Anne, current client of the Food Support Program

I would first like to applaud the community leaders and citizens for participating in this food challenge.  It certainly is daunting, as I well know.

My name is Anne and I have benefited from our food bank for the past 4 years. Even when I was employed full-time, there were not enough funds to stretch for groceries. I am now unemployed and looking for work, which adds to the stress of feeding myself properly. My fingernails are a mess due to lack of nutrients so I asked for vitamin supplements for Christmas. Emotionally, I find it very difficult to continually struggle to prepare nutritional meals for myself.  It is also difficult to eat the same items several days in a row…you have to be creative!

I tire easily, do not sleep well and I recently cried when I discovered that one of my 3 eggs was cracked and unusable. I recently volunteered at a Zehr’s food drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; I cannot explain how difficult it was to be in a grocery store surrounded by the sights and smells and not have any money to purchase something for lunch…as usual, I waited for dinner which a lot of the time is my only meal of the day.

I love to cook and eat well and have discovered over the past couple of years that I have to change my perceptions and learn to do things differently. I would also like to thank friends and family for contributing grocery items to my repertoire for without that I think I really would eat my own arm!

I am truly looking forward to the expansion of our local food bank and encourage the involvement of the community to support all of those in need.