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Organization cares for community’s needy

October 13, 2007

To illustrate the importance of Project MANA, director George LeBard often uses the analogy of a plant.He explains that it needs a variety of things to stay alive: fresh air, sunshine, nutrients and water are some of the things he lists. If one or more of those things is missing, he says, the plant can’t survive.”It’s like a community,” he concludes, “if part of it is not doing well, it affects the whole community.”That’s why, he argues, the poorest residents at Lake Tahoe should not be ignored. His organization, founded in 1991 by a Sierra Nevada College student, provides food to those in need in Incline, Kings Beach and Truckee. LeBard joined the organization in 1998.”The health of a community depends on everybody in the community having access to essential needs,” he said. “Food is an essential need. If you don’t have that, you think differently. You think only of survival. You’re not thinking about the community.”LeBard hopes to change that. For years, the organization provided food for the hungry - more than 25,000 visits last year. However, LeBard said, organization leaders were unhappy with the relationship they had with their clients.”We didn’t know them,” he said. So, in February, they created the Service Integration Team, a collaboration of social-service and other agencies. Now, each client meets with a family advocate to assess other issues, such as substance abuse, domestic violence or school struggles. People needing to learn English are set up with classes.In addition to signing up for services, clients are also encouraged to sign up to volunteer with agencies like the Tahoe Rim Trail. Inspired by donations from the local Safeway, a points system was established where recipients earn points for each program or volunteer service they sign up for. Points can be redeemed at a warehouse storing community donations.”At the end of the day, they’re accomplishing something,” LeBard said. “At the same time, it gets them involved in things they wouldn’t have normally done.”This time of year between seasons, known as the shoulder season, is particularly difficult for low-income families. “Most of our clients work in the service industry that supports the tourism economy,” he said.To learn more about Project MANA or to donate, go to projectmana.org.

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Written by Teri Vance · Filed Under Nuestro Tahoe, Voices 

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