Photos by Erin Nelson.
Shirley Freeman and Shuntavia Harris load food into a vehicle as volunteers provide food to families in need at the Royal Divinity Food Bank at Restored Sight Christian Church through the Grace Klein Community in the Wylam community.
An estimated 1 in 6 people in Alabama — including 1 in 4 children — face food insecurity, according to Grace Klein Community (GKC), a nonprofit located in Birmingham
This means that over 829,000 people in the state, including more than 251,000 children, are struggling with hunger, according to GKC.
That’s why the GKC, a faith-based organization, strives to provide food support for these vulnerable people.
The organization, which is almost entirely volunteer based, does this by saving food that would otherwise be disposed of by restaurants and other facilities.
“We rescue good food and put it in the hands of great people in the Birmingham area,” GKC Director of the Board Jenny Waltman told Iron City Ink. “Through a network of amazing volunteers and community partners, we rescued over 300,000 pounds of food valued at over $2 million in 2020.”
The group works with about 125 business and community partners who support it in various ways, Waltman said.
GKC has operated as a fairly small organization for a decade, but the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for food support services.
In addition, the pandemic forced the organization to adapt in order to provide those services.
Donations and volunteers are also needed in order for GKC to continue to grow its ministry and meet the needs of the community.
Waltman is a graduate of Samford University who has worked as an insurance adjuster and bookkeeper and is now an entrepreneur who runs Grace Klein Construction Inc. with her husband, Jason.
In running the organization, Waltman has applied lessons she has learned as an entrepreneur.
“One of the main things I have learned is to value people and what they bring to the table,” she said.
One of the guiding principles of GKC is to avoid waste.
In Jefferson County alone, over 13 million pounds of food is wasted each month and over 40% of food in the United States goes uneaten, she said.
GKC seeks not only to help feed people who are hungry, especially children, but to reduce landfill emissions from food waste, she said.
The nonprofit will be in charge of food rescue to The World Games 2022 Birmingham, Waltman said.
In addition to food, GKC helps supply diapers and wipes to almost 150 families each month, helps provide school supplies and operates several other programs.
The group’s “sharing platform” on Facebook, called Acts 4:32, has more than 4,500 participants, Waltman said.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced GKC to “immediately rethink” how they put food in people’s hands.
“We had to change to a no-contact method of food delivery, and our food drive-throughs allowed us to comply with CDC protocols,” Waltman said. “We took information from six feet away, placed food in the trunks of people’s cars, wore masks and disinfected constantly.”
Volunteers with GKC were also forced to eschew their traditional in-home visits with recipients when they delivered food.
“They never went into people’s homes, but left the food box on the porch or by the front door and called the food recipient from the car to pray and talk with them,” Waltman said.
The organization’s greatest need right now is funding to purchase another facility due to space constraints, she said.
GKC also has numerous volunteers to help manage a complex operation.
Over 100 “food rescue heroes” pick up food from different locations seven days a week, Waltman said.
Another 100 volunteers assist each week with food moving, organization and distribution, she said.
This helps support over 75 ministry partners and five drive-through food pickup sites in the Birmingham area, including one at Royal Divinity Ministries in Wylam. These sites are operated six days a week.
There are some donors that give funding allowing the group to purchase food two days a week, Waltman said.
In its broadest mission, GKC seeks to create community by uniting diverse individuals, businesses, ministries and churches to work together in meeting physical and spiritual needs, according to the group’s website.
The nonprofit also never strays from its spiritual basis — a strong Christian belief.
“Without Jesus, we are only meeting a temporary need of food insecurity,” she said. “If we provide someone food to help them in a hard time, but we do nothing for their inner self, we miss the person…If we do not introduce you to Him, we have failed to give you the greatest gift of all, an opportunity to have your own personal friendship with Jesus who will love you more than we ever can … and that is a lot of love, because we love the people of Birmingham big-time.”
GKC operates five drive-through food pickup sites in the Birmingham area, including one at Royal Divinity Ministries in Wylam.
To learn more, call 205-490-7516 or go to feedbhm.org or gracekleincommunity.com.
