Quick-Fire Quips is a speedy questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the State of Alabama! In this episode, Alabama Public Radio host Baillee Majors talks with Fran Fluhler, director of Manna House in Huntsville.
She started serving people from the front porch of her home more than 20 years ago. The nonprofit is located on 2110 S Memorial Pkwy, where Fran continues to nourish hearts, minds and stomachs.
Baillee: Hey, Fran! How are you?
Fran: Hey, I'm great. Thank you for inviting me to be on!
Baillee: Absolutely! Well, Fran, let's get into it. Tell me about Manna House.
Fran: Manna House is a 501(c)3 Public Charity where we provide local people in our community, fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, hygiene, baby care, items, whatever it is to help them get through their current crisis.
Many of the people who volunteer with us today used to be people who needed to have help. So, it's kind of really a cool community collaborative of all ages, all educational levels, all cultures, coming together to help others. It's wonderful.
Baillee: Of course, you're feeding the community physical food, but it also seems like you're feeding their spirits, too.
Fran: Absolutely, hope is a great gift.
Baillee: Okay, now the introductions are done. Let's get you warmed up to answer the questionnaire. To do that, can you say "Quick-Fire Quips" for me, three times fast?
Fran: Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips!
Baillee: You're a pro! Okay. First question, what is the first word that comes to mind when you hear Alabama?
Fran: Beautiful. From the Appalachian mountains of North Alabama to our beautiful coast, it is just a beautiful state. I think we are one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.
Baillee: Oh, absolutely. What is a hidden gem in Huntsville that more people should know about?
Fran: Monte Sano Mountain. You can go to the State Park, and you have great views. You can hike the trails. You can have picnics with your grandkids or kids, and you can go to Burritt on the Mountain—also beautiful views, and also great things to observe and see with family and friends. It's wonderful, beautiful.
Baillee: What is a bad stereotype or something that people get wrong about Alabama?
Fran: I think they think that our people here do not have resources for education, but what they don't realize is how much STEM is involved, how many opportunities are offered to our young people. We have wonderful leadership programs through the JROTC programs in our high schools.
Baillee: Related to your work, what is one thing you wish people knew more about when it came when it comes to hunger and food insecurity in North Alabama?
Fran: I think we have a wonderful opportunity to help people really meet the need of their family, but also give them a better, healthy choice. Most people who have food insufficiency buy Ramen and dried beans, and that's okay, but they lack cucumbers and tomatoes and lettuce and all the things that we who aren't food insufficient enjoy.
And so, I think that raising awareness that maybe in your garden this year, and you have extra tomatoes and cucumbers and lettuce, share it. Or you have extra squash, and you don't have enough recipes for all the zucchini you're growing, share it. If you have abundance, then share your abundance.
Baillee: What is something you wish people knew a little bit more about when it comes to the importance of community outreach and just the sense of community in Huntsville?
Fran: I tell people all the time, just do what fits you. If you feel like you're supposed to go pick up groceries and drop them to somebody's house, go do it. You'll feel better for it, but they'll be blessed by it.
Whenever you think about outreach, just think what fits you. It might be just calling an Instacart order from Publix and having it shipped to somebody's house. It just might be something super simple like that.
Or it might be organizing people to all bring goodies that could go in the backpack bags to get home with kids from the public school system that don't have enough food for the weekend. So it doesn't have to look huge—start small. It will grow itself.
Baillee: When it comes to being a Southerner, what is a Southern phrase or two that you hear yourself using a lot?
Fran: "I love you." Yes, I say it way too much. And I do love people. I love everybody. "Love you." We all say "Love ya."
Baillee: I'm bad about saying, "Okay, see you later. Bye, I love you!" Like, just kind of running everything in together, and it's like, "Oh, did I just tell the AT&T person on the phone that I love them?"
Fran: Yes, yes, yes. We all do it!
Baillee: Do you have any superstitions or irrational fears?
Fran: You know, I don't. I was raised in an amazing home that taught faith over fear, and so I am a very faith-oriented person, and I know the Lord's going to take care of me... I just honor the word, and if something's going on, I just start praying. So, it works.
Baillee: Okay, tell me, what is something on your bucket list?
Fran: To take my grandchildren to every place that I love. So, I want to take them to Australia. I want to take them to Europe. I want to take them to Paris.... I want to be able to take my grandkids every, every place that I've loved, so they can enjoy what I've loved.
Baillee: Okay, next question, who was your childhood hero?
Fran: Really, my parents. They lived a life of service, and they honored the Lord. They raised us in a godly environment, and never heard my parents ever fight.
If they were going to fight, they did it sometime, but they never did it in front of us. And Dad would say, "Let's talk about that later." And she's say, "Okay, okay."
I didn't appreciate it until I was a grown adult. I was like, "Yeah, how did they do that?" But I admired that commitment, and they were married almost 70 years... I got a real gift. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
Baillee: Would you say your parents are still your heroes today?
Fran: Yes, I would believe so, because I live a legacy because of what they sowed. You know, we all have a chance to leave a legacy, and they lived really lives of purpose.
They worked hard, but they gave so much to the community, and that legacy has rolled off on all of us, and so we fulfill that as well, and we teach that to our children and teach it to our grandchildren, that life is about service.
Baillee: Here's the last question, what does Alabama need?
Fran: I think we need more local farmers markets in our community.... more local pop-up farmers markets, where people could come and buy from local farmers, but also they could trade or barter... I just see that as a way to get fresh fruits and vegetables in the hands of a lot of people.
Baillee: That's it for today's Quick-Fire Quips, a speedy questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the state of Alabama. That was Fran Fluhler, a Yellowhammer State native, and the founder and director of Manna House Food Distribution Program in Huntsville.
