Faith groups provide food, hand sanitizer to public

The Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church and Birmingham Islamic Society have been providing food to people in light of the COVID-19 outbreak and economic hardships being experienced by individuals and families.

Starting May 27, the Birmingham Seventh-day Adventist Church began distributing bags of dry, non-perishable food and hot meals to any community members who needed them. The church also purchased several 20-gallon containers of hand sanitizer and was refilling people’s hand sanitizer containers as needed.

Both the food and hand sanitizer were given to people as they drove through the church parking lot, without people having to exit their vehicles.

The church planned to continue doing this each Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. for as long as needed. The church also procured thousands of non-surgical masks for free distribution.

The Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church is at 3520 Lorna Road, next to Aldridge Gardens. For more information, contact Pastor Christian Ronalds at 205-987-7208.

The Birmingham Islamic Society in April was providing canned food and other non-perishable groceries to people at the Hoover Crescent Islamic Center at 2524 Hackberry Lane.

That food distribution also was being provided as a drive-through service. For more information, contact Birmingham Islamic Society President Emeritus Ashfaq Taufique at 205-223-3646.