BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- Mercy Deliverance Ministries is rolling out a mobile grocery store for the first time Wednesday morning. According to the nonprofit, 26% of Birmingham residents are living in poverty.
"What has overwhelmed me perhaps is still the need," said Mercy Deliverance Ministries Executive Director Toni Vines. "I was just working on some stats today and some data today. I’m thinking we haven’t even scratched the surface of the need. Providing food is not going to solve everyone’s problems, but it is an indication to let them know that God is thinking about you.”
The mobile grocery store is a fully functional grocery store with everything from fresh produce and canned goods to frozen meats and dairy products.
"This food is just a small piece to touch people to go ‘God cares about you,'" Vines said.
Vines said God put this mission on her heart 20 years ago.
"And I openly said, ‘God, I’m just one person. What is this supposed to look like? How am I supposed to do all this?'" Vines said. "But when people see this, they’re seeing Him.”
The mobile grocery store will have a rotating schedule each week, stopping at different community hubs for two hours at a time, focusing for the first few weeks in Ensley and around Birmingham City Council District 9. Mercy Deliverance said says the best way to know when and where the mobile grocery store will be is to check its website and follow it on social media.
"We are going to make mistakes. We’re asking the public for your patience," Vines said. "I’m hoping to sell out. But if we sell out, know that we need you to keep coming because the more you come, the more I can buy.”
Mercy Deliverance Ministries said it can’t take cash payments right now and hopes to soon be approved for SNAP benefits.
"Our whole model and our whole premise is donations and grants will keep prices affordable for people at wholesale or slightly below, so they can afford to shop," Vines said.
It is not Mercy Deliverance Ministries’ only plan for a mobile grocery store.
"The next version of this bus has already been designed for the highway," Vines said. "We will expand because God says this is a prototype.”
The mobile grocery store is scheduled to open for business 8 a.m. Wednesday at Jackson-Olin High School.
