By Tommy Stevenson Associate Editor
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.
COTTONDALE: After the single largest purchase from the West Alabama Food Bank in its history, students from the University of Alabama and volunteers at Cottondale Community Church have been working frantically nearly all week for the first “CARE Day” at the church Saturday.
For the graduate students in the UA School of Social Work who conceived the “Cottondale Area Resident Enrichment Day,” the distribution of some 6,500 pounds of food actually comes with class credit.
“But that’s not the main goal,” said Julie Holden, of Birmingham, who is working on her masters in social work. She spoke Thursday as she took a break from sorting cans of food at the church gym. “The main goal is to help the food pantry at the church expand and really serve the community.”
The class is Social Work 542, taught by J.K. and Joanne Terrell Holden said the class concentrates on “micro-social work, where you really get out in the community and concentrate on a single need.”
Denise Cleveland, the research administrator for the UA social work school, a graduate student herself and also a native of the unincorporated Cottondale area east of Tuscaloosa, said the university’s Center for Community Based Partnership provided a grant for several teams of grad students to initiate projects in various parts of Tuscaloosa County.
“So we had about $500 in seed money this semester to help us get local businesses involved,” she said. “That was enough to get us started, but we then need to decide on a project.”
Before the class settled on the food drive, the class organized a community meeting attended by State Rep. Gerald Allen, a Cottondale member of the Alabama House of Representatives, County Commissioner Gary Youngblood and representatives from area churches and businesses.
“We went over a lot of problems that the community has, like roads and sewers,” Holden said. “But we knew there was nothing we could do about sewers, so we settled on partnering with the Cottondale Community Food Pantry.”
The two-month old food pantry, a project of Rev. Ron Martin’s Cottondale Community Church, had just gotten off the ground, he said, and has served about 20 families.
“But we knew the need was much greater,” he said. “And the social work class was a perfect fit.”
By the time the students had fanned out in the community, getting donations from businesses and churches as diverse as Food World, Catfish County restaurant, Cottondale First Methodist Church, the local VFW post and even the Oasis bar, $3,500 had been raised. Most of it went to purchase discount food from the West Alabama Food Bank.
The food distribution will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday. Cottondale-area residents who come to receive free food items will be required to show proof of residency, which can be anything from a drivers license to a utility bill, and fill out a form detailing the family size and other data that will be collected by the students.
“We are expecting at least 100 families and people to show up, based on what the church has told us and the flyers we have put up all over the Cottondale area as well as the outreach the churches and social agencies have done,” Cleveland said. “For some of the families who have young children, we also have ‘CARE packages’ that include things like diapers, toothbrushes and toiletry items.”
CARE Day will end at noon, but since it is anticipated that only a fraction of the food items will be dispersed, the church’s food pantry should find its shelves well stocked for the future when people in the community find themselves in need.
“Part of our class assignment was to help create something sustainable,” Holden said. “Not to just do something and not come back. And we think getting all these various business, churches and agencies involved with the project will do that.”
Martin, whose church has about 120 members, agrees.
“This is really going to be a tremendous boost,” he said. “We started out our food pantry real small, mostly because our church is not that large,” he said. “So when the students came to us with the offer to help it was something we just couldn’t pass up.
“This will probably quadruple what we had on hand even after Saturday and it will certainly help us to continue our pantry and even expand the number of people we can serve.”
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.
COTTONDALE: After the single largest purchase from the West Alabama Food Bank in its history, students from the University of Alabama and volunteers at Cottondale Community Church have been working frantically nearly all week for the first “CARE Day” at the church Saturday.
For the graduate students in the UA School of Social Work who conceived the “Cottondale Area Resident Enrichment Day,” the distribution of some 6,500 pounds of food actually comes with class credit.
“But that’s not the main goal,” said Julie Holden, of Birmingham, who is working on her masters in social work. She spoke Thursday as she took a break from sorting cans of food at the church gym. “The main goal is to help the food pantry at the church expand and really serve the community.”
The class is Social Work 542, taught by J.K. and Joanne Terrell Holden said the class concentrates on “micro-social work, where you really get out in the community and concentrate on a single need.”
Denise Cleveland, the research administrator for the UA social work school, a graduate student herself and also a native of the unincorporated Cottondale area east of Tuscaloosa, said the university’s Center for Community Based Partnership provided a grant for several teams of grad students to initiate projects in various parts of Tuscaloosa County.
“So we had about $500 in seed money this semester to help us get local businesses involved,” she said. “That was enough to get us started, but we then need to decide on a project.”
Before the class settled on the food drive, the class organized a community meeting attended by State Rep. Gerald Allen, a Cottondale member of the Alabama House of Representatives, County Commissioner Gary Youngblood and representatives from area churches and businesses.
“We went over a lot of problems that the community has, like roads and sewers,” Holden said. “But we knew there was nothing we could do about sewers, so we settled on partnering with the Cottondale Community Food Pantry.”
The two-month old food pantry, a project of Rev. Ron Martin’s Cottondale Community Church, had just gotten off the ground, he said, and has served about 20 families.
“But we knew the need was much greater,” he said. “And the social work class was a perfect fit.”
By the time the students had fanned out in the community, getting donations from businesses and churches as diverse as Food World, Catfish County restaurant, Cottondale First Methodist Church, the local VFW post and even the Oasis bar, $3,500 had been raised. Most of it went to purchase discount food from the West Alabama Food Bank.
The food distribution will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday. Cottondale-area residents who come to receive free food items will be required to show proof of residency, which can be anything from a drivers license to a utility bill, and fill out a form detailing the family size and other data that will be collected by the students.
“We are expecting at least 100 families and people to show up, based on what the church has told us and the flyers we have put up all over the Cottondale area as well as the outreach the churches and social agencies have done,” Cleveland said. “For some of the families who have young children, we also have ‘CARE packages’ that include things like diapers, toothbrushes and toiletry items.”
CARE Day will end at noon, but since it is anticipated that only a fraction of the food items will be dispersed, the church’s food pantry should find its shelves well stocked for the future when people in the community find themselves in need.
“Part of our class assignment was to help create something sustainable,” Holden said. “Not to just do something and not come back. And we think getting all these various business, churches and agencies involved with the project will do that.”
Martin, whose church has about 120 members, agrees.
“This is really going to be a tremendous boost,” he said. “We started out our food pantry real small, mostly because our church is not that large,” he said. “So when the students came to us with the offer to help it was something we just couldn’t pass up.
“This will probably quadruple what we had on hand even after Saturday and it will certainly help us to continue our pantry and even expand the number of people we can serve.”
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