Both the need and the relief have been on display in the historic civil rights city of Selma, where volunteers distributed free food to scores of people, many of whom shared rides from isolated communities just to get to the school where boxes of fruit and vegetables were available.
Black Belt counties have eight of the nine worst infection rates in Alabama, where more than 21,600 have tested positive for the virus, and more than 730 have died.
And more than $4 million in pandemic assistance grants announced last week will go to agencies that serve Black Belt counties in Alabama.
While broadband access is spotty across much of rural Alabama, some entire counties lack service in the Black Belt.
But in far-flung areas where around a third of families either lack a vehicle or share just one, simply getting food to people has been a problem, since normal distribution channels through churches and assistance groups broke down during the virus shutdown, she said.
