Latest news with #MarkMoore
TimesLIVE
10-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
USAID cuts threaten ‘God's food' made in Georgia for children in need
Reaching into one of the giant white sacks piled up in his Georgia food-processing plant, Mark Moore pulls out a fistful of shelled peanuts, what he calls 'God's food', and lets them roll through his fingers. A former evangelical missionary, Moore is co-founder of Mana Nutrition, a US nonprofit that said it has fed 10-million children across the globe since 2010 with packets of peanut butter paste made in the small farming community of Fitzgerald, about 290km south of Atlanta. 'This saves children,' said Moore, 58, clutching a bunch of the protein-rich legumes. 'It's not an overstatement: We defeat death.' Mana is in the midst of its own struggle for survival. Deep cuts in federal programmes targeting international aid programmes under President Donald Trump have threatened to choke the financial lifeline that has allowed the nonprofit to carry out its life-saving mission. Since January, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), created during the height of the Cold War by then-President John F Kennedy, has been dismantled by the department of government efficiency, Trump's cost-cutting entity led until recently by billionaire Elon Musk. In announcing the termination of its contracts, which accounted for about 90% of Mana's $100m (R1.7bn) annual budget, the department of government efficiency sent a letter to the nonprofit saying its work was 'not aligned with agency priorities'. Efforts to reach a spokesperson for the state department, which oversees USAID, have been unsuccessful. In two terse letters sent to Mana and reviewed by Reuters, USAID offered no specific reasons for the terminations other than to say the work 'was not in the national interest'. Mana has enough money to keep running through to August at the most, Moore said, but he seemed unshakeable in his optimism about the future of its mission.
Reuters
09-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
USAID cuts threaten 'God's food,' made in Georgia for children in need
FITZGERALD, Georgia, June 9 (Reuters) - Reaching into one of the giant white sacks piled up in his Georgia food-processing plant, Mark Moore pulls out a fistful of shelled peanuts - what he calls "God's food" - and lets them roll through his fingers. A former evangelical missionary, Moore is co-founder of MANA Nutrition, a non-profit that says it has fed 10 million children across the globe since 2010 with packets of peanut butter paste made in the small farming community of Fitzgerald, about 180 miles south of Atlanta. "This saves children," said Moore, 58, clutching a bunch of the protein-rich legumes. "It's not an overstatement: We defeat death." But MANA is now in the midst of its own struggle for survival. Deep cuts in federal programs targeting international aid programs under President Donald Trump have threatened to choke off the financial lifeline that has allowed the non-profit to carry out its life-saving mission. Since January, the U.S. Agency for International Development - created during the height of the Cold War by then-President John F. Kennedy - has all been but dismantled by the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump's cost-cutting entity led until recently by billionaire Elon Musk. In announcing the termination of its contracts, which accounted for about 90 percent of MANA's $100 million annual budget, DOGE sent a letter to the non-profit saying its work was "not aligned with Agency priorities." Efforts to reach a spokesperson for the State Department, which oversees USAID, have been unsuccessful. In two terse letters sent to MANA and reviewed by Reuters, USAID offered no specific reasons for the terminations other than to say the work "was not in the national interest." MANA has just enough cash on hand to keep running through August at the most, Moore says, but he seems unshakable in his optimism about the future of its mission. He has vowed to keep his 80,000 square-foot factory going and his 130 workers employed, even as the Trump administration has slashed 90 percent of USAID contracts and $60 billion in U.S. assistance across the board. One possibility is finding another international aid organization to support the manufacture and distribution of MANA's peanut paste packets, each about the size of a cell phone. Most of the product - which also includes powdered milk, sugar and vitamins - goes to Africa, where Moore served as a missionary in Uganda for 10 years. "It saves children who are at the brink of no return," said Mark Manary, an expert in childhood nutrition at Washington University's Institute for Public Health who helped develop the paste's formula. "It's hard to wrap your mind around the need." Manary said the food created in Georgia and at a similar operation in Rhode Island, Edesia Nutrition, is an important link in the global effort to stave off starvation of children in countries where the No. 1 killer is malnutrition. Moore hopes lawmakers and the Trump administration will see the value in the work and put the money back into the new federal budget. "I believe that the U.S. government will remain involved in global food aid," he said, adding that he has spoken to both Republicans and Democrats who want the work to continue. Moore is also seeking contracts with other organizations that specialize in humanitarian aid for children in crisis, including Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and UNICEF. The organizations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One bright spot in recent years was an infusion of cash from Chris Hohn, a hedge-fund billionaire based in London and a philanthropist with the Children's Investment Fund Foundation. Hohn's charity did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In recent years, Hohn has given more than $250 million to MANA Nutrition, according to Moore, much of it already spent on expanding the plant, more than doubling its space and adding new machinery. But MANA needs new contracts to go forward, or another donation from philanthropists. "We've been put on Earth for a purpose," he said. "Jesus told his disciples to go and feed the people. So, we've been hustling nonstop."
