In Central Alabama, more than 100,000 children qualify for free or reduced price meals at school. But, what happens when the school year ends in May? Thousands of children are at risk of hunger because the need for nutritious meals does not end during the summer break.

To bridge this gap, the Community Food Bank and the Bold Goals Coalition are offering free Summer Meals to kids. We provide healthy lunches and snacks to 1,100 kids through June and July. Now children have year-round access to the nutritious foods they need to grow strong bodies and curious minds.

We’re partnering with the YMCA of Greater Birmingham, A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club, Walker County Community Action, Calvary Resurrection and others to offer these free, wholesome meals five days a week at eight locations.

“The YMCA is so glad to be a part of the Summer Meals Program,” says Micah Hudson from the YMCA Northeast Branch. “Children get a healthy lunch and snack each day, and our parents are able to stretch their food budget during the summer.”

Together, we’re helping to prevent summer learning loss—and making sure kids can focus on just being kids this summer!

What’s more – thanks to our partnership with the Farm Food Collaborative and the Food Bank of North Alabama, our menu includes ingredients from local family farmers! So far, we have served fresh, locally grown watermelon, sweet potatoes, and cherry tomatoes to the kids. We also purchased blackberries from Taylor Hatchett of Boozer Farms in Thorsby, Alabama. Taylor is a new and beginning farmer who sold peaches on her family’s farm in order to pay for college. She hand-picked the blackberries just days before we served them.

“I love knowing where our fruits and vegetables go and whose plates they end up on. Even more rewarding is knowing that we fed kids who don’t have easy access to fresh local food. What a wonderful program!” says Hatchett.

Taylor’s blackberries were a huge hit! For some kids, this was their first time trying a fresh blackberry, and they LOVED it!

“What a win-win!” says Kathryn Strickland, the Community Food Bank’s Executive Director. “We’re supporting Alabama farmers like Taylor with our food purchases and giving children fresh, local fruits and vegetables at peak taste and nutritional value. Kids are discovering what is good for us is also delicious!”

We are especially thankful to the United Way of Central Alabama, the Jefferson County Health Action Partnership, Feeding America and the Conagra Brands Foundation Hunger-Free Summer Program. Their encouragement, vision and financial support made the launch of the Summer Meals Program possible!

A Quarterly Publication of the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama

FALL NEWSLETTER

Locally grown blackberries were a huge hit! For some kids, this was their first time trying a fresh blackberry!

Free Summer Meals For Kids

Taylor Hatchett of Boozer Farms

2017

By asking two simple questions, UAB staff members are able to learn whether or not senior patients on fixed incomes might run out of food before they have the money to buy more.

This spring Food Bank staff introduced a 2-question food insecurity screening tool proven valid in medical settings to the social work team at UAB’s Geriatrics Clinic.

This quick and easy screening tool allows UAB and the Food Bank to work together to provide wrap-around care for seniors at risk of hunger. Seniors – who often have worked their entire lives and are unaccustomed to asking for aid, have a safe, confidential place to reach out for help.

The first patient helped through our partnership with UAB was a 78-year old gentleman with dementia so severe it was impacting his speech. His wife, in her late 60s, typically cared for him, but she had suffered a concussion. Their daughter,

who under normal circumstances would step in to help her parents, was just diagnosed with brain cancer.

By asking the couple two simple questions about their food, Jessica Nix, the UAB staff member assigned to their case, learned the couple had $60 in their checking account and no food in the refrigerator. Thanks to our partnership, however, Jessica was able to help them right away. To meet their immediate needs, she gave them a food box supplied by the Community Food Bank and UAB’s Blazer Kitchen. She then referred the couple to the Food Bank’s new Benefits Enrollment Center for a longer-term solution.

The Food Bank’s Benefits Enrollment Center matches seniors to food pantries in their own community and, if eligible, helps them enroll in benefits like SNAP (food stamps), farmers market vouchers, Medicare savings plans and more. The aim is to ensure elders receive services they need to stay safe and food secure in their home.

“We are gaining new insights to our patients and their needs—simply because we asked,” says Jessica Nix. “In less than two months, we have been able to see the significance of this program, as every patient has been incredibly thankful.”

“Through our partnership with UAB, hunger among seniors is no longer a hidden problem,” says Kathryn Strickland, the Community Food Bank’s Executive Director. “Together, we’re building a lasting system to ensure seniors who are vulnerable to hunger get the help they need.”

