Our project provides food on a monthly basis to low income persons that live in Dallas County, Perry and Wilcox Counties who live in a food insecure areas of Alabama. They are given nutritious food to feed their families on a monthly basis.
2021
Assistance for Choctaw County Rescue Squad
The awarding of this grant will enable us to purchase much needed equipment to help with our safety as well as the safety of others. We purchased safety equipment to protect us while preforming extrication duties with the jaws of life equipment. We purchased safety signs (warning f accident ahead) this will help make the entire scene safer for all responders. We purchased a winch for the truck to help in extreme conditions in case a vehicle is off an embankment and we purchased a cordless sawzall to help with removing parts of the vehicle without having to use electrical power.
Selma PAL After School Enrichment Program
Selma PAL After School Enrichment Program is based on the premise that children and teen want a safe after school environment where they can participate in enjoyable and productive activities is a supportive setting. PAL incorporates proven strategies that strengthen protection factors and promote positive and productive behavior and attitudes.
FAWN (Forestry Awareness Week Now)
FAWN is an educational program directed at young minds to increase their understanding of forestry and the use of forests and woodlands.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions we were unable to have the FAWN field trip days in 2021. We did though hand out FAWN drawstring bags with information that would have originally been given at the FAWN field days to all 6th and 7th graders at the 5 schools in our county. The reason the 7th graders were included in this years program was they didn’t receive anything last year.
Within the bags were Web Soil Surveys, Snake identification & fact sheet, Tree cookie information and activity as well as an actual tree cookie, seeded paper in an envelope with instructions to be planted at home, FAWN plastic cup, Alabama Farm facts pamphlet, Food and farm facts pamphlet, Farming feeds Alabama plastic bracelets, Pollinator pamphlet, Today’s wildlife identification guide, Eastern Indigo Snake pamphlet, Smokey’s Friends plastic bracelet, Smokey’s friends pencils and erasers. Please see attached picture of bag and contents.
The educational projects taken into the Washington County schools are to educate students of all ages on conservation. Over the years many projects have been created to reach students of all ages. As with the FAWN program there is a hope that these projects will ignite a spark in our younger generation to pursue a career in conservation and forestry.
Regional Familiarization (FAM) Tour of the Blackbelt
*Due to the ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions for most of the time period of this grant, approval was given by Ala-Tom RC&D’s Executive Director Marie Lowder to refocus the grant in Spring of 2021. The new focus was around The Alabama Mural Trail development, a perfect fit for social distancing and instate road trips.*
The goal of the Alabama Mural Trail is to provide the state of Alabama a sense of community, to drive economic impact, and to bring people together. By inventorying and promoting murals statewide, UACED hopes to encourage both locals and tourists to find some place new and discover the beautiful art Alabama has to offer.
Placemaking through murals is a key aspect to the Alabama Mural Trail. Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Placemaking capitalizes on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people’s health, happiness, and well-being.
With this new focus the grant supported the following:
- Photography of 41 murals in the Ala-Tom Region by a professional and published photographer – John Dersham, of murals in the Ala-Tom RC&D Region for The Alabama Mural Trail – #SweetHomeMurals
- GPS location marked for future app and website use for tourist to visit the location and mark as a passport type entry
- Trail markers designed, produced and placed on the murals
- Public Art Archives Showcase Listing of the Murals and Mapping Collection for world wide marketing and access
- Mural Trail website landing page with feature of the murals in the Ala-Tom region
- 10,000 Mural Trail Rack Cards designed, printed and distributed throughout the state including all the counties in the Ala-Tom Region