By Brian Reynolds, Associated Press
Tuscaloosa, AL – The West Alabama Food Bank loaded about 10,000 pounds of food into trucks and took its mobile food pantry on the road for the first time.
Volunteers and employees of the Tuscaloosa-based food bank on April 27 distributed 50-pound packages of food to 200 needy families in Boligee.
The families in the Greene County town received a variety of canned goods, frozen foods and fresh tomatoes, said West Alabama Food Bank Director Henry Lipsey.
"If that family went and bought that food on the open market, it would cost them pretty close to $100 probably," Lipsey said.
A large portion of the food was donated to the food bank, while some was purchased and another portion came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture commodity program.
While the struggling economy has hit parts of the country harder than others, some rural towns like Boligee were struggling long before the recession hit, he said.
"The need has picked up everywhere, probably a little less if you want to know the truth about it, in an area like here in Boligee," Lipsey said. "They live in a depressed economy all the time anyway. But they are affected by it, for sure."
The food bank serves nine counties in West Alabama.
Seven more trips are planned over the next few months, including five in Greene County and two in Pickens County.
The food bank was not alone in its effort April 27. Community Service Programs of West Alabama identified and approved the families that were to receive aid and helped with distribution.
"Really it's focusing in on, I guess today, those vulnerable populations," CSP Greene County Coordinator Antwone Prince-Sealy said. "The elderly who may be on fixed incomes, who are taking a hit through the current economic conditions, and those who may be single-parent households with children, who are finding it a little bit challenging to find a job in the current market."
The mobile food bank also plans to distribute food in the Eutaw, Forkland, Union, Clinton and Knoxville communities of Greene County, said Prince-Sealy.
The dates have not been set for those locations, but the food and money have been committed, Lipsey said.
The Pickens County locations have not been determined, he said.
"It's meeting needs," Prince-Sealy said of the mobile pantry. "The book I read says that the underprivileged you will have with you always. So there will always be individuals that will be in a little more challenging position than others. So we're in a position to reach out to those individuals."
Besides helping the families who received the food, the program provides a boost to the community, he said. It enables people to volunteer and come together.
"I decided to come volunteer, so I can help somebody along the way. So I could help somebody to have a better meal for today," volunteer Carrie Merritt said. "We needed this for the town of Boligee. It gives our town a spirit of lift to grow and go forward and to help others here in the community."