We are especially thankful to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, the Greater Birmingham Community Foundation, UAB Benevolence Fund and Feeding America for their support of this unique partnership working to end senior hunger in Central Alabama.

Hunger on college campuses? When we think of food on college campuses, we envision students indulging in pizza, dorm room snacks and all-you-can-eat cafeterias.

Nationwide, however, studies show that more college students are struggling with food insecurity. In fact, 26% of visitors to food pantries in Alabama said they have to make the choice between paying for food or educational expenses.

To address this rising problem on college campuses, UAB’s Benevolent Fund teamed up with the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama to launch Blazer Kitchen, an on-site food pantry serving students, employees and patients at risk of hunger on UAB’s campuses.

In the first months of operation, this food pantry served 8,000 meals to over 250 individuals including 38 students, 61 employees, and their immediate family members.

UAB Blazer Kitchen

Below: Student volunteers help run Blazer Kitchen

Left: Meg Feltham with UAB’s Benevolence Fund stocking Blazer Kitchen

How 2 Questions Can Make A Difference

Partner Spotlight

Throughout the year, employees from BBVA Compass volunteer to help the Community Food Bank feed those in need in Central Alabama.

In addition to helping inspect food donations at our main facility, a team from BBVA travels each month to Montevallo to help us run our Montevallo Mobile Pantry. The Mobile Pantry provides fresh produce and healthy non-perishable foods to families and seniors in need. With BBVA’s help, we’re able to serve nearly 150,000 meals per year through this program alone.

This unique program addresses areas of our region that are considered “food deserts” – places where many residents have limited transportation, high rates of diet-related diseases and have to travel far to reach healthy food choices because there is no charitable food program or grocery store within the neighborhood’s borders.

The aim of the mobile pantry program is to ensure families in need have access to healthy food choices, and BBVA volunteers assist us with every step. They help us sort a variety of fresh produce into tidy bags and pack boxes of canned goods to distribute to families. If a recipient has a senior in their household, a volunteer will include a special protein-filled “senior pack” with their box since seniors tend to have deficits of protein in their diets.

From the minute they step in line, our neighbors in need are greeted with a smiling face, guided through the distribution process, and offered help loading the boxes and produce into their vehicle.

This special group of volunteers not only provide helping hands, but open hearts and kind words to our neighbors in need. We know we can always count on BBVA Compass to show up ready and willing to help us in the fight against hunger.

In Honor of...Nell PowersBy Robert & Carter PineChildren everywhereBy AnonymousEmma Claire SteeleyBy Gene & Debbie GarzaFamilyBy Katherine ColbertGabrielle SteeleyBy Gene & Debbie GarzaHeather Daniel By Dorothy CarpenterJ. Hardy WhitsonBy Dorothy CarpenterHerbert P. DeArmanBy Susan DeasJames CreelBy Alabama Dietetic AssociationLinda BarnettBy Carolyn CurryMacey ArnoldBy Gene & Debbie GarzaMadison DurbinBy Gene & Debbie GarzaMarcella BrinkBy Kaity BlackmanMargie SharptonBy Jennifer JaquessMarilyn O’DellBy Lindsey SimmonsNatalie ChaninBy Biscuit Leather CompanyRaylan GarzaBy Gene & Debbie GarzaThe ObamasBy Frank FlemingWalter Smith and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.By Lynda Smith

Martha Alverson By Valerie HaddixDana LeVan By Carolyn HammonsMrs. Karel Dunlavy By Pauline WittHerbert DeArman By Julia AndrewsBy Virginia EzekielBy Dianne JohnsonMichael Williams By Leigh WilliamsHelen Maples By Aundrea SnyderVirginia R Beck By Ginny BeckHerbert “Sky” DeArman By Judith & Bo PriceEleanor Moffatt Montgomery By Katherine MontgomeryEli By Mark MandabachMr. E. S. (Bill) Walker By Pauline WittBetty Ferguson BriceBy Elna BrendelRev. Ray William Pradat By Elna BrendelWalter Smith By Lynda Smith

In Memory of...

BBVA Montevallo Mobile Pantry Crew

Volunteer Spotlight

This special group of volunteers not only provide helping hands, but open hearts and kind words to our neighbors in need.

George W. BradfordPresidentDavid WilsonVice PresidentMary Alice KlineTreasurer Ellie TaylorSecretary

R. Ed Goodwin, IIIDavid Bell Dr. Elicia Jacob William OwensF. Wayne PateDavid Wood

2017 Board of Directors

Terry SmithWilliam C. Wood

Chairman’s Circle

Thank you to our supporters!

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