Chicago Tribune
22-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
District U-46 construction may push back start of 2026-27 school year
District U-46 could be starting the 2026-27 school year more than two weeks later than normal due to the school construction being planned for that summer. The district school board was briefed this week on the proposed schedule change, which would have classes beginning closer to the start of September than they have for the last decade or more. 'That is because of the planned construction district-wide,' Mark Moore, assistant superintendent of human resources Mark Moore, told the board Monday night. 'Our informal thinking is we would get back to our typical calendar over two or three years.' However, with construction and other variables to consider, it is impossible to say for certain what the calendar would look like beyond 2026-27, Moore said. The district has undertaken an ambitious building project schedule over the next few years in which new schools will be built, some schools will be expanded and others will undergo renovations and improvements. Plans call for work to be done at Kimball and Kenyon Woods middle schools and Century Oaks and Glenbrook elementary schools as the district moves sixth-grade classes into middle schools and adds early learning centers at elementary schools, among other changes. If the proposed calendar outlined by Moore is adopted, the 2026-27 school year would start Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, and end Friday, June 4, 2027, if no snow days are used. By contrast, the current school year began on Aug. 11, 2024, and will end May 20. Moore said high school graduation will likely remain on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, which is how it is currently scheduled for this year and next. 'We will be negotiating a new contract with NOW Arena for graduation dates,' Superintendent Suzanne Johnson told the board. 'So, as an aside, that's something the Board of Education can expect to see come forward (in the future).' U-46 has been holding its high school graduation ceremonies at the Hoffman Estates venue for about 20 years. As for the shift in the calendars, Johnson said, 'When we take a deep breath, everyone realizes that the calendar is being readjusted to be responsive to the construction that is occurring across the system to update learning spaces for our students. ' While appreciating the 'why' behind the proposed change, board member Dawn Martin said she was concerned about its impact, particularly on how high school schedules for testing and advanced placement courses align with other districts. 'If my kids were little, I would have no issue. Having bigger kids, it scares the heck of me,' Martin said. The school board is tentatively expected to vote on the 2026-27 calendar at its June 2 meeting.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
56 students say 'Farewell' to OIA on Saturday morning
Cassie Campbell, the first-year principal of Owensboro Innovation Academy (OIA), open the school's 10th graduation ceremony on Saturday morning by giving parents, staff and students a big 'thank you.' 'Thank you everyone for making my first year as the principal at Owensboro Innovation Academy one that I can remember,' she said. 'It takes a village and it takes a community to support these students and their dreams and I thank you for doing that everyday for them.' Before the graduating students walked into the auditorium at Owensboro Christian Church, a video slideshow played for the audience, showcasing senior photos, along with baby photos, of all of the graduates of the class of 2025. Giggles and 'awww's could be heard as parents and friends watch for their students' faces on the screen. Campbell explained that each year the graduating class chooses someone as a group to be the commencement speaker. 'This year's speaker is someone that most everyone has loved,' she said. 'I'd like to welcome Mark Moore, the principal of iMiddle School as the class of 2025's commencement speaker.' Moore spoke, stating that remembered some of these students from 'way back in seventh grade when they carried backpacks larger than their confidence.' Zamira McGhee, 17, could have one of those students since she started her journey at OIA as a seventh grader at iMiddle. 'I've been through both schools so I've gotten to know everyone really well,' she said. McGhee said that she's enjoyed the opportunities that being a student at OIA have provided her. 