By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



A church in Warrior has reached a 20-year milestone this year helping feed the hungry.

WaterStone Baptist Church, formerly called Warrior First Baptist, opened a food bank in April 1988 because of the great need.

It was another church that actually pointed out the need.

“Gardendale First Baptist Church contacted us because there were a lot of families from this area using their food bank,” said Wanda Dake, who has been WaterStone’s food bank director from the beginning. “At that time, there were no other food banks in this area except for in Gardendale.”

She said that GFBC showed WaterStone the ropes and helped get the Warrior food bank started.

The food bank is open the third Saturday of every month. At its busiest, the Warrior ministry served 90 people a month, which stretched the limits of the food bank’s resources.

So the church set a rule that recipients of WaterStone’s food must have a Warrior address, which is determined during an interview that all clients must give before receiving food from the food bank.

If the person does not have a Warrior address, which is verified by a utility bill, Dake refers the person to another food bank.

The ministry currently serves an average of 40 people a month, giving out about four bags or boxes of food each time.

Dake said the monthly distribution is “not enough to support a family for a month. It’s enough to supply a family for about a week.”

But she said it is very helpful to clients who are on fixed incomes and “need some help.”

Included in the monthly distribution is frozen, canned, boxed and fresh foods, plus the occasional non-food items like laundry detergent or discontinued items from stores.

Non-food items are especially helpful to clients who use food stamps, said Dake, because they are not allowed to buy those items with food stamps.

Dake said the food bank takes donations at any time of the year. She said some of the greatest needs are paper goods and cleaning supplies.

WaterStone purchases the bulk of food from the United Way Community Food Bank in Birmingham.

Dake said the church spends about $300 a month for the food, paying 11 cents per pound. Most of that food, she said, is surplus farm products that the government buys and cans.

“It’s a truckload of food for a small amount,” she said. “USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) food is the best stuff we have.”

The food bank must adhere to certain criteria, such as no selling the food and no giving it away as payment for services.

The food may be used to prepare meals that will be given away, but not for meals that will be sold.

Although Dake has headed up the food bank for 20 years, she said it’s really a team effort.

Four volunteers are usually at the church every Wednesday before the third Saturday to help unload the truck and put away the food.

Dake said there are usually six people there on distribution day, including two, J.D. McAlpine and and Kenneth Brooks, who deliver the food to clients with no transportation.

In addition, WaterStone’s girls group, Girls in Action (GAs), like to prepare the bags and boxes for the following Saturday’s distribution day.

Dake, who worked as a math teacher for 10 years at Warrior High School and later for 12 years at Mortimer Jordan High School, said that for her, the ministry is much more than just a job.

“I feel like it’s a calling. I get a personal satisfaction because I feel like it’s what the Lord wants me to do. You can’t really be happy unless you’re doing what the Lord wants you to do,” she said. “We get more rewards out of it than the effort we put into it.”