CULLMAN, Ala. – When Cullman Caring for Kids (CCK) reopened its doors Monday, Jan. 6 following the Christmas/New Year holiday, 106 families were waiting for assistance from the agency’s food pantry. By the end of that week, 298 families had been served. Wednesday, with two days to go until month’s end, the number sat at 617.
Couple those numbers with low food supplies at the North Alabama Food Bank (a common post-holiday issue at CCK’s primary food supplier and others like it across the country), and CCK has a serious problem.
CCK Executive Director Javon Daniel told The Tribune, “There’s just such a need. As we reported last year, our average food distribution a month is 15 tons of food. And, because of that, today we may have more than we can store, and next week we may not have anything on the shelves.
“What we want to do is encourage people to keep in mind that this is not something that goes and stops; this is something that we do every day. There is a need; there’s a great need. There’s so many families with small children that come through the food bank; (we) have a lot of grandparents that are raising their grandchildren, and they come in because they are not making a lot of money and they have to feed more people on a smaller budget. I think it’s just important that everybody realize that we need help on a regular basis.”
Daniel encourages groups, schools and businesses to do food drives, and said that CCK will come and pick up donations to save folks the trip. Monetary donations are always welcome, as well, and can be made through the CCK website, with or without a PayPal account.
“When you go through 15 tons of food a month, that’s a lot of groceries! We encourage people to donate; we encourage people to help us. It’s helping us to be able to help those that are in need,” he said. “That’s what Cullman Caring for Kids is here for: it’s to make sure that if there’s somebody in our community that’s hungry, that we’re here to help them, to do everything we can to make sure that they have something to eat.”
Immediate needs
CCK could use immediate donations of money, and if you’re on the way to the grocery store:
- canned beans, especially other than green beans
- canned vegetables
- dried beans
- cereal
- rice
To get involved, visit www.cullmancaringforkids.com or www.facebook.com/CullmanCaringForKids/ or call 256-739-1111. To drop in or drop off, CCK’s office is located at 402 Arnold St. NE, Ste W1.
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