'I love how I've been able to have more control over my education and learning while I'm trying to carve out my own path in life,' she said. OIA, unlike other schools in the area, has a curriculum based around project learning and hands on experiences. Students are able to choose different pathways that interest them, such as computer science, biomedicine and engineering, and then they learn about those pathways through hands-on instruction, experiences and partnerships with the community. 'I appreciate how much the students have gotten to be able to get out into the community and build relationships,' Campbell said. McGhee said that she was able to try out the biomedicine pathway and the computer science pathway, even taking her Advanced Placement exam in computer science. 'I guess I realized that neither of those avenues were exactly right for me, but I appreciate being able to discover that while I'm still in high school so that I can have a plan for college,' she said. And that plan? She's attending Transylvania University in Lexington with plans to study English. 'Ultimately, I'd love to be able to go to Georgetown in D.C. for law school,' she said. Ace Skimehorn, 19, said that he's been able to make a great group of friends while he's attended OIA. 'I think that these are the friendships that are going to last forever. I call them my brothers,' he said. Skimehorn participated in the engineering and computer science pathways while attending classes at OIA, and, he said, that he was able to learn what he didn't want to do in the future because of the project-based learning at the school. 'I learned that computer coding was not for me and that I preferred design more,' he said. Skimehorn said that's happy that he's made it through high school and that he's ready to take his next steps at the University of Evansville. He plans to study mechanical engineering. 'I know all of the students know me for my handkerchief and that I bring it out whenever times get stressful and I just need to wipe my brow,' said commencement speaker Moore as the students laughed at the memories of their former mentor. Moore advised students to remember three words as they begin their next chapters, 'trust, respect and responsibility.' 'Remember, your words and your choices have power, but you should remember to lead with responsibility and scroll passed problems. Everyone has a story and you just might not see it, so have respect for your daily choices while trusting in yourself. You have what it takes to go further,' Moore emphasized. And, as a bit of a parting gift for the graduates, an ode to Moore was placed under each of the students' seats — a handkerchief. 'Your blood sweat and tears are not over,' he said as he instructed the graduates to look under their seats. 'Now you all have your own handkerchiefs to get you through. So, remember, wipe your brow and just get on with it.'
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
Hit-and-run pickup driver destroys front of downtown Anchorage dumpling eatery
Apr. 21—A pickup crashed through the front of a downtown Anchorage restaurant early Sunday before the driver fled the scene, police said. An unoccupied blue Dodge Ram "had collided with and come to rest inside" Anchorage Pel'meni as reported just before 3:30 a.m., according to a report provided by an Anchorage Police Department spokesman. Witnesses described seeing a man about 6-foot-3, between 25 and 30 years old and wearing a light-colored jacket and jeans, flee on foot immediately after the crash, the report said. An employee inside the building at the time who suffered an eye injury was treated by medics, police said. Officers learned a white Ford F-150 may also have been involved in the incident, according to the report. Police didn't immediately answer questions asking how that truck may be connected to the building damage. No arrests had been made as of Monday morning. Anchorage Pel'meni opened in 2022 after running a popular location in Juneau for years. The restaurants serve Russian dumplings especially popular with late-night clientele. Restaurant owner Mark Moore said in a message that the establishment was "thankful it's not worse." The restaurant has been boarded up to keep out the weather and Moore said a structural inspection was planned Monday. It's possible the restaurant may put up a temporary wall and serve takeout customers if building managers approve, but the situation is preliminary, he said. "We are just starting to look and see how extensive it is."
