Siloam Proud

Siloam Proud 2C n Wednesday, June 23, 2021 Siloam Springs Herald-Leader The Manna Center has faced plenty of chal- lenges in the past year, from the sudden loss of Executive Director Mark Brooker to finding ways to feed a growing number of people during a pan - demic. However, Marla Sappington was not only able to help the nonprofit meet the challenges, she also helped it expand to feed people in other com - munities. Sappington's passion for helping others shows through her career as a teacher, her service as a city board member and her dedication to The Manna Center. She has done an incred - ible job in her new role as executive director of the nonprofit, according to Michele Jackson, who serves on The Manna Center board and also taught alongside Sapping - ton in the Siloam Springs School District. "She is so passionate about what she does and she loves serving people and meeting their physi - cal needs and she does it without judgment or discrimination," Jackson said. "She has a very open heart if you need food, she is going to provide that. If people need food, they are going to get it, it doesn't matter where they are." 'A big heart' Sappington was born and raised in Siloam Springs. She grew up rid- ing horses and was very involved with the Siloam Springs Riding Club and local rodeos, where she competed in everything from steer riding to rodeo queen pageants. She even won runner-up Miss Ro - deo Arkansas. Karen Davis, Sapping- ton's lifelong best friend, grew up rodeoing with Sappington, and their families even went on va- cations together. Davis said Sappington has always had a big heart and was ready to help people. Sappington graduated from Siloam Springs High School then went on to attend Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, where she was part of the college rodeo team. She dropped out of the school her last semester to marry her husband John and the couple moved to Houston, Texas. She didn't like the crowds or six lanes of traffic in Houston, so the couple moved back home after a few months. Sappington went back to college in 1985, studying subjects such as trigo - nometry and calculus while caring for her small children. In 1989, Sappington graduated from John Brown University with a degree in biology educa - tion, qualifying her to teach all math and sci- ence subjects. She taught in Gravette for five years before moving to Siloam Springs Middle School, where she taught for the next 11 or 12 years. "I love Siloam," she said. "I have lived here all my life, and I have al - ways felt that Siloam has so much to offer families and I guess that's why I ran for city because I felt like there is something here that we need to shout about, that we're family oriented, that we have good neighbors and we care about each other. That put me on the city board. Plus I like to be involved." Finding a path at The Manna Center Sappington had to quit teaching in 2006 because she had back surgery and became disabled. For the first three years, she was very sad and depressed as she dealt with chronic pain and nerve damage to her right leg, she said. One day a friend from church asked her to volunteer at the Manna Center. At first, she didn't think she would be able to keep up with it because of her physical limitations. However, the work and the focus on serving oth - ers helped heal her inside and out, she said. "I just loved it," Sap- pington said. "I started volunteering more." When the administra- tive assistant left, Sap- pington applied for the position. On her first day of work, the then director fell and broke her hip, so Sappington had to step into the leadership role immediately. She was of - fered the position of exec- utive director at the time, but she knew she wasn't ready for it yet, she said. That's when Brooker was hired as executive director of the non - profit. Sappington and Brooker had gone to school together, although he moved away in 10th grade. "We developed the best relationship," Sappington said. "We were brother and sister all the way. … We just took care of each other and we really fit. I'm a numbers person and I don't do fluff, and I would get the grants started and give him all the data, and he would put the fluff in. "We were a perfect team. I took care of day to day operations, he would go out and do public relations stuff. We just re - ally fit together. We really cared a lot for each other." Sappington said that Brooker was there for her when her dad died and then again when her sis - ter died two years later. Through his example, Brooker taught Sapping- ton to listen to people and truly care, which helped her grow as a Christian, she said. Then in May 2020, while The Manna Center was dealing with the effects of the covid-19 pandemic, Brooker died unexpect - edly and Sappington was named interim director. "(Brooker's death) was a great tragedy for me, it was the loss of a family member when he passed away and I care a lot for Sherry and his kids and grandkids," she said. "He was here for so long, he is greatly missed by every - body." Sappington was afraid of taking on the respon- sibility of the role perma- nently because she had just been working a few hours a week because of her disability. After pray- ing with her husband and kids, her children pointed out to her she couldn't do anything else. She became executive director in July 2020. "I feel such ownership," she said. "It's such a part of me." Facing need in a pandemic In the first part of 2020, The Manna Center saw an unprecedented surge of donations and support in response to the pan- demic, Brooker said in an interview a week before his death. That support continued and the center ended up giving away more than 1 million pounds of food in 2020, Sappington said. As of June 1, the center has distributed 575,502 pounds in 2021. "It's absolutely amazing and its all God, he takes care of us if we let him," she said. "We are firm believers of letting God guide us here, because it's nothing I'm doing, I can tell you that right now, we are facilitators, we're letting God work through us." Ninety percent of the food never came through The Manna Center's doors, but was instead given away through its new mobile pantry ser - vice. Right before Brook- er's death, the center began expanding services through a mobile pantry that visits Gentry and De- catur in western Benton County, and Colcord, West Siloam Springs and Watts in Oklahoma. The mobile pantry is possible thanks to the federal Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, Sap - pington said. The Manna Center sends food to each community throughout the week, sometimes with the help of local churches, and each family gets a box with 33 pounds of items such as mixed produce, dairy, meats and a gallon of milk, she said. "They are so thankful," she said. "They call here and thank us, message us on Facebook and thank us. They say if they are not able to use it, they share it with others. That makes it feel good that what we are doing is the right thing." Although CFAP ended this spring, Sappington is applying for other grants to keep the program go - ing because there is great need and not everyone is able to come to Siloam Springs, she said. The center also has several new community partners, including Tyson Foods, which named it a com - munity partner pantry, she said. In addition to providing food, The Manna Center helps provide families with toys and food for Christmas, school sup - plies, clothing, prescrip- tion assistance, utility as- sistance, fuel to go to the doctor or work, and is part of the diaper network, Sappington said. "God is really good," Sappington said. "God is really working through the volunteers here, through the workers here, I just set back and I'm in awe of what goes on." Practicing grace Sappington has a pas- sion for feeding people because she has been in their shoes, she said. "When I was in college the second time and my kids were little, we were in great need," she said. "I've been on food stamps, electric shut off, car re - possessed, I know all this stuff." An important lesson she learned from Brooker was having grace for others, Sappington said. It takes a special kind of person to work at a food pantry because there isn't any room to be judgemental or let ideas such as "well they need to get a job, or they're working, why can't they make ends meet," af- fect one's heart, she said. "This is God's place and we are his hands and feet right now, we're feeding his people," she said. "I need to shout that be - cause we are doing God's work and we are being blessed for doing it. I love the Manna Center, I absolutely love it, and I miss my brother a lot but I feel like we are going on and we are going to great things because he's the little angel on our shoul - ders." Sappington has done an excellent job in her new leadership role, Jackson said. Every time the board meets, Jackson said she is amazed at the initia - tive that Sappington has taken to meet the needs of people in Siloam Springs and other communities. "I just think it was one of the best decisions the board made to make her the executive director," Jackson said. "I just think it was a natural transition because she had already been working there, al - ready knew the system, I just think her heart and her passion is what has made this a very success- ful ministry. It has gone above and beyond what we ever thought it would despite all of those things. She had a good founda- tion to build upon." By Janelle Jessen Staff Writer n jjessen@nwadg.com Feeding people in a pandemic Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader Marla Sappington checks items on shelves. Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader Marla Sappington organizes boxes of food in The Manna Center. She has served as executive director for the past year.

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