The Tuscaloosa County School System joined other Alabama communities by launching Neighborhood Bridges Tuscaloosa County last month, an organization that crowdfunds donations from community members to help local children in need. Neighborhood Bridges was founded by Rick Bannister of Westerville, Ohio in 2017 to combat poverty and other barriers that keep students from attending or engaging in school in suburban and rural America. His brother brought it to Alabama two years ago, with the state’s first community in Hoover. It enables school counselors, or advocates, to post needs of anonymous students on their community’s Neighborhood Bridges website, asking for donations of anything from clothing to graduation fees. The requests are shared on social media and through email to subscribers. “One thing Ohio and Alabama have in common, besides really good college football, is people really do want to help,” Bannister said. “We believed that if we engaged the communities and gave them specific opportunities to help that they would do that. And they are.” Through Neighborhood Bridges, 154,704 students and families have been impacted by fulfilled needs in 32 communities in Ohio and Alabama. Over 3,000 of those students and families have come from Tuscaloosa County, only weeks after its launch. “We’ve gotten such amazing feedback,” said Connie Coleman, area director for Neighborhood Bridges Tuscaloosa County. “This is such a simple way to do everything, and it’s pretty easy for the person who donates.” Donors in Tuscaloosa County can fulfill a need by clicking “I Can Help” under a request and dropping the donations off at one of four locations—the TCSS Central Office, the PARA Bobby Miller Activity Center, the PARA Faucett Brothers Activity Center or the PARA Jerry Tingle Activity Center—or shipping them directly to one of the locations. Though helping students is the primary mission, the donations can also help teachers, counselors and social workers, who otherwise might have to help the students out-of-pocket. “What we have found everywhere is that teachers and counselors get emotional about this, because they see their needs get filled immediately. They’ve never had that help before,” Bannister said. Other Neighborhood Bridges communities in Alabama include Tuscaloosa City , Boaz , Ardmore , Fairhope , and many more, all of which have seen success. “Sometimes our needs are met so fast from social media that emails with the needs don’t even have to be sent out,” said Yolandia Eubanks, an advocate for Ardmore. “It’s just amazing how this community has banded together to help.” Neighborhood Bridges continues to expand its service and is considering partnering with colleges in the near future. Tuscaloosa County’s community, however, is just getting started. “We’re growing slowly, and we would love to be flooded with donations and subscribers,” Coleman said. “It’s a wonderfully easy and convenient way to make a huge difference in somebody’s life.” Visit Neighborhood Bridges Tuscaloosa County ’s website to donate or subscribe to their email list.