When hunger hits home
Jamie always saw herself “a giver.” So last Thanksgiving, when she read on Facebook about a family that needed a little help with meals, she didn’t hesitate for a moment.
Running to a neighborhood supermarket, she picked out a ham, yams, vegetables and potatoes and then delivered the groceries to this very thankful – but somewhat startled – family. “They were so grateful,” Jamie remembers. “Especially the children.”
Little did Jamie know that she would soon be the one needing help.
When Jamie’s husband lost his job as a restaurant manager right before Thanksgiving, her biggest concern was providing for their three children.
Sometimes, kids must make sacrifices too
“My kids understood that we couldn’t do all the fun stuff we used to, like going out to restaurants, because Daddy wasn’t working,” she said. “But it still hurt. It’s hard for me to ask my kids to make sacrifices. Really hard.”
At times, Jamie would break down from the stress – but rarely in front of her kids. “I didn’t want to show them I was worried so I always tried to start off the day with a smile.”
But deep down inside, Jamie was worried.
With the bills quickly piling up, and five hungry mouths to feed, the family’s food – and cash! – surplus quickly disappeared.
“It’s good there are places like this when families need help.”
That’s when Jamie found a friend in Metropolitan Ministries, and signed up to receive a Thanksgiving food box. Before you can say “traditional holiday meal,” she was inside our Holiday Tent, loading up her shopping cart with all the fixings for a big Thanksgiving feast.
Afterwards, she was quietly grateful, not just for the food but for the kindness of strangers.
“This means a lot to me and my family,” she admitted, the tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s good there are places like this when families need help.”