BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Approximately 950 meals were donated from the 117th Air Refueling Wing to a local shelter here in downtown Birmingham on August 20.
The shelter serves between 90 to 125 lunch meals per day and is a staple in the community as the homeless and families below the poverty line rely on it daily for meals.
There was a fire in the Firehouse Ministries kitchen which stopped food preparation the same day the meals were donated. The local fire department closed it down until further inspections could be conducted. The donated boxed lunches made it possible to continue feeding those below the poverty line, since no cooking was necessary.
It was a coincidence that there was excess food to donate and that the shelter was contacted. This was the first food charity that appeared to Tech. Sgt. Matt Stambaugh, a services craftsman, when he searched the internet.
“Normally we don’t have much food to throw out after training assemblies, but there was no point in letting it go to waste,” said Stambaugh. “It was just a phone call and a thought.”
He contacted the number in the search result and asked if the shelter was in need of food. To the person on the other end of the call, it was more than just a coincidence.
“I’m a person of faith and I was so thankful for the call,” said Cyrondys Jackson, a program assistant at Firehouse Ministries. “The amount of meals we were able to get exceeded what I expected.”