Julio Diaz

jdiaz@pnj.com

Manna Food Pantries, the primary food pantry in the two-county area, may be a total loss after flash flooding has caused extensive damage to its headquarters at 116 E. Gonzales St.

Executive Director DeDe Flounlacker said that the building's extensive damage has brought an immediate halt to the organization's efforts to "leave no one unfed" in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

All pantries are closed and will remain closed until further notice, and all of Manna's programs are immediately suspended.

The situation is so dire that for once, Flounlacker is asking the community to NOT give food to Manna, as the organization has nowhere to store the items. Instead, the organization is in dire need of cash to get back on its feet.

"If you were thinking of giving a can of food, give $5 instead," Flounlacker said. "Give $2. Please give money. We cannot accept any food at all right now."

Piedmont Road area heavily damaged

Manna has suffered flooding damage in the past, but Flounlacker said the damage this time is far more extensive.

"We believe the main building, with the main pantry and the administrative offices, is a 100 percent loss," she said.

Flounlacker said the main building took on three feet of water, overturning desks and even a massive cooler unit.

She said there was also a big hole in the parking lot close to the building, and that it may be structurally unsafe.

The adjacent receiving building took on 3-4 feet of water, including inside food coolers. Flounlacker believed 60 to 70 percent of the organization's food stock is ruined.

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"It's about as bad as it can be," she said. "Nobody got hurt, though, and we're glad for that."

One bright light for Manna is ahead: Adelene Lovelace of Fiesta of Five Flags said her organization would give $2 from each T-shirt sold at this weekend's Pensacola Crawfish Festival to the pantry.

For more information on Manna, please visit www.mannafoodpantries.org.