Western, Jimmie Hale Mission provide meals

By: Mike Royer | Alabama's13.com
Published: January 27, 2010

Here’s a follow-up to a special holiday story.

The folks at Birmingham's Jimmie Hale Mission said in their December fundraising, that $1.49 would buy a holiday dinner for a hungry person.

The Mission got together with the largest locally-owned grocery store in Birmingham to raise money to buy those meals and to make it easy for shoppers.

You may not be able to buy many groceries for a $1.49 these days, but if you buy in bulk and have food donated, you can put together a meal that anyone would be thankful for.

Western Supermarket came up with an idea that they were sure their customers would embrace.

"Western Supermarkets is very fortunate to have a very loyal customer base that's shopped with us for years,” said Darwin Metcalf with Western. “They're wonderful people and are very generous and any time we ask them to help in a community, it's amazing they always step up to the plate and always participate."

So the partnership was born, and Western customers could help out anytime they checked out.

"We started selling a program to our customers called Scan-A-Meal and through the generosity of our customers, we perpetuated this program now for nine years very successfully and had one of the best years ever last year," Metcalf said.

During the holiday season, shoppers were able to scan a coupon that added $1.49 to their grocery bill. So, Western’s Metcalf and Tony Cooper, the executive director of the Jimmie Hale Mission, got together to say thanks to the folks who donated $1.49 when they checked out.

"It doesn't surprise me even though our expectations might not have been as high as it turned out to be because of the economy this past year, it doesn't surprise us that the people stood up to the plate and came through and gave back and we continue to be thankful for that," Cooper said.

Busy people may not always have time to sit down and send a donation to places like the Jimmie Hale Mission. Those who gave this way gave a small amount, but made a big difference.

"Well, it translates to over 50,000 meals and that's a lot ... speaks well of our community," Cooper said.

If you've donate in this way, you've been a part of something special. In nine years, you've helped give just under $100,000 to the Jimmie Hale Mission, and that makes any trip to the grocery store even more fun.