Photo courtesy of Greg Bishop.
Members of the Hoover community rallied at the Hoover vs. Spain Park football game Sept. 15 — both on and off the field — to raise money for Hoover Helps. Together, they raised $10,573 to put towards feeding programs for the Hoover school system.
Three years ago, the Hoover community came together to support Hoover Helps, a nonprofit organization that helps put together food for families who are battling hunger in Hoover City Schools through a backpack feeding initiative. And it’s still going strong today.
With only one yearly fundraiser, Greg Bishop, head of Hoover Helps, said their goal in 2014 was to raise about $2,000 at the annual Hoover versus Spain Park football game.
“It’s the old-fashioned pass the hat,” he said of the fundraiser. “We have a Hoover table set up and a Spain Park table set up.”
With the help of students and community members involved at the two schools, they competed to see who could raise the most. “We just picked that [game] because of the rivalry and it’s the one that’s the best attended,” he said. “It’s kind of like a competition on and off the field.”
In that night, they doubled their goal, raising about $4,200, Bishop said. The following year, the number doubled again, totaling to $8,400. And without a goal for this year’s game on Sept. 15, Hoover Helps raised $10,573. Hoover raised $6,462 and Spain Park raised $4,111.
“We felt like the $8,000 mark was a big number for that type of crowd,” Bishop said, explaining they estimated that would have meant about $1 per person in attendance. Hoover Helps also integrated online donations this year, and donors were able to earmark which team they were donating for.
Birmingham Islamic Society Youth Director Rashid Al-Muntharee said they have been involved as a sponsor with Hoover Helps since the nonprofit was formed. “Our president, Ashfaq Taufique, he reached out to me, and of course, I said yes,” Al-Muntharee said.
As youth director, he works with the younger members of the Islamic society who have taken responsibility for their role in Hoover Helps. Together, different age groups purchase, pack and distribute foods to Crossroads Alternative School, with licensed high school seniors and college students delivering the items. Their assistance has since expanded to Hayes Elementary School in Birmingham, too. Al-Muntharee said encouraging children to take part in the donations and fundraising allows them to learn to give back.
“We speak so much about the needs of society and what the children need, but one of the best things that children can learn is to learn to give back, to learn sacrifice,” he said. “It really puts accountability and sacrifice in front of those children’s eyes.”
Children as young as 5 and 6 years old and as mature as college graduates are involved in Hoover Helps through the Birmingham Islamic Society.
Since the Hoover Helps initiative has taken off, Bishop and others are working to connect local sponsors with other schools while keeping the donations within the Hoover community.
Since its inaugural fundraiser, Bishop said the nonprofit — which still operates strictly through the work of volunteers — has grown from working with two sponsoring organizations and four schools to working with 15 sponsoring organizations and all Hoover area elementary and middle schools. Together, they help around 400 students.
Bishop said each faith-based group that helps the initiative has their own committees that buy, pack and distribute the food. Hoover Helps has also started expanding through consulting with other groups that are looking to help in communities outside of Hoover, like Hayes Elementary, although he said the donations of the fundraiser remain in the city.
Al-Muntharee said the initiative is helping bring people together for a common cause and the program’s growth says a lot about the community and the people it may be able to reach.
“At the end of the day, a child who’s hungry, we’re all responsible,” he said. “I definitely think right now, it’s just taking off, to be honest with you. This has great potential to continue to grow and do great things in the greater Birmingham area.”
