Charlie Mann plans to spend Christmas doing what he does every other day of the year: giving food and clothing that would otherwise be wasted to those who need it the most.

Since 1986, the Derwood resident has been running an all-volunteer charity that takes day-old bread and outdated food donated from local grocery stores to people around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Called Celestial Manna, the nonprofit serves about 550 people daily.

On Christmas, Mann and about 30 other volunteers will caravan food and other donated goods to a largely immigrant section of Langley Park in Prince George's County.

"Image yourself being in another country for the first time and you feel like there's nowhere you can go and you're kind of afraid," Mann said. "We're going to try to ease the way for them at least in one way for one day."

The 54-year-old Mann has been fighting waste for years, something that comes from "a heart-felt desire to help other people."

"I did it in college, I did it in high school," he said. "I saw so much that the students were pitching and I went around grabbing stuff and taking it and giving it out to [other] kids.

"In college," he added, "whatever a kid would leave behind in a dormitory, I was there to get it and it ended up going to people who needed it."

Mann says his organization is more of an umbrella or name that many volunteers and congregations use to practice charity around the area. Sometimes it involves handing out sandwiches in Washington, D.C., sometimes it is a daily drop of food to a working family.

Celestial Manna, a reference to food God bestowed upon the Israelites during their 40 years in the desert, runs largely off of donations coaxed from local restaurants and markets. There is very little cash involved, Mann said. Volunteers cover the cost of fuel and the wear and tear they put on their cars.

"At moments it consumes me," Mann said. "At other times, I feel like it's flowing beautifully and other people are picking up the slack. It's operating 24/7. And I'm pretty divided with my assignments."

A teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in Prince George's County, Mann has gotten help from his wife, Judy Mann, and four children.

"My wife sometimes jokes, 'Are we going out on another date to go pickup food,'" he said.

Aside from his wife, giving is Mann's self-described love and, according to a friend of his, James W. Sturges, an infectious one.

"I met him at physical therapy. Since then he's convinced one of the therapists to volunteer," said Sturges, who has helped set up the nonprofit's Web site.

"We got to talking," he said. "I was so impressed by what one guy could do. .. Seeing how someone else's ministry could effect people so positively just blew me out of my socks.

"He's just a remarkably intense [guy]." Sturges added. "He's all there when you're talking to him. You've got his full attention. He's just a very gentle man and very highly motivated to help others. If you want a picture of a good Christian, look at this guy."

Mann is a member of the Son of David Congregation, which rents worship space in Rockville and describes itself as a gathering of Jews and Gentiles who believe Jesus was the Messiah. Mann hands out literature about the group when making his charitable rounds, but says he does not try to "hit anybody over the head with it."

In the end, the acts of kindness generate enough interest about Mann's motives.

Last updated: December 31, 2004
webmaster: Peter Gorog  webmaster@sonofdavid.org