John and Mary waited over an hour for the doors to open. They could see people inside getting things ready. It was still misty and they didn’t have an umbrella. John pulled up his hood and Mary luckily remembered to bring her hat. As they waited, others were assembling outside with them. They felt lucky that the rain had almost stopped. The grandkids kids were in school so it made their trip less like a juggling act between weather and waiting. The kids have trouble waiting and the rain would make them even less patient. Mary knew the kids would be hungry when they got home but she was confident they would all eat tonight because of the food they would get this afternoon. John was thinking he might try to contact his old employer to see if they might have a few hours a week that he could come in to work. It had been about 6 months since he had been employed there. The news that his job was eliminated just about crushed him. He had some limited mechanical skills and many in the neighborhood called on him for help when they had a need so he managed to make a few bucks. He and Mary had been pretty self-sufficient until his hours began to drop about a year ago. The kids, ages 7 and 9 came to stay after their parents had gotten in some trouble. It took 3 months for John and Mary to be granted custody, but the last 8 months have been much better for the kids. They were now in school on a regular basis with improving grades.
Getting home just before the kids got off the bus, Mary was able to put away the two bags of food they had received. There were some items that she would be able to use tonight to round out her meal ideas. A small bag of individual chocolate milk cartons would be enough for the kids to each have one for the next three days. She smiled as she thought about how surprised they would be and how they would beg her to let them have more than one. Mary had a small garden with a few tomato plants that were producing pretty well this year, so with the bacon she got from the store and the head of lettuce and loaf of bread she just received, it would be BLT’s tonight for sure. She was glad the kids liked tomatoes. One sandwich for everyone would be a pretty good meal.
John got an unexpected call back from his old employer. Someone had to have surgery and would be off work for 2-3 weeks. John would be able to work about 20 hours each week until the man was able to return. It wouldn’t make life easy, but now their electric bill wouldn’t be late. The juggling act at the end of the month would be a little less challenging barring any new surprises, but there always seemed to be one when they could least absorb it. John had been gifted with a beautiful voice and would be anxious to share the good news about his temporary job with his fellow choir members. His voice always lifted Mary’s spirits when he would sing around the house. This day would be another good one for them to remember and she was confident there would be some singing tonight as they looked forward to him going to work next week.
This day was no different than many other days for thousands of people who are struggling to make ends meet by doing things as best they can for themselves and the people around them. Our organization strives to empower people by providing some limited help for today and hope for tomorrow that will lead to long term stability.
Tim Kean is the President and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. The Second Harvest Food Bank network of 115-member agencies, programs and 23 schools provide food assistance and long term stability skills to more than