{"id":354819,"date":"2026-03-24T03:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/354819\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T03:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:17:08","slug":"rising-gas-prices-could-strain-community-food-bank-of-central-alabama-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/354819\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising gas prices could strain Community Food Bank of Central Alabama operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC<\/a>) – Gas prices are continuing to rise, and the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama says high prices could impact their day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

According to AAA<\/a>, the national average is $3.96 a gallon, up more than a dollar from last month. In Alabama, the average hit $3.62. Last month, it was $2.62.<\/p>\n

The last time gas was really expensive, the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama spent $100,000 over their gas budget. Any extra money going toward gas can take away from food.<\/p>\n

Food bank drives 15,000 miles monthly<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Food Bank is actually a logistics organization. We are getting food from places that don\u2019t need that food anymore and we\u2019re getting it here and giving it out to people that need it. That\u2019s all logistics. That\u2019s all what we\u2019re doing and that all takes gas,\u201d said Nicole Williams, Community Food Bank of Central Alabama CEO.<\/p>\n

War in the Middle East means gas prices are going up fast. The national and state average is up an entire dollar from a month ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe drive on average about 15,000 miles a month and so, gas prices are of course affecting us and our bottom line as we\u2019re trying to serve people in the community,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

Williams said the food bank has 14 trucks and several transit vans on the road every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur drivers are out in the community, delivering food out to our neighbors for distributions every day and sometimes on the weekends. Then we\u2019re also picking up food from distribution centers and grocery stores to bring back here then to redistribute out into the community,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

Higher costs could affect food assistance<\/p>\n

With more money going to gas, that means less money for food they can buy, all while even more neighbors might need help.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always concerned about our neighbors and their household budget. When food prices fluctuate, and when gas prices go up, that\u2019s more funds that come out of someone\u2019s household budget. That often then affects how much they have to spend on food,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

But their goal to feed the community is not wavering. Williams said no matter how expensive prices get, they\u2019re dedicated to ensuring people are fed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want food to be something that people worry about day to day. We want people to feel confident that they can feed their children and not go to bed with a hungry stomach,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

Williams said if you\u2019re in need of food, there are food distributions happening all across Central Alabama<\/a>. Those able to donate can find ways to contribute<\/a> to the food bank.<\/p>\n

Get news alerts in the Apple App Store<\/a> and Google Play Store<\/a> or subscribe to our email newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WBRC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Gas prices are continuing to rise, and the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[47983,172272,34965,6465,114,172269,172273,172264,172265,453,172267,172271,172263,30422,172270,85,145699,46,172268,172266,172262],"class_list":["post-354819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aaa","tag-alabama-food-bank","tag-assistance","tag-birmingham","tag-business","tag-central-alabama","tag-community-food-bank","tag-community-food-bank-of-central-alabama","tag-find-food","tag-food","tag-food-assistance","tag-food-bank","tag-fox6","tag-gas-prices","tag-gas-prices-going-up","tag-il","tag-iran-conflict","tag-israel","tag-myfoxal","tag-rising-fuel-costs","tag-wbrc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}