kitchen

History of the Manna Soup Kitchen

Manna Soup Kitchen was founded in May, 1985. The previous winter, a woman died from starvation in a horse stall at the La Plata County Fairgrounds in Durango, Colorado. Scrawled on the wall beside her were the words, –nobody cares.” This tragedy resulted in a small group of Christians organizing to provide food for the hungry. Meals were initially served in the parking lot of the Spanish Assembly of God Church, but soon moved to the Church kitchen. This became Manna's first permanent home and meals were served there for the next eight years.

In 1992, Scared Heart Catholic Church provided their parish hall for meals. In 1995, the first staff person was hired. By 2000, plans began to build a facility capable of serving over 150 people a hot meal out of the elements. The new building opened in 2002 with a modern kitchen, a large dining hall, and laundry and shower facilities available. In 2004, Manna began its own fresh garden.

By 2008, Manna was serving over 45,000 meals per year including breakfast, a hot lunch, and hot and cold to-go dinners. With its mission statement of feeding the hungry still the top priority, Manna has expanded its services to the homeless and less fortunate in our community to include providing vouchers to the truly needy for gasoline, clothing, food, and temporary lodging. Manna is also working with other non-profits in the area to provide other necessary services.

Manna now serves over 45,000 meals and distributes over $40,000 in vouchers a year. We have added a client computer center and a volunteer Chaplain.

Manna's archival volunteer base stands at over 1,700 and its current active, regular base of volunteers is over 450 including individuals, church groups, civic and private organizations, and businesses.