A Delaware boy who started his own nonprofit to provide healthy food to the homeless and poor will be one of first lady Michelle Obama’s guests during President Obama’s final State of the Union address.
Braeden Mannering, 12, of Bear, is among the two dozen guests invited to sit near the first lady on Tuesday. Those on the guest list will highlight issues that Obama has attempted to prioritize during his tenure, such as expanded health insurance coverage, and issues that he hopes to work on during his final year, such as criminal justice.
Mannering attended a kid’s state dinner at the White House in 2013 as well. Since then, he’s started the non-profit “Brae’s Brown Bags” which provides healthy food to the homeless and low-income residents living in his community.
Through his organization, Mannering has provided more than 4500 bags of healthy food, raised more than $52,000 for hunger relief and activated more than 2600 volunteers. Mannering, who is a sixth grade student at Gauger-Cobbs Middle School in Newark, Delaware, speaks on hunger relief at schools, conferences and legislative sessions across the country.
