Desperation Church and the Cullman County School System have joined forces to help make sure the county’s students are getting enough to eat when they are away from school.

According to the Alabama State Department of Education, 57.14 percent of Cullman County Schools’ students receive free or reduced lunches, and many of those students are likely not getting enough to eat when they are out of school, Desperation Executive Pastor Cody Miller said.

“If they need help eating at school, what’s it like for them at home?” he said.

Miller said he reached out to the system after reading those statistics, and the county’s administration was open to a partnership to help students.

“We’re very grateful for [Learning Support Specialist] Karen Pinion and [Superintendent] Shane Barnette,” he said. 

Miller said the funding for the program comes from Desperation’s Heart for the House program, which funds the church’s efforts to expand into new buildings and campuses, educate the next generation of church leaders and participate in local, national and global missions.

The food supplement program is part of the Mission lane of Heart for the House, and is already active in 18 schools across Cullman, Marshall and Walker Counties, he said. 

One of Desperation’s mottos is “See the Need, Be the Answer,” and the church and its members are trying to address one of the community’s biggest needs, Miller said.

“We saw a need in our community, and we wanted to find a way to be the answer,” he said. 

Working directly with the school system is beneficial because each school’s counselors and the system’s social workers are familiar with students who may need help and can make sure they get it, Miller said.

“We felt that they have the relationships with students and can see things that may go unnoticed,” he said.

Pinion said few schools in the system already have programs in place to help students get food at home, so the assistance that Desperation is offering can supplement the aid that is already being given and can allow more schools to open their own programs. 

A lack of food at home affects a student’s performance in school, so these kinds of programs will help them in the classroom, she said. 

When children are hungry, worrying about equations or analyzing paragraphs is the last thing on their minds, and for some students, the meals that they get at school are the only real meals they get, Pinion said.

“For some of those kids, that’s the best meal they’ve had in months,” she said.

Desperation Pastor Andy Heis said along with the donations from its members, Desperation also gives 10 percent of its own budget to Heart for the House, and the church is happy to work with the Cullman County School System to make sure the area’s children are getting the support they need.

“We’re just grateful that they let us partner with them,” he said. “What they do is incredible.”

Tyler Hanes can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 138.