BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — While the shelves at Huffman Middle School’s new grocery store are lined with staples like eggs, milk and bread, it is far from your typical shopping trip.
The school opened its free in-school grocery store to give families in the Huffman Middle School community easier access to the food they need. Principal Jeffrey Willis said he sees every day how hunger impacts students’ ability to learn.
“When a child is hungry, when a child hasn’t had a meal, it affects that child in the classroom,” Willis said.
According to Willis, nearly 75% of families in the surrounding neighborhood live below the poverty line. The new grocery store–made possible through a partnership between Birmingham City Councilor Clinton Woods, Goodr and Birmingham City Schools–aims to change that.
Woods said the initiative is part of a larger effort to support students and their families beyond the classroom.
“We’ve all heard concerns and horror stories around students potentially not eating three or four meals a day,” Woods said. “I think this pilot allows us to empower those young people to bring food into the home and ensure that meals are there.”
For families like Brenda Craig’s, who is raising two grandchildren attending Huffman Middle School, the effects are already being felt.
“I’ve had a lot of things come up where I have to choose to pay bills and not able to get things that they need,” Craig said. “So this will help me out a whole lot.”
All groceries are free of charge, and families with children at the school can register for this service through an online portal and set up a time to visit the store
Woods used $277,500 of the District 1 office’s American Rescue Plan Act dollars to fund the pilot grocery store for the first two years. City leaders said if the pilot proves successful, they hope to expand and keep stocking shelves in more schools across the city.
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