Feeding the Gulf Coast Receives Grant to Aid Families in Alabama

November 12, 2020 – Feeding the Gulf Coast was awarded a $30,000 grant from The Community Foundation of South Alabama’s COVID-19 Response and Relief Fund to address the food needs of food-insecure families in southwest Alabama, including those experiencing hunger for the first time, by pairing food distributions with SNAP outreach across Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington Counties throughout the summer and fall.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an added strain on Gulf Coast families struggling with food insecurity and access to healthy foods. This grant allowed the food bank to mail a meal box to over 300 families and individuals who were unable to access a traditional food distribution due to a lack of opportunity or health restrictions. The food bank’s Outreach Team connected clients with budget-relieving benefits, such as SNAP*, which are essential to helping families during unforeseen crises.

“I had COVID-19. It took a lot of my fixed income to support myself through this,” says Ethel, a resident in rural Clarke County who received a meal box. “It put me behind in household expenses. [The meal box] was very well needed.”

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, over 9.8 million older adults experienced food insecurity, meaning they lack consistent access to adequate, nutritious food. Today, those numbers are quickly rising. SNAP is the nation’s most effective and widest-reaching anti-hunger program.

“The Community Foundation of South Alabama helped us provide an important bridge as we identified new ways to address the need in communities that were hard hit by the pandemic,” said Beth Finch, Feeding the Gulf Coast’s Outreach Manager. “Through this funding, our Outreach Team was able to provide short-term and long-term solutions to households who felt like they had no options. We could provide them food for today and connection to benefits that would help sustain tomorrow.”

Feeding the Gulf Coast works with the Food Bank of North Alabama and Community Food Bank of Central Alabama to help Alabamians sign up for benefits like SNAP, D-SNAP (Disaster), and other community benefits. The Outreach Team helps eligible low-income seniors, adults, and individuals with disabilities enroll in programs that aid clients in affording necessities such as prescriptions, insurance, and housing costs.

Feeding the Gulf Coast continues to provide individuals and families with the aid and support they need in the wake of uncertainty. To get involved with the food bank or if you need food assistance, please visit www.feedingthegulfcoast.org or call our office at (888) 704-FOOD.

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About Feeding the Gulf Coast
Feeding the Gulf Coast, formerly Bay Area Food Bank, serves a 24-county area spanning the Florida panhandle, south Alabama, and south Mississippi. In 2019, the food bank distributed over 24 million meals to over 400 church pantries, soup kitchens, and other nonprofit organizations throughout its service area. The food bank also operates multiple hunger-relief and nutrition programs, including Summer Meals, Afterschool Meal, Backpack, Disaster Relief, Mobile Pantry and Produce Drop Distributions and Nutrition Education. Feeding the Gulf Coast is a United Way member agency and a member of Feeding America. For more information, visit www.feedingthegulfcoast.org.
*SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps.

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About the Community Foundation of South Alabama
The Community Foundation of South Alabama is an Alabama not-for-profit corporation approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a publicly supported organization under Section 509(a)(1) and (170)(b)(1)(A)(VI). We recognize the stewardship of the assets entrusted to us as one of our most important responsibilities.