2022 Delaware FFA Convention service project group photo

Hope restored after the 2022 Delaware FFA Convention

The drive to Harrington, Delaware took a little over an hour. The weather was brisk, but beautiful and traffic was minimal. Driving from north Delaware to southern Delaware is such a treat, the open roads, blue skies and farm land bring me a sense of peace.

The 2022 Delaware FFA Convention took place at the Harrington Fairground this year. Today was their day of service and they chose to invite us down for a chat and a bag packing event.

This is the first time my 12-year-old, Finnegan Stephan, took a leading role in a 3B event. Today Finnegan took the mic and introduced his brother. He provided brief information about how 3B was formed and what we have accomplished over the last 9 years. I am so proud of him for conquering this fear. Several of the FFA students took time to give him fist bumps afterward.

Braeden spoke less about what 3B is and more about why it’s important to him. His talk was more somber than at previous events. Of course he hasn’t spoken in-person for two years due to COVID-19, so a lot has changed in his life. He is now 18 years old, he’s not the same young kid who put this all together. He has seen the dark side of working with homeless populations. Thankfully, he still has the same big heart.

I’ve had people tell me that handing out Brae’s Brown Bags isn’t helping anyone. That the homeless are lazy or drug addicts. No one grows up wanting to hold a cardboard sign on a street corner begging for money or food. That’s no one’s dream.

Braeden Mannering, March 8, 2022
Braeden talking at the 2022 Delaware FFA Convention
Braeden went on to give examples of some of the people he has met over the years. He told their stories, he shared how they are good people who worked hard and things didn't end up going their way. I think it is critical for people to understand that there are vulnerable populations who need support and compassion rather than hard knocks. Humanizing the man or woman behind the tattered clothes and cardboard signs is important.

We all cope with loss and pain in different ways. And each of us in this room have walked a different path. You can’t look at someone and know what they are going through. You can’t look at someone and claim to know how much time or resources they are worth.

I hope we choose to be the kind of people who stop to give someone a moment…We are all somebody’s son or daughter.

Brae’s Brown Bags is a simple concept. We don’t need to be fancy or complicated to make a difference. Each person who receives one of these bags can be helped, that matters to me. That person matters.

Braeden Mannering, March 8, 2022

There were many helpers assisting with the bag packing today. Of course the majority were current FFA students from middle and high schools across the state. I’d like to say thank you to a student named Jasmine who showed interest in doing research to help us find a more environment friendly way to pack our bags to hopefully someday use less plastic water bottles!

2022 Delaware FFA Convention service project group photo
A group photo after the bags were all packed!

We had a great deal of enthusiastic help from Jackson Sylvester, a former president of Delaware FFA, and a graduate of Lake Forest High School in Kent County, who is now the National FFA secretary.

There were also some FFA alums, like Kristin Cook, who helped us find our way around The Centre Ice Arena, a 49,000 square-foot facility that sits on the Harrington Fairgrounds.

Ultimately, this caring group of young FFA leaders packed nearly 250 Brae’s Brown Bags.

Amanda Powell, Executive Secretary of the Delaware FFA Association, let us know that the bags will be donated to People’s Place in Dover, Delaware. This organization offers a variety of services. One of which is called “Whatcoat Social Services” (Whatcoat) provides emergency shelter and transitional housing for low-income individuals and families.  

Whatcoat’s Donation Wish List

  • Soap
  • Toiletries
  • Gift cards
  • Backpacks
  • Paper products
  • School supplies
  • DART bus passes
  • Diapers and Pull-Ups
  • Dish detergent/sponges
  • Non-perishable food items
Braeden Mannering and Finnegan Stephan after the event outside The Centre
Braeden Mannering and Finnegan Stephan after the event outside The Centre

Delaware FFA State Convention

Today is the start of Delaware’s statewide convention for FFA. They chose for their service project to be a bag packing with 3B Brae’s Brown Bags. Braeden and I will be heading to Harrington, Delaware to be part of this experience. We’re excited to be able to work with other youth again. This is our first big bag packing since the pandemic started two years ago!

Many thanks to the Delaware FFA for inviting us! We’ll post photos and talk about the event after we get home!

Helping hands, together, safely with gloves.

3B Bag Packing

During the COVID19 pandemic we have had less of an opportunity to create bag packing events at schools. This means we have been doing more bag packing on our own as a family which is always fun to do, but it also means we are looking for ways to ensure schools and other youth organizations can still be involved.

We are grateful for the Delaware Girl Scout Troop #537 for taking the initiative to host a parking lot bag packing event with their group. We were happy to provide supplies and hope to Zoom Braeden in for an inspirational talk and a thank you to the group.

If your school or youth group would like to do a service project with 3B Brae’s Brown Bags it might still be possible. Our addressless friends and neighbors are still in need, perhaps now more than ever, and your help is priceless. Please feel free to reach out using our contact form so we can find the best way to continue working together to end hunger.

We are more powerful together words written in black and red.
We are more powerful together.

