Testimonials and Stories
Sharing stories from a shared commitment
Thousands of people share Gleaners’ commitment to ending hunger. From experts and legislators to grocers, distributors, volunteers, business leaders and more, they all have experiences that shed light on the ongoing fight.
TERESA'S STORY
Finding yourself raising five children on your own while suffering from a disabling back injury would be daunting to most of us but Teresa takes it all in stride. Part of her hardworking and head-on approach probably comes from the time she spent in the Air Force serving our country, a job that certainly builds character. Life has dealt her some tough blows, widowed at a time in her life when her family should have been building their future, a back injury on the job that has left her disabled and ending with her second husband leaving her and the children.
She is embarrassed to be in this situation, “I always was the one to work two or more jobs and provide for my family” “Now I take one day at a time and have to see how I feel, whether I can get up and about”. Once I am up and going there is only so much time I have to take care of the kids, get food and take care of other errands before I physically am spent”.
Faced with medical bills, disability a mortgage and all that raising a family of six entails, Teresa has worked to ensure her children have food on the table by visiting pantries, applying for food stamps and learning creative ways to make meals stretch. “Every month I am juggling the mortgage, utilities and food” she says, “I can only do what I can”.
“I brought home blueberry muffins for the kids, there were enough for two apiece so we put them in baggies with their name on them and put them in the freezer. They can choose when to have their muffins during the week, but they only get two.” Teresa tells me… the kids are really great about helping to make things go further. She also likes the whole wheat pasta the pantry sometimes has, “it fills the kid’s stomachs up more than regular pasta”.
Teresa found the Southwest Community Cupboard Pantry through a local church, and says it has been a life saver for her and her children. “If not for the food pantry I don’t know where we would be” Teresa said, “I am thankful to Gleaners and the donors that fill this pantry”. “The volunteers at the pantry couldn’t be nicer; they treat me with respect and don’t judge”. “It really lightens my day to go there knowing how great everyone is” “When it is so cold out they even let you go back to your car with a number then hold the next number out the door so we don’t have to wait in the cold! How great is that! They have a lot of compassion there”
On this day, before Teresa left for the food pantry, her son Juan said he wondered “what God would have for them today”. When she got to the food pantry she was so excited! There was hamburger that she was hoping for, since she can do so much with it, there were blueberry muffins, donuts and cocoa puffs, a treat for everyone! She couldn’t wait to get home to show the kids what she had gotten, “I felt like Santa Claus… “It has been a long hard road, but I know there is an end…”