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“While the situation could be resolved by Washington in the coming days, the people and the leaders you see flanked by me, we don’t feel we have the luxury to wait because our residents, our families, our children, our elders can’t wait,” Mayor Woodfin said.
Woodfin says he wants to commit one million dollars to help support the 23,000 people in Birmingham who rely on SNAP. The money will be managed by United Way of Central Alabama. UWCA says it will use the money to start a grant to restock the shelves of feeding programs in Birmingham.
“The threat of SNAP benefits being frozen means nearly one in four Birmingham households are at risk,” Woodfin said. “Our focus is very direct, and that is getting help directly to the people, to the families and children and seniors, who need it the most.”
“It’s a big effort. The need is overwhelming and certainly can’t be replaced with product dollars but certainly can go a long ways to help,” said UWCA President Drew Langloh.
There are many feeding programs in Birmingham that give out free food boxes to anyone in need, no questions asked. Grace Klein Community is one of the local programs that distributes food multiple times a week at various locations.
“I think even last week, we started to see an uptick of folks coming to us. This week, we’ve probably had two to three times the amount of folks coming through our drive-thru lines,” said Jackson King, community business liaison for Grace Klein.
For the last two days, Grace Klein has given out every bit of food at its distributions, announcing it would open the following day “on faith,” trusting that through community donations and the Lord’s provisions, they would have food to give to those in need.
“Our heart is to never store anything back, it’s just to give it all away as quickly as we can to as many people as possible. And really, the support of the community, as I mentioned earlier, that has been something where we’ve seen God move the most,” King said. “We really want to empower people to not just come and get food, but to look at their communities and see what do I have that I can give away? Whether it’s time, wisdom, resources, whatever that is.”
With the number of people who need food right now, Grace Klein says the grant through the city to help restock its shelves will be a huge help.
“When we get it on a government level, just even out above the church, in the city, that’s powerful,” King said. “So, it really is like church and state coming together to meet a need.”
The second prong of the city’s plan includes a community food drive. Donations will be collected November 3-6 at Christian Service Mission from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day.
“The greatest command we can live out is to love our neighbor. If you have a neighbor in need, help them,” Tracy Hipps, Christian Service Mission executive director, said. “Don’t wait on the city. Don’t wait on anybody else. You help them. That’s our responsibility to do that.”
The final part of the city’s plan is to be an information hub for the community. Woodfin wants the city to be the centralized source where people in need can find details to any wraparound service or assistance they need.
“We have a moral obligation to take care of the residents within our city. Food and nutrition is a necessity, it’s not a choice,” the mayor said. “There are many things you can make about politics and power, food and nutrition as it relates to feeding family and children should not be one of them.”
The city says the health and well-being of families and elderly in the city is the number one priority.
“At its core, we all believe the role of the government is simple. To protect and care for its people,” said Birmingham City Council President Wardine Alexander. “When federal leadership cannot ensure these programs are fully funded, it falls on us at the local level to take up that responsibility.”
Details on the city’s full three-prong plan can be found here. You can also email bhamready@birminghamal.gov or text BHAMREADY to 38276.
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