January tends to hit the poor the hardest, local pastor Mark Brannon said, as charitable giving drops after the rush of the holiday season and heating bills go up.

To help relieve the financial strain so many impoverished families experience after the holidays, Refuge Church in Athens and iAcademy at Athens Elementary School have joined forces with Franklin, Tennessee-based One Generation Away Ministries to provide a 10-day supply of fresh, whole food to 200 local families.

In addition to its Athens campus on Lindsay Lane Road, Refuge Church also has a branch in Huntsville. The Huntsville church received a lot of attention earlier this year when it transformed a strip club on U.S. 53 into a house of worship.

“The timing for the distribution event is very strategic,” Brannon said. “There is always a lot of help at Christmastime but not a lot after.”

“Helping feed our community fits into our mission to be a refuge to a hurting world,” he said. “We have families in need right at our back door.”

According to its website, One Generation Away shares a similar mission. Through its mobile food pantry, the ministry hopes “to wipe hunger off the face of America by eliminating racism, denominationalism and poverty.”

Brannon said Refuge Church was attracted to One Generation Away because of its methods. The ministry rescues food from local grocery stores and restaurants — such as Whole Foods, Publix, Costco, Outback Steakhouse and Aldi — seven days a week, which allows it to collect nutrient-dense fresh produce, meats and dairy. Then the group distributes the rescued food by semitractor-trailer to low-income neighborhoods throughout middle Tennessee and beyond.

Brannon said this is the first time One Generation Away will bring food to Alabama. The church will distribute the food received through an invitation-only event Jan. 26.

“We’re not just filling stomachs,” he said. “We are providing healthy food that poorer families don’t often have access to.”

The church will rely in part on Lori Thompson, the guidance counselor at iAcademy, to identify families in need and invite them to shop the event.

“Instead of us handing them a box of food and telling them this is what you can have, we will actually set up the school’s parking lot like a grocery store,” Brannon said. “That way, our families get to chose the foods they like.”

An event like this requires numerous volunteers, who will be expected to unload the semitractor-trailer when it arrives, set up the store and help people shop. About 75 church members and several iAcademy faculty members have already stepped up to help, but Brannon said the group  can always use more.

Cindy Davis, the school’s principal, said she plans to do her part no matter how cold or wet it gets.

“I think January is a very challenging time for people financially, and we do have families who will benefit greatly from the food distribution,” Davis said. “Without a doubt, some of our families would not be able to put food on the table without help from our community and local churches like Refuge.”

Brannon hopes to host several more food-distribution events throughout the year, noting each event costs the church around $3,000.

“As long as we have the funds and the volunteers, we want to continue to do it as often as we can,” Brannon said. “We know the need is out there.”

Located at 1412 Lindsay Lane, Refuge Church in Athens meets at 10 a.m. every Sunday. For more information about the church or to volunteer for the upcoming feeding event, call 256-781-2010.