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Thursday, the Food Bank of North Alabama held a ribbon cutting in Huntsville to unveil their new 50,000 sq. ft. distribution center and new headquarters that includes 8,000 sq. ft. of cooler and freezer storage space. They also announced their campaign, “Food is the Focus. People are the Why.”
After years of preparation and early donors such as Boeing whose lead gift anchors the campaign, the Food Bank has been able to construct its new distribution center and begin to operate there, but the space is not fully built out.
“We have sections of our distribution center to finish and core programmatic objectives we need to have in place as quickly as possible to meet the rising food insecurity both we and our agency partners are seeing,” said Food Bank CEO Shirley Schofield. “We have churches with congregations of 30 or 50 people who have food pantries that are serving over 500 families.”
Schofield added that there has been an alarming increase in people needing food assistance. The Food Bank’s partners in Madison County are seeing as many as double the number of people they have historically served as North Alabama is experiencing a crisis of food insecurity.
The Food Bank has seen a 48 percent increase in the need for food assistance in just Madison County since October 2023, and a 28 percent increase in the rest of its 11-county coverage area that spans from Florence to Cullman to Ft. Payne. The Food Bank of North Alabama is on pace to distribute 14 million pounds of food – equivalent to 11.7 million meals – in its 2024 fiscal year, a record for the non-profit organization.
“They serve a great need; they fill a great void,” said Emily Propst Reiney. “Their work is doing a great thing in our community. It is sad that we need them, but it is undeniable that we do.”
Seventy percent of the people the Food Bank serves work, and Feeding America’s most recent Map the Meal Gap showed over 60 percent of people experiencing food insecurity in Madison County are above the SNAP threshold, meaning that they are working, productive members of our community and still are unable to consistently keep food on the table.
Schofield added that the Food Bank doesn’t know when the increase in need will subside but with the continued growth experienced in North Alabama, it’s not likely to stop soon.
“For 40 years we have served the community, now we are hopeful the community will support us so that we are able to continue at the level needed. There is a compelling need for these investments, we have to be prepared for whatever the future holds,” Schofield said. “We are calling on business and community leaders to help us acquire the resources to ensure people have enough nutritious food. This is a lifelong investment that will impact children, veterans, seniors and working parents for generations.”
