Page 123 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2021

GIVING BACK
FEEDING THE GULF COAST
story by Victoria Snyder photos courtesy of Feeding the Gulf Coast
Forty years ago, a representative from Feeding America suggested establishing a food bank to service Mobile and Baldwin Counties in Alabama. Since then, Bay Area Food Bank turned into Feeding the Gulf Coast. Now, they serve 24 counties throughout south Alabama, South Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle.
Even in all that time, their vision has remained the same: a hunger free Gulf Coast.
This Feeding America affiliated food bank’s mission statement reads: “Feeding the Gulf Coast works through member organizations and special programs to provide nutritious food to meet the challenge of feeding people who are hungry as a result of systemic poverty, personal crisis, or disaster.”
Feeding the Gulf Coast values integrity, stewardship of resources, accountability, service, and diversity and inclusion.
Today, this nonprofit distributes over thirty million pounds of food throughout its network of over four- hundred community partners across its service area.
You may be wondering, how exactly does this work? How does the food make it from farm to tables in such a variety of places?
Food is donated from national donors, the USDA, local retail partners, farmers, and community food drives. This food is then inspected for safety, sorted, and then packed into boxes that are ready to be distributed to members
of their network. Food then gets transported to member agencies and food bank partners. These agencies and food banks then distribute the food to those in need in their local communities.
Feeding the Gulf Coast’s currently strategic goal is to increase access to nutritious foods and reduce the food insecurity rate in their service area from 17.4 percent to 16.5 percent by 2022.
In honor of celebrating 40 Years of Hope, Feeding the Gulf Coast is currently challenging everyone to volunteer at least forty hours with Feeding the Gulf Coast.
Feeding the Gulf Coast
www.feedingthegulfcoast.org
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