Patch Holiday Food Drive In Jefferson County: Feeding America

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, predicted this would happen as millions of Americans lost their jobs, their paychecks and even their businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic: Hunger is an urgent problem for about 130,000 people in Jefferson County.

You can help. Patch and Feeding America teamed last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America, connecting readers with the organization’s 200 member food banks that serve 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, and providing an easy way to donate money to help their neighbors.

Now through Dec. 31, we’re encouraging readers to make a tax-deductible contribution to Feeding America in the Patch Holiday Food Drive. Every $1 given to the organization buys 10 meals.

Local resources include:

• The Community Kitchens: 1024 12th Street South, Birmingham, AL, 35205; 205-251-3569
• Community Food Bank of Central Alabama: 107 Walter Davis Dr, Birmingham, AL, 35209; 205- 942- 8911
• Wylam Community Services: 4412 9th Ave, Birmingham, AL 35224; 205-378-9770
• The Grace Place: 1630 Powder Plant Rd, Bessemer, AL 35022; 205-519-5402
• Green Valley Baptist Church: 1815 Patton Chapel Road, Hoover, AL 35226; 205-822-2173
• Serving You Ministries: 5700 Deerfoot Parkway, Trussville, AL 35173; 205-908-7985
• Vestavia UMC: 2061 Kentucky Ave., Vestavia Hills, AL 35216; 205-822-9631

Feeding America predicted last summer that 50 million people, including 17 million children, could face hunger by year’s end because of the pandemic. Feeding America projects the food insecurity rate in Jefferson County will rise to 19.6 percent in 2020, up from 16.1 percent in 2018.

"Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama has seen a marked increase in need – food insecurity rates have risen between 22 percent and 30 percent since March 2020," said Brett Meredith, CEO for Community Food Bank of Central Alabama. "Thankfully, while need has increased, our community has stepped up in a big way to meet it. We have seen increased donations and community involvement, as well as government assistance, which helps offset the cost of additional food we have had to purchase. We have seen a doubling of distribution from about 1.1 million pounds of food on a monthly basis in 2019 to almost 2.2 million pounds each month in 2020."

Meredith said another aspect of the Community Food Bank that has been affected by the pandemic is the organization's volunteer program. "The food bank relies on volunteers to run smoothly, and understandably, we have not been able to run our volunteer program like usual due to increased safety measures and fewer volunteers," he said. "Despite these challenges, we started having volunteers back in the building in July, and we are glad that we are able keep things moving safely amidst the increased precautions."

Feeding America says that 80 percent of its food banks — or 4 in 5 — are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. With the pandemic worsening during the holiday season, many people who never before worried about how they’d pay for a holiday meal are turning to food banks for the first time.

From the beginning of the pandemic in March, Feeding America distributed 4.2 million meals — enough to provide every U.S. resident with breakfast, lunch and dinner for just over four days.

In the first four months of the pandemic, 4 in 10 people were first-time visitors to food banks, according to Feeding America.