Our Mission

To provide Food, toiletries, and school supplies for college students at Virginia Tech. Customers will be welcomed by open hearts, open minds, open arms, and open doors.

More than 60% of students...

at Virginia Tech receive financial aid each year ( with seven thousand dollars as the average amount of aid received per year). This financial aid often goes straight towards school expenses such as tuition and textbooks leaving no extra funding for food and other supplies.

About Us

Located inside the Wesley Foundation at 209 W. Roanoke St., 209 Manna Ministries is a pantry that provides food, toiletries, and school supplies for college students and their families. Anyone who feels as if they are lacking food and necessities may apply to shop at 209 Manna Ministries. Shopping is based on a point system in which each good is worth a certain amount of points, ranging from 1 to 6 points, and each shopper is allowed 50 points to shop with each week.

Wesley is in a partnership with the NLCF community as we begin to expand the pantry to include more refrigerated items. We encourage other organizations to partner with us by volunteering to help while the pantry is open, or to hold food drives.

Store hours are currently every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Please contact us at 209MannaVT@gmail.com with any questions or concerns or to make an appointment.

Katie Biggs
​Student Coordinator

Katie Biggs is a senior studying Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. She is responsible for Wesley's involvement in the pantry. Katie has worked with the food pantry for many years helping to coordinate donations and volunteers. She loves getting to know fellow Hokies and serve the Virginia Tech community. In her spare time Katie loves hiking and cooking. If you have any questions about Wesley, the pantry, or have tasty recipe ideas, be sure to reach out to Katie!

Email: kbiggs97@vt.edu

Lauralee Powell
Student Coordinator

Lauralee Powell is a student at Virginia Tech, studying Fashion Merchandising and Design. She is responsible for coordinating volunteers at the pantry. Lauralee loves serving her fellow Hokies in the Blacksburg’s community, but her service goes beyond boarders to help others in many different cultures. If you want to have fun while serving others in your local community or have general questions about the pantry, contact Lauralee!

Email: laural9@vt.edu

Sydney Baxter
Student Coordinator

Driven by her passion to serve others, Sydney enjoys finding new ways to assist others in pursing their goals. She first became involved with 209MM when a service learning project sparked her passion to learn more about food insecurity on college campuses. Sydney is a current
student at Virginia Tech and is actively involved with NLCF and the Leadership and Social Change Residential College, as well as other programs on campus. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends, hiking, and playing soccer. Please feel free to reach out to Sydney via email.

Email: syd9158@vt.edu

Bret Gresham
Wesley Coordinator

Bret is a Virginia Tech Alumni, graduating with a Bachelors degree in Human Food Nutrition and Exercise  and he currently is the campus minster at the Wesley Foundation at Virginia Tech. He is responsible for Wesley's involvement within the partnership of 209 Manna Ministries and NLCF and is always cracking jokes or just cracking himself up. If you have any questions concerning Wesley or the pantry he is the man with the plan.

Email: wesfound@vt.edu

Jim Pace
NLCF Coordinator

Jim is a Virginia Tech alumni and graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology and Sociology and is currently staff on NLCF's leadership team. Jim brings the life of the party of 209 Manna Ministries in the partnership with Wesley. He is responsible for for NLCF's involvement in running the pantry.  If you have any questions or concerns involving NLCF or the pantry, Jim is your go to guy.

Email: jimpace@nlcf.net