When the act of theft in September threatened the vitality of the Selma Area Food Bank, executive director J.D. Parks, who said he felt hurt by the incident, had a reason to smile Wednesday.

The Selma Exchange Club presented Parks with a $500 check donation at its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, in an attempt to help the organization’s services after it had been robbed of two condenser units last month.

Park, who was very grateful of the donation, felt the contribution would be a big help for the agency.

“If we would convert this to food, it will be roughly 10,000 pounds of food,” Parks said. “A dollar may not mean much to some, but if you gave us a dollar, we can get you 25 pounds of food. Thank you all very much.”

In a previous interview with the Times-Journal, Parks said the amount of copper taken from the facility would only amount to $8 of scrap copper. The nonprofit organization was also hit last year, when thieves removed copper from the air conditioning and cooler units, costing the agency $2,700 to replace.

Alabama District president of the Exchange Club Judy Friday, said the decision to give the donation was agreed upon by members, who felt the need for a new air conditioning unit was crucial.

“We raise money for different charities (and) we feel it’s (the food bank) something the people in Selma need … we talked about it and we voted to give them the money,” Friday said. “We really wanted to help.”

And for anyone who’s interested in making contributions to the food bank, any one can do so by mailing a check to the Selma Area Food Bank, P.O. Box 2513, Selma, AL  36702.  The food bank is located at 497 Oak St. in Selma and is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.