By Alaina Denean Deshazo | The Selma Times-Journal

The Christian Outreach Alliance held its third annual Stock the Shelves fundraiser Friday, and people came out to support the cause by donating money and canned goods.

Robert Bennett said he was driving by and saw volunteers and felt the need to turn around and make a donation.

“I had passed through, and they were holding up signs saying Stock the Shelves, and I said, ‘Well I’ll go back,” Bennett said. “It helps out a lot of people. A lot of people don’t have certain stuff, so it helps them out a lot. If you can get by, and make a little bit, you can give to other people.”

The event is the only fundraiser for the Alliance, which helps feed the less fortunate in Selma and Dallas County.

“Every penny counts. We take anything and everything,” said Nancy Bennett, a COA board member and organizer of the event. “We’ve had some give us 25 cents, and that’s just as important as anything else. We exist totally by grants and donations.”

Nancy said 86 percent of the nonprofit’s budget goes toward food. The Alliance provides between 200 and 250 families a week an 8.5-pound bag of food.

“What we do, we feel supplements anything else. We know 8.5 pounds of food is not going to feed a family of four for a week, but we’re hoping that it supplements,” Nancy said. “The hunger rate in the state of Alabama is growing exponentially and in the Black Belt where the unemployment rate is so high, it is critical to a lot of people.”

Nancy said she is grateful for those that came out and supported them Friday.

“We’re just so grateful to the people that support us whether it’s once a year on Stock the Shelves day or whether it’s throughout the year,” Nancy said. “There are a lot of people that can’t volunteer because they can’t get off work … By supporting the food drive, whether it’s by canned good or by cash, they’re supporting the Christian Outreach Alliance pantry, and it’s absolutely wonderful.”

Nancy said for those that were not able to make it out Friday or would like to donate more, they can send donations to P.O. Box 2141, Selma, AL 36702.