Chapters

Campus chapters provide a variety of engaging and creative opportunities for college students to connect with the global community through on-campus, local, and international
service initiatives.

Campus Chapters serve growing international communities and encourage university students to engage in rich and rewarding cross-cultural exchange.

Why campus chapters

Campus chapters have been a part of the Manna Project International family since its first days having grown out of a quartet of students at Vanderbilt University. Our campus chapters keep the mission of MPI alive in a very real way - by creating social impact in their home communities and abroad. Although many MPI chapters do choose to work onsite in Ecuador, others choose to use the ethos of MPI to make a difference in their home community.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic greatly impacted MPI’s presence on college campuses, MPI is excited to restart our university partnerships and create new relationships with young people around the world looking to make a difference in their communities and abroad. Reach out today to learn more about starting a chapter on your campus!

Past Chapters

Scroll Through Chapters:
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University was home to MPI’s charter chapter. The chapter was one of the largest student organizations on Vanderbilt’s campus and was involved in five initiatives in the Nashville area. The Vanderbilt chapter sent students on service trips to Nicaragua and Ecuador annually, during both their fall and spring breaks until COVID -19.

Duke University
Duke University

MPI's Duke University Chapter was inspired by the organization’s original founders at Vanderbilt University, and was founded in the Spring of 2008. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the Duke chapter served locally and offered English tutoring to Spanish-speaking women, providing child care so participants could focus on learning.

 

Worcester State University
Worcester State University

Worcester State University sent two teams to MPI’s Nicaragua site every year through their Alternative Service Breaks (ASB) program until Covid. In the winter, occupational therapy students accompanied Professor Jackie Brennan to the site, working with partner organization Tesoros de Dios, a school for children with special needs, and providing support for MPI programs while they are in Managua.

University of Georgia
University of Georgia

The University of Georgia chapter was founded in 2008 and was the second largest Manna Project chapter, with some of the highest levels of campus participation among members. Until the pandemic, the UGA chapter organized annual spring break trips to each site. 

 

University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina

The University of North Carolina’s MPI chapter led its first spring break trip to Nicaragua in 2012. Locally, the chapter served with two local initiatives - the Ronald McDonald House and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, all while focusing on their campus goal of increasing yearly fundraising.  

 

University of Texas - Austin
University of Texas - Austin

The University of Texas-Austin chapter became active in 2008 and remained active until the pandemic. In addition to serving at MPI's international sites, this chapter participated in Austin’s annual JDFR Walk for the Cure, an annual diabetes-centered event, and organized events for the annual Boy Scouts of America Sport Classic, a day-long fundraising event for the Boy Scouts of Austin.  

 

University of Michigan
University of Michigan

In the spring of 2013, the University of Michigan's MPI chapter was born. Until the pandemic, the chapter worked eagerly and enthusiastically to lead local initiatives through volunteerism at an elementary school in Detroit. The chapter piloted a pen-pal program between elementary school students in Detroit and the children of MPI Ecuador's English class!

"As a team we were able to see how deep poverty is and how you can't 'change the world' in a couple of days and not even a couple of years. It is the relationships you make with people and the little changes that you are able to make in a community that make the most difference."

- Allie, 
Chapter Member

 

 

"What I love about these chapters is that they're all individualistic, each with their own ideas of what they want to accomplish as branches of a working non-profit organization. They are all involved with their own local initiatives, volunteering in their communities with organizations that run the gamut of community development initiatives."

- Virginia
Chapter Coordinator


 

Past University Participants

MPI partners with universities, providing internships and development experience to students from a range of disciplines. Students put their education into practice, taking part in holistic community development initiatives, assisting with programs, serving alongside professionals in their field of interest and completing research projects for undergraduate and graduate level credit.

 Contact info@mannaproject.org for more information or to establish a new partnership.