Unsung heroes: Tonja Grace and Nancy Bryant give their time... and a lot more

Mar. 27—Cullman Caring for Kids is primarily known for its food bank that offers food to families in need, but the organization also works to reach out to the community in other ways. For two of its employees, that included a special gift for the medical workers who have been on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this February, Cullman Caring for Kids Assistant Director Nancy Bryant and Administrative Assistant Tonja Grace prepared "Love Baskets" for the staff of Cullman Regional who have been treating COVID-19 patients.

Doctors and nurses spend long hours at the hospital away from their families and caring for the sick, and the baskets were meant to show them that there are people in the community who appreciate what they have done over the past year and what they continue to do, Bryant said.

"These people needed that reassurance that we do care and we appreciate them," she said.

After working together to make a plan, they packed the baskets full of supplies and encouraging messages to remind them that their work will not be forgotten by all of the families of COVID-19 patients they have cared for over the past year.

Bryant said the supplies included everything from snacks, face masks, mugs, toothbrushes and glasses repair kits — everything they could think of that a doctor or nurse may need over the course of their shift at the hospital.

"You're at that hospital for 12 hours, if not 18 hours, and you can't leave," she said. "So you have to have those little extra things like that."

Bryant said each basket also received a little extra from her and Grace, with decorations on the outside and notes of gratitude for the work the hospital's staff is doing.

"We just filled it full of love, because we want them to know that we do love them and appreciate them," she said.

After preparing seven of the baskets, Bryant and Grace delivered them to the hospital and gave them with Cullman Regional Nurse Director Kathy Jones to be distributed among the hospital's staff members.

After giving the baskets away, the pair also spent some time in the parking lot outside of the hospital in prayer.

"We just prayed that God would bless them and that it would reach the people it was supposed to reach," Bryant said. "God sent us to do that."

The day after dropping the baskets off at Cullman Regional, the Caring for Kids Facebook page had several comments from nurses at the hospital who expressed their gratitude for the care packages, Grace said.

"It was worth it all to me, I would do it again," she said.

This is only one of the many things that Bryant and Grace have worked on to help the community as employees of Cullman Caring for Kids, with both coming to the organization as volunteers before finding that they did not want to go anywhere else.

Bryant has been working for Cullman Caring for Kids for 20 years, and started as a volunteer before she was hired on as a staff member and later named assistant director.

"I started volunteering, and I fell in love with Cullman Caring for Kids instantly, so I started praying that God would let me be able to work here," she said. "And He did, and that was incredible."

Grace just reached her one-year mark with Caring for Kids in February, and she also started working there after spending several months in 2019 as a volunteer for the organization.

"I've always loved to volunteer, and the more I was here, the more I wanted to be here," she said. "I just couldn't leave."

Bryant, Grace and the rest of the Cullman Caring for Kids staff work every day in the organization's food bank and with other programs and projects that are meant to prevent child abuse in Cullman County, and they get a lot of joy from seeing children and families light up as they receive the assistance that they need.

"It's just a ministry, just giving your heart, and I try to give 100 percent of mine," Grace said. "I just like seeing people happy."

Bryant said Cullman Caring for Kids is run almost entirely by donations and contributions from the community, and the continued generosity of the people of Cullman County allows the organization to continue to serve those in need.

Donations can be made online at cullmancaringforkids.com, through the mail to PO Box 698, Cullman, AL 35056, or in person at the Cullman Caring for Kids office at 402 Arnold St NE.

Volunteers are always welcome as well, whether it's spending some time working in the food bank, hosting a food or supply drive or participating in April's Child Abuse Awareness Month.

"If you can't give anything but your time, you're giving a lot," Grace said.