Braeden speaks prior to an inaugural virtual ball

Braeden Mannering had an opportunity to speak to a group of people who support Boston Community Fridges to help with hunger relief in the Boston Area before their virtual inaugural celebration on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.

Each person we see in our lives has value. They are someone’s son, someone’s daughter, whether they have a roof over their head or not. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris understand this, they see the value in every person and they seek for equity, they seek to show all of us that we belong. 

Braeden Mannering, 1/20/2021

Boston Area Community Fridges
These outdoor fridges, often built under a roof alongside some pantry shelves, are typically monitored and stocked by volunteers, filled with everything from fresh produce to canned goods and sometimes even toiletries and other non-food household essentials.

Find your local fridge:
boston.eater.com/maps/community-fridges-boston

December 1st is Giving Tuesday

Tomorrow is GivingTuesday, the motto for the day is “Everyone has something to give, and every act of generosity counts.” This is so true!

GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past nine years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

Whether you choose to donate money to your favorite charity or you choose to give your time by volunteering, the point is to choose kindness always. If you are able to give to 3B Brae’s Brown Bags this year, please know 100% of donations go to our mission. 3B provides homeless and low-income populations with access to healthy foods, clean water, and contact information for additional services that can aid them. Brae’s ongoing mission is not only to feed people today but to raise awareness about the problems associated with food insecurity. Through 3B we hope to help empower and inspire youth across the nation to become part of the solution.

Online donors will receive an automatic receipt via email from PayPal thanks to their Charity platform. The receipt you receive will list Brae’s Brown Bags Donation as the item.

You can also donate through Guidestar where our organization has a platinum rating. Or you can donate using the “donate” button via Facebook.com or hosting your own fundraiser through Facebook.

Not only do we need your support, we need your help to spread the word. Share with those who you know support our mission. As always, we thank you for your commitment to 3B and thank you for your support of hunger relief, we could not do this without you!

Our EIN is 46-4307237. Your contribution is tax deductible.

Braeden Mannering packing 3B bags of healthy food for those in need on Thanksgiving 2020.

Spark Change & Stay Protected

This summer we were planning on hosting our 6th (newly) Bi-Annual Summer Celebration. Due to the global pandemic and wanting to ensure the safety of our guests and volunteers we chose to cancel the event. Our theme this year was “Spark Change.”

We can spark positive change now. Today. Tomorrow. And beyond.

Since we cannot be together, we thought we’d offer a way to celebrate virtually! Here’s our plan, if you’d like to be part of a 6th Bi-Annual Summer Celebration then send us a photo of yourself wearing a facemask. At the end of August, we will put together a fun animated montage of all your protected faces!

3B Spark Change Face Mask

To participate in our fundraiser, order a 3B face mask from Custom Ink here: https://www.customink.com/fundraising/braes-brown-bags

Thank you to all of our supporters, stay safe out there!

Braeden Mannering delivers talk to Youth Heroes Outreach Program

On June 11, 2020 the National Liberty Museum held a virtual celebration to recognize the students and schools who participated in the 2019-2020 Youth Heros Outreach Program. Braeden Mannering, founder of 3B Brae’s Brown Bags, delivered the keynote talk followed up by a Q&A session.

To the young heroes…

Your interest in wanting to learn more about social justice is something I wish we could bottle up, pour into the clouds, and then make it rain down onto the world. Beyond your desire to learn, is your passion for activating change and it is that characteristic that sets you apart and makes you extraordinary.

The Youth Heroes Outreach Program empowers students to speak up and take action against social injustices. Each year we are amazed at the number of participants and their passionate responses to important topics like gun violence, bullying, human trafficking, and homelessness to name a few.

Join us on Ag Day

UPDATE: This event has been canceled for 2020, we hope to see you in April 2021.

We will have a table at the University of Delaware’s Ag Day event this year. The event is always the last Saturday in April, which means this year it is April 25, 2020.

Ag Day is a family-friendly event free for the community to attend. We plan to have takeaways for kids, parents, and teachers! You can learn more about what we do and how to get involved.

Plus, the theme this year is Committed to Conservation. Kids can participate in a scavenger hunt to learn more about animals that are endangered around the world.

Stop by at the University of Delaware’s South Campus at 531 South College Avenue in Newark, Delaware. Parking is free.

To find out more check their Ag Day website.

Ag Day 2020

Date: Saturday, April 25, 2020

Time: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

University of Delaware
Townsend Hall
Newark, DE 19716
(302) 831-2501

The winter months are nearing

An emergency sanctuary opens as temperatures fall below 32 degrees, when resources are available, in Delaware and across the country. Depending on your locations the alert is called something like “Code Purple” which is what we call it in Delaware. Other states may refer to this system as “Code Blue.” The sanctuary opens at 6 p.m. and closes at 6 a.m. which means our addressless neighbors have a place to sleep when the temperatures typically drop to their lowest point. However, during the day there are still few places available to get out of the bitter cold.

Brae’s Brown Bags provides “go-bags” to the patrons who stay overnight at emergency sancutaries. In addition to healthy food, we add winter weather clothing and hand warmers knowing that the person receiving the bag might not have shelter again until 6 p.m. the next day. If the temperatures are above 32 degrees, they may not have shelter at all.

