Alabama Power volunteers help Manna Ministries feed underserved families, in time for school

With the kickoff of the 2025 school year, children need supplies and clothes, and their families face an increased need for food.

To help feed underserved families, six members of the Shelby County subchapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization’s (APSO) Magic City chapter spent a recent Saturday sorting food for Manna Ministries in Alabaster. They loaded vegetables, meats, pantry items, bread and pastries into boxes, shopping carts and into clients’ vehicles.

Magic City APSO’s Debbie Bond and Sharon Trippany agree that feeding hungry people in one’s community is a gift of love and labor. Both of these Alabama Power employees began volunteering at Manna Ministries before 2020. While the chapter took a service hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bond noted, members “got back on track in 2022.”

Trippany, who works in Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at Southern Company Services (Alabama Power’s sister company), is a liaison between Magic City APSO and the nonprofit. During summer, Manna serves an average of 600 families a week, mostly from Jefferson, Shelby and Chilton counties; that number rises during the school year and at holidays. The nonprofit depends entirely on the help of volunteers who donate their time to help solve food insecurity.

Manna depends on gift of labor from volunteers

Without volunteers, Manna Ministries board member Joanne Fondren said there is “no way” the nonprofit can operate.

“We’re all volunteers,” said Fondren, who has served Manna Ministries for about seven years. “The APSO members spent four hours of their time to help out with this, and it’s physical labor. It’s all out in the elements, whether it’s raining or sunny.”

She said that more families show up for help as school resumes, as they try to ensure their children eat nutritious meals, which is important for learning.

“There’s kind of a little bit of a drop-off during summer, with the kids being out of school,” said Fondren, who coordinates Manna’s volunteers, assists in writing grants and performs other duties. “And then once school gets back in, we see an uptick.” Holidays draw even more families: Last year, Manna provided meals to about 1,100 families at Thanksgiving.

Bond has seen the growth of Manna Ministries during the past several years.

“The first time I went there, they were getting very little help; it was a very small organization at the time,” she said. […] “They are supporting so many more people today than they were supporting back then, even though there was a huge need for them back then, too. It’s grown a lot – and the more people Manna helps, the more volunteers they need to support their mission.”

APSO volunteers serving along with Bond and Trippany included Environmental Affairs Specialist Elizabeth Grinder; Transmission Planning Engineer Ashley James and her husband, Remington; Steel Shop Apprentice Kenneth Toyer and his children, Kenneth III and Chloe; and Supply Chain Management Team Leader Jimmie Washington and his son, Jimmie Jr.

Fondren said that Magic City APSO’s volunteer team usually serves at least once a quarter, and sometimes more.

“I can’t say enough about them – we just really appreciate them coming out and helping with our mission,” Fondren said. “They are always willing to help out in any way possible, so we just really appreciate that.”