HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Hunger is one of those things that can make you tired, irritable, less likely to focus and 1 in 6 Alabamians don't know where their next meal is coming from, making them food insecure.
In order to combat food insecurity, many nonprofits help feed those in need... and currently, at one local nonprofit here in The Valley, Downtown Rescue Mission, donations are down.
"The donations for us - during the holiday season we see a lot of that come in, and then usually January, mid-January, we start to see that kind of get lower and slow down," said CEO and President of Downtown Rescue Mission, Keith Overholt. "A lot of people don't remember that we do this 365 days of the year and so we need that food continually. It's not just a one-time thing during the holidays when we're thinking about Thanksgiving or Christmas. So, we need that every day, we hand out food bags every day of the year."
The nonprofit has an abundance of things like canned vegetables but even with that stockpile, food flies off the shelves...
"So, the green beans that we have here and the corn and things, if we didn't get any donations in the next week or two, we be probably through all that in about three weeks," said Overholt.
And while donations of any kind are welcome, they are really in need of a specific food group - protein.
"Because when we give a bag to somebody, it's a bag for usually a family of four that can last two or three days, even four days. And we want to make sure that they have protein, you can't just live on the vegetables. You want to have protein in your diet, so that's why we make sure that we have the protein as part of that bag," said Overholt.
If you're looking to donate to Downtown Rescue Mission, click here or drop off your donations at 1400 Evangel Drive, Huntsville, AL 35816.