If you see someone in need, please let them know where they can seek help. Not all homeless individuals prefer going to shelters, but an emergency sanctuary is temporary relief from the cold. If someone refuses to come in out of the cold, we provide socks, hats, scarves and gloves to help them retain as much body heat as possible. Our bodies create heat by metabolizing food and water, for our addressless friends this is a challenge as they do not always know where their next meal will come from.

Recognizing Cold-Related Emergencies:
• Moderate hypothermia – [core body temperature 82° F-90° F (28° C-32° C)]
• Severe hypothermia – [core body temperature < 82° F (< 28° C)]
• Shivering is lost and cooling is rapid.
• Hypoventilation, respiratory acidosis, hypoxemia, aspiration pneumonia,
atelectasis progress to apnea, and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
• Pancreatitis, gastric erosions
• Hyperkalemia, hyperglycemia, lactic acidosis
• Rigidity progresses to rhabdomyolysis
• Hemoconcentration, hypercoagulability progress to disseminated intravascular coagulation, and bleeding
• Hyporeflexia, agitation, hallucination, dilated pupils progress to areflexia, coma, absent pupil responses
• Arrhythmia

For additional resources and locations of shelters or sanctuaries, Dial 2-1-1.
or text your Zip Code to 898-211.

Looking forward…

As you know, Braeden is always looking to enhance the kindness we see in the world. He has mentioned that it would be nice if locations were able to offer a place to wash up and clean laundry. If you know of a way we can initiate this idea please leave a comment below.

Another successful kids’ hunger conference complete

Many people around the world just rush through the day to get it over with.

But I believe all of you in this room are of a different mindset.

You are doing what the others are NOT doing.

You are going about your day with a purpose.

And that purpose is to be a changemaker!

Braeden Mannering, during 2019 Coming Together Hunger Conference
Braeden Mannering providing welcome remarks at the beginning of the hunger conference.

We partnered with the Food Bank of Delaware and First Chance Delaware to co-host our 3rd bi-annual kids’ hunger conference which happened yesterday, April 4, 2019. (It was the 5th annual conference for adults). The event was a success and we are so excited to send over 100 letters to Delaware legislators written by the students who attended! These letters include their thoughts about hunger, food insecurity, service and advocacy. Hearing ideas from 1st through 8th graders is amazing. These students are not only intelligent, but also full of compassion!

We had volunteers from Christiana High School attend and help out with the gardening station of the day! They also showed off the Food Bank of Delaware’s mobile pantry in all its tie-dyed glory. These students are FFA members and their teacher Mr. Phipps shared them with us for the hunger conference. They were awesome!

The University of Delaware provided demos and educational activities at several stations. They taught about native bees and the importance of pollinators in relation to our food supply. The students learned about veggie regeneration, food waste, food recovery and the cost of nutritional food with a make-shift grocery store! Many thanks to the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources as well as Cooperative Extension!

Did you know there is a way to scan your skin and find out about your nutritional intake? Well there is and it is called a Veggie Meter, at least that is what the Food Bank calls it and they allowed the students and opportunity to check out what their vitamin levels look like.

Learning about the Food Bank of Delaware's Veggie Meter vitamin scanner

The Delaware Farm Bureau made the trip with their Ag Education Mobile Classroom. Laura Simpson said, “The Ag Lab is a traveling classroom that allows kids to see different aspects of agriculture and try it out for themselves.” It was a super fun addition to the conference and we are so grateful Ms. Simpson was able to attend!

Additionally, NFL Play 60 came out to the event and hosted a station about physical fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. They had their music playing and got the kids moving around. After they got their fitness activity in, the students then moved along to a station which included mindfulness and yoga. It’s so critical for our youth to learn about to decompress and unwind. Their brain health and emotional well being is vital and something they need to make time for every day.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be a 3B hunger conference without hearing about Brae’s Brown Bags and packing some bags of healthy food for those in need in our community. So every student had an opportunity to do just that and they were all excited to help! They helped to pack over 200 bags of healthy food for our homeless and low-income populations.

To end this eventful day we joined the adults, who were partaking in the Food Banks adult track of the conference, for lunch. It was during this time when we had the honor of listening to Jason Brown speak about leaving the NFL to become a farmer in North Carolina. His speech was inspirational and moving. Wise Farmer Brown spoke to all of us about the importance of service, empathy and heart. He said, “Never Stop Giving, Never Stop Loving, Never Stop Growing!” Many thanks to the American Dairy Association Northeast Branch for being a sponsor to the event and connecting us with Farmer Brown!

Wise Farmer, Jason Brown of First Fruits Farm
Wise Farmer, Jason Brown of First Fruits Farm

As always we want to thank every single person who came out to the conference as a participant and volunteer. We thank the many generous sponsors who helped to make this event possible. We truly believe there is no better way to learn and grow as individuals and as a community than through hands-on activity and meaningful opportunities.

Many, many thanks to all of you!