‘Volunteers are the heart of a community’: How one woman has spent decades giving back across North Alabama
JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — The volunteers for ‘Nourish One Child’ are all smiles as they pack bag after bag of food for children to eat on the weekend.
The idea for the project stemmed from a Sunday School class on childhood hunger, as the organization’s founder Mary K. Carlton had strong feelings on the matter.
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“I opened my mouth, which I sometimes do, and said, ‘Are we just going to talk about it or are we going to do something?'” Mary said.
Mary and a friend started researching how to fill the need, which was growing, and so was the shopping list.
“We started with 25 children at Brownwood School. The school superintendent wanted us to add additional children… we started out with eight items in a bag. We went up to ten. During COVID, the period of ten weeks where schools closed down, we went up to 17 items and now we’re at 12. We really wish we could put in more items, but the cost of food has gone up so much,” Mary stated.
The organization didn’t have much to start with, but, as Nourish One Child grew, they found additional ways to fund the project.
“Well, we had $5,000 and, you know, I started visioning where we were going to get more money. After we became a nonprofit, I started writing corporate grants. And it just mushroomed,” Mary said.
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After about ten years of work, Mary says Nourish One Child has packed about 300,000 bags to feed children on the weekends. The thing Mary cites as a reason they’ve been able to accomplish packing this many bags is the volunteers.
“Well, having been director of the volunteer center, volunteers are the heart of a community. They really are to me there and make it great. I believe that with my whole heart. I just grew up with that as part of my upbringing that you know, you serve,” Mary added.
Volunteerism is a theme throughout Mary’s career. If her name sounds familiar, it’s because she served at the Morgan County Volunteer Center for more than 25 years. Mary’s focus: bringing relief.
“When I was in Decatur, we did not have a CASA program, which did heat relief. On an average year, we gave away at least 50 to 75 air conditioners and about 100 fans. And here again, I had volunteers who took them to the homes and put them in,” Mary said.
Weather disasters can create a need for relief. Hurricane Katrina and tornadoes in Enterprise and Moulton called upon Mary’s skills.
“In one day, we had a thousand people move into Decatur. We had an organization and as president, I’d hear what the greatest needs were, and then we would get that out,” Mary said.
Mary lost her first husband to cancer. After his death, she wanted a challenge.
“About that time and I had done some disaster training with the Points of Light Foundation. And all of a sudden, you know, I had the challenge and the training that I had received came to good use,” Mary explained.
Mary says she plans on keeping the program, “as long as God allows me to keep going.”
Mary makes a difference. Her honors include the Jackson County Sentinel Citizen of the Year Award, City of Scottsboro Mayor’s Award and the Lion’s Aubrey D. Green Humanitarian Award, as well as special recognition from former Governor Bob Riley.
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