University of Alabama sophomore Stephanie Ray knew she wanted to provide aid for local abused children, so she came up with a plan to start a student organization to do just that.

Her program, Good Alabama, aims to offer support, mentorship, resources and meals to abused children in local areas.

“Good Alabama is an organization that kind of developed into a student organization,” Ray said. “Good Alabama’s goal is to basically just really be there and be positive enforcement for the kids.”

Since Good Alabama began in March, they have been working to grow to meet the needs of the children. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, members go through extensive training to prepare them for interacting with the children in the mentorship setting.

“We don’t want to be an organization that just drops off donations,” Ray said. “We’re trying to immerse ourselves and become trustworthy to the area and the shelters. We want to make sure we get a good couple of days a week to spend time with the kids.”

Another part of Good Alabama’s mission is to go cook with the kids and provide them with at least one organic meal a week. This is to ensure they are getting crucial nutrients, which can sometimes be difficult to obtain in these situations, Ray said.

“We’re trying to make sure that they get good nutrients at least once a week, which is of course is not ideal, but it’s a start,” she said.

Ray said she hopes she can extend Good Alabama beyond The University of Alabama. She wants to see the program at other universities and eventually in other states, she said.

“I think it’s important that people can see that good things are happening,” Ray said.

Her efforts have been recognized by other members of the Good Alabama group, who say that they feel inspired by Ray’s drive. Marina Roberts, a junior majoring in accounting, helped in the early stages of Good Alabama’s development by offering advice and suggesting potential resources.

“I believe that Good Alabama is right now building a sort of foundation that will later enable it to make a truly significant impact in the Tuscaloosa community,” Roberts said.

Roberts said the effort Ray puts into the program is significant.

“What Stephanie is doing is trying to set up a network of resources and support that she can use to empower the abused children with whom she wants to work,” Roberts said. “I think she recognizes a lot of the barriers that these children will face, and she wants to take on those challenges and bring those barriers down.”

Before Good Alabama, Roberts said she was not aware of how extensive the issue of child abuse is within the local areas.

“My experience with Good Alabama has helped me to recognize how huge the problem of child abuse is in this community, but it has also taught me how capable we all are of taking action to address that issue,” Roberts said.

Good Alabama is working continuously to plan events and fundraising to further its cause. For more information on the group and their upcoming projects, visit them online at facebook.com/good.alabama.9.