Sarah Jenks

02/25/15
Position: 6
Profile Article
Word Count: 470

Tuscaloosa, Ala.- For most people a bed is a luxury that is often taken for
granted, but for a single-mother with four children who lost everything to a fire, a bed is
one of the many things she went without. Until S.D. Allen Building Missions stepped in.
Now, the woman and her children have beds to call their own.
Jeff Hurn, the Director of S.D. Allen Building, has made it his mission to provide
housing essentials like beds to the Tuscaloosa community.
When S.D. Allen, a prominent member of Calvary Baptist Church, passed away
he left a good sum of money to the church for local missions. Calvary used the money to
build the S.D. Allen Building and approached Hurn to direct a program through the
building.
We [S.D. Allen Missions] are an intake and outtake donation ministry, said
Hurn, Well take things in for people, well make sure it works, and well get it out to
people for free whenever they are in need.
Hurn, a graduate of The University of Alabama, was a senior at the university
when the Tornadoes of 2011 hit Tuscaloosa. At the time he was an active member of
Calvary and was hired by the church to run a Disaster Relief Distribution Center out of
their parking lot.

The center took donations from around the country of food and non-perishable
items to give to people affected by the tornadoes.
A few years later, Calvary approached Hurn with the opportunity to run the S.D.
Allen building. Hurn has been the director of the building for a little over a year now, and
has served over one hundred families since his start in December 2013.
We delivered over 15,000 items over a course of a year. said Hurn, Thats
furniture, appliances, household items, [and] handicap items.
Hurn depends completely on the help of the community. Their willingness to
donate items and their help in moving the items to the house is how the Building
operates.
When volunteers help move items they get to meet with the family and see how
their effort help others.
When I let you carry in a bed to a kid who has never had a bed then you get to
see the smile on this kids face and really know that youre doing something good, said
Hurn.
Hurn started a summer internship for college students through the S.D. Allen
Building. These students spent the summer helping residents of Tuscaloosa.
Jeff had an incredible impact on me this summer. said Lucius Guthrie, a
summer intern. He was an amazing leader and provided an opportunity for us all to grow
as individuals and as a group.
When looking to the future, Hurn hopes that S.D. Allen Building Missions can
grow to become the largest donation run ministry in the Tuscaloosa area.

Sarah Jenks
Public Relations Major
skjenks@crimson.ua.edu
Sources:
Jeff Hurn
Director of S.D. Allen Building Missions
In-Person interview on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015
Office: 205-752-2757
sdallenbuilding@gmail.com
Lucius Guthrie
Summer Intern at S.D. Allen Building Missions
Email Interview
205-585-6858
lcguthrie@crimson.ua.edu