This summer, 7-year old Erick’s grandma, Maria, is taking care of him while his mom is at work. She takes her grandchildren to get lunch at one of the Food Bank’s summer meal sites every day. The food he receives there is the only meal he will eat until dinner time. A dinner time that’s past 9 P.M. when his mom gets off of work.
He already knows the routine. At 5 P.M. his mom picks him up from his grandmother’s house. Afterwards, they head to her workplace where she will finish her shift at a car wash while he patiently waits with a tablet in his hand. Once he starts getting hungry, crackers await him in the lunchroom. When he gets to go home, he’ll finally be able to eat a full meal again.
To the young boy, going to the summer meal site may only seem like play time, but the reality is more sobering. Without the food available there, his grandma wouldn’t be able to provide him a meal while she babysits him.
It’s a rough summer for the family.
After getting laid off, Maria, a single mother, struggles to provide her three grandchildren and two children with food. But together as a family, they’re all helping each other.
“If I don’t work, I take care of them, and I help them that way so they don’t have to pay for a baby sitter,” Maria said. “I also get to spend more time with them.”
On the weekends when she’s not taking care of her grandchildren, she holds garage sales at the flea market to make some money to help cover her expenses while she finds a job, but it’s not enough.
Without her income, her sons stepped up and began working part-time to help out. Though her 17 year-old son doesn’t make enough to pay any bills, Maria is relieved knowing that he’s able to provide for his own personal expenses.
For her 20-year old, the cut in the household income meant choosing between going to school at Austin Community College full time and helping his mom pay the rent. He insisted on getting a part-time job and going to school less, even though his mom disagreed.
“I tell my two children to do well in school because school is the foundation for them,” Maria said. “We’re already going down, but they’re going up.”
Even with the extra help from her sons, the increased summer costs have taken a toll on the family. With her electricity bill being around $200 more than usual, she has no other choice than to ration the food she has at home.
“We don’t have enough for food,” she said.
The food at our summer meal site isn’t the only help she receives from the Food Bank. She gets up early to get fresh produce and fruit at one of our Fresh Food for Families sites, and she’ll get staples at our Partner Agencies.
Thanks to the Food Bank, Maria’s kitchen is filled with nutritious food that helps feed her 1-year old grandchild to her 20 year-old son. Help us raise 1 million meals this summer that will make a difference in the lives of hard working families who have stretched their budget to the limit and still need a little more help. Make a donation today!
