As API enters our second week publishing Anchored in Alabama, our team continues to be encouraged by the stories we hear from you and from local media. It is clear that our faith communities and businesses are stepping up to this challenge.
We also want to say ‘Thank You’ for your support of this publication. We hope you continue to find it uplifting.
Anchored in Alabama, Week Two
1. Mobile Christian Medical Clinic Accepting Newly Uninsured Patients
With unemployment on the rise, a lack of health insurance has become an additional burden on many Alabamians. Mobile’s Victory Health Partners, a faith-based, non-profit medical clinic that serves low income, uninsured adults in many parts of Alabama, is continuing to accept newly uninsured patients. The non-profit, which last year provided over $30 million in medication at no cost to patients, highlights how faith communities all across our state are offering solutions to the current crisis.
For more information:
https://victoryhealth.org/
2. Locals, Out-of-State Fans, and Anonymous Donors Help Alabama Gameday Favorite Eatery “Rama-Jama’s”
Over the past few weeks, Rama Jama’s, the eatery in the shadow of Bryant-Denny Stadium, has seen orders from fans across the country to be delivered to local workers, hospitals, and even the restaurant staff themselves. The restaurant, which usually sees a boom in revenue and profit during this season from university tours and seniors reliving gameday memories, is struggling to make ends meet. Just this Monday, April 19th, an anonymous donor showed the generosity of private citizens by buying lunch for 180 of the construction workers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Many more stories like this can be found on Rama Jama’s Instagram feed.
3. AT&T Offering Free Wireless Service for Healthcare Workers, Donates $1.2 Million for Distance Learning
Highlighted in John Krasinski’s “Some Good News”, AT&T is offering three months of free mobile service to nurses and physicians who are on the frontlines fighting the pandemic. The company has also donated $1.2 million to small businesses working on keeping American students on track with distance learning. Additionally, AT&T is upgrading all home internet to a no-data limit service at no extra charge. All three of these examples show the initiative that large corporations, like AT&T, are taking in order to blunt the effects of the pandemic on daily life.
For more information:
https://about.att.com/pages/
4. Birmingham Zoo Launches Virtual Zoo
The Birmingham Zoo, which is closed due to the coronavirus, has launched a free virtual zoo with 24 different lessons that can be used to supplement online student learning. Each lesson has a video, activity, and vocabulary that goes along with each topic. They even list Alabama K-12 standards connections for each grade. This is just one example of local organizations coming alongside parents who are looking for ways to keep variety in their children’s at-home schedules.
Birmingham Virtual Zoo Resources
5. Huntsville Boeing Employees are 3D Printing Face Shields
Boeing employees in Huntsville are joining company workers in nine other states to produce face shields for healthcare workers using 3D-printing technology. The first shipment of 2,300 face shields will be sent through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to an alternative care site in Dallas, Texas. This is another example of a large multinational corporation shifting some of their manufacturing capabilities to respond to the crisis.
Original Story:
Boeing employees in Huntsville 3D printing reusable face shields
https://whnt.com/news/
6. YellaWood Provides Over 10,000 Meals to Wiregrass Hospital Workers
Great Southern Wood Preserving, Inc. and YellaWood founder Jimmy Rane last week bought over 2,100 hospital workers in Dothan meals every day. The Abbeville company was even praised by Donald Trump, Jr. on Twitter for this act of kindness and generosity. The daily meals included a pastry from an Abbeville coffee shop, resulting in a private donation that was helpful both to healthcare workers and the local economy.
Original Story:
YellaWood feeds over 2,000 employees across two Wiregrass hospitals
https://yellowhammernews.com/
7. Home Depot McCalla Distribution Center Offering Double Overtime
As home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s continue to avoid the worst of the economic downturn, companies are looking to hire new employees and are willing to offer increased benefits to do so. As a result of increased competition for essential workers, the Home Depot’s McCalla distribution center is offering double overtime for employees for at least until the end of Governor Ivey’s April Stay at Home order.
Original Story:
Home Depot hiring 200 for McCalla Distribution Center
https://www.al.com/business/
8. Birmingham Lab Offering Coronavirus Antibody Test
ArcPoint Labs in Birmingham is offering a fifteen-minute coronavirus antibody test to help residents who think they may have had the virus know whether or not they have immunity. Tests cost roughly $200 and results are available in less than two days. The lab, which specializes in drug and alcohol testing, is a clear example of free enterprise responding to market demand.
For more information:
https://www.arcpointlabs.com/
9. A Standard of Birmingham Saturday Mornings, the Market at Pepper Place Operates a Drive-Through Farmers Market
Arguably the state’s most popular farmers market, the Market at Pepper Place in Birmingham would usually be full of local farmers, artists, popsicle stands, and residents on a spring Saturday morning. Thanks to COVID-19, however, strict social distancing guidelines have made the weekly event impossible to operate per usual. In order to adapt to the adjusted demand for local products, Pepper Place is now operating a drive-through service with eleven vendors that will deliver purchases directly to your car.
Original Story:
Pepper place launches drive-through farmer’s market
https://abc3340.com/news/
10. Airbus Donates 40,000 Masks to Alabama Gulf Coast Healthcare Workers
The City of Mobile Fire and Rescue Department and the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency were delivered a total of 40,000 face masks courtesy of Airbus earlier this month. The donation from the company, which operates an assembly line in Mobile, reveals the potentially unexpected benefits of hosting large business operations within the state’s borders.
Original Story:
Airbus donates face masks to Alabama health care workers
https://yellowhammernews.com/
Anchored in Alabama is a new, weekly publication and selected news aggregate of the Alabama Policy Institute that is updated every Wednesday at noon until the COVID-19 crisis is over. If you know of a story that could be highlighted in this publication and would like to submit it for review, please email [email protected]
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