NATCHEZ &8212; The grand opening of the Food Bank of the Miss-Lou is one month away, Oct. 24, and excitement is high at the former AB Motor Co., 212 N. Shields Lane.

Theresa Beach, executive director, said Tuesday the idea for a centralized food bank came as the community reacted to the thousands of evacuees in the city following Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005.

What Katrina did, she said, was show &8220;where our city was lacking and where it was strong.&8221; The influx of people in need also exposed local needs, she said.

&8220;There is a great need in Natchez that has nothing to do with Katrina,&8221; she said. &8220;And it&8217;s not going away. There are people who are not just hungry. They are starving &8212; not just for food, but for compassion, love and forgiveness.&8221;

Beach updated the Natchez-Area Ministerial Alliance during its monthly meeting at Lovely Lane United Methodist Church.

With help from United Way, the City of Natchez, the state Legislature and the state Department of Transportation, the Ministerial Alliance has been the driving force behind the food bank and will manage the program.

Ministers worked through the summer to create a mission statement, bylaws and a board of directors, said the Rev. Bob Perkins of First Evangelical Methodist Church.

&8220;We&8217;ve worked hard since May and we&8217;ve come a long way,&8221; Perkins said. &8220;Through the United Way, we&8217;ve been able to use this 18,000-square-foot building. We&8217;ve done a lot of remodeling and there is a still a lot to do.&8221;

United Way of the Greater Miss-Lou provided funds to hire Beach as director and is providing funds for purchase of food.

For long-range operation, the food bank will depend on contributions from churches, Perkins said.

&8220;We&8217;re trying to take baby steps,&8221; he said. &8220;First, we will serve those in a 15-mile radius.&8221;

Beach described how the food bank will work: &8220;People will come to the food bank to be qualified as low-income, disabled, out of work or just in a state of need,&8221; she said. &8220;We&8217;ll be open for that between 9 in the morning and 12 noon, Monday through Wednesday,&8221; she said.

With that paperwork, people then go to churches to receive the food boxes, she said.

Beach has experience in food banks, operating a smaller one from her church, First Assembly of God on Liberty Road. She has seen both the need and the success of food programs.

&8220;Getting to know the families who come to the food bank is important,&8221; she said. &8220;A lot of them have been beaten down for so long and don&8217;t know how to get out of the hole.&8221;

Recently, the food bank received a 12-by-12 walk-in freezer. It will be installed today. &8220;We still need a cooler system, though,&8221; Beach said.

&8220;We&8217;ve talked with the Mississippi Food Network, and we&8217;ll get our first load of food from them next month.&8221;

The Food Bank of the Miss-Lou will be classified as a super pantry, she said.

Church participation and operation gives the Natchez food bank a different twist, Beach said. &8220;The whole purpose of the food bank is to help you be the church you should be,&8221; she told the ministers.

The Rev. Dr. John Larson of First Presbyterian Church, president of the Ministerial Alliance, said the churches involved now have an on-going responsibility.

&8220;The food bank is a child of this group, and we need to take care of it and help it grow,&8221; Larson said.