Penny Freeman

The Meal Barrel Project is a nonprofit food pantry serving communities across Northwest Alabama in a region already recognized as a food desert. During COVID-19, we became one of the largest emergency food distribution operations in our area, serving nearly 8,000 families per week through organized drive-through distributions, deliveries, and volunteer support. We provided fresh produce, meat, dairy, bread, diapers, hygiene products, baby formula, pet food, and other necessities to families in need. Our original location was in the heart of the community we served — near housing complexes, community resources, and multiple population centers where many people could walk to us. Then a drunk driver crashed into vehicles waiting in line during one of our distributions. After that incident, we lost access to our location and were forced to relocate approximately 15 miles away to the only facility we could afford. That move created devastating transportation barriers for many of the elderly, disabled, and low-income families who relied on us, especially in a region where fuel costs and limited transportation already create hardships. Despite these challenges, we still maintain a delivery list serving approximately 3,500 families, but we currently have only a small number of committed drivers trying to meet overwhelming demand. We are raising funds to help secure a more accessible facility closer to the communities we serve, improve refrigerated storage, support delivery operations, strengthen emergency response capabilities, and create sustainable staffing support so we can continue serving families safely and effectively. We are a registered nonprofit organization and are happy to provide documentation, media coverage, operational information, and answer questions transparently. People didn’t stop needing food when we moved. It simply became harder for them to reach help. https://www.facebook.com/share/1BZYAefEPY/?mibextid=wwXIfr   https://www.waff.com/video/2024/04/18/future-is-unknown-shoals-nonprofit-has-find-new-home-or-it-could-close-down/   https://www.waaytv.com/news/sheffield-non-profit-that-feeds-thousands-each-week-forced-to-relocate-by-mid-august/article_a6d45a7a-fdd5-11ee-a027-ef6b4076ee06.html   https://www.timesdaily.com/life/general_interest/meal-barrel-project-loses-its-lease/article_64ba70f4-fce3-11ee-bb62-5783b8a42ced.html   https://www.timesdaily.com/life/general_interest/cherokee-site-holds-first-meal-barrel-project-donation-night/article_3d202348-5a73-11ef-9000-3f030c6a81de.html   https://www.timesdaily.com/life/general_interest/meal-barrel-project-finds-new-home/article_f4414722-49ee-11ef-a52e-c70e710806b3.html