TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) - Tuscaloosa's Disaster Relief Fund is running on low.  The West Alabama Chamber of Commerce reports that if all pending grant requests are awarded for the month of November, that will leave about $12,000 dollars to allocate for the month of December.  With the onset of holidays and cold weather approaching, chamber officials say it's not a good time for the money to be running out. Over a million dollars from the Disaster Relief Fund have already been allocated to qualified 501-c3 organizations.  However, chamber officials believe those needs could change in the colder months and that organizations that have already been stocked by the relief fund may need to be restocked as resources are used.

The Chamber says funding has continued to flow into the fund, but at a slower pace.  Officials are anticipating some additional funding in upcoming months from a recent golf tournament in Tuscaloosa and other individual contributions.  There is also no guarentee that all of the requested money for the month of December will be awarded to the various organizations that have applied for the grants. 

Forest Lake Baptist Church is among the agencies waiting to see if they will be awarded the funding for the month of November.  Church officials say, if they do receive the funding it will go toward food, clothing, and gifts during the holidays.  Forest Lake is one of the organizations that has received several grants from the Disaster Relief Fund.  Church officials say the money from the chamber has helped them with some of the more expensive needs of storm victims like furniture or appliances for new homes.  Volunteers say purchasing those items would be much more difficult, if not impossible without the assistance of Give, Tuscaloosa.

When the funding does eventually run dry, Forest Lake says they have a couple of avenues in mind to continue serving the public, however, they anticipate that the scale of what they will be able to do will be much more limited.