While 10-year-old Kaylee dreams of being a veterinarian and working with her best friend, her younger brother, 8-year-old Nicholas, wants to grow up to be an artist.
The siblings love going to their apartment’s onsite YMCA center after school where they get to play with their friends.
“I like coming here because it’s where we can be more active, because we usually just stay in the house when we go home. We get to talk to friends and see friends. I like them and we play,” Nicholas said.
While the kids are having fun at YMCA, their mom is busy working to support her children.
“She gets more time for work and to take care of business so she can get money,” Kaylee said.
Kaylee knows how tough it has been for their single mom to take care of them. Their budget hasn’t always been enough to buy all the food they want, like meat.
“I don’t remember eating a single piece of meat,” Kaylee said.
While they receive free school meals, once they get home they might not have dinner.
“Sometimes I have to go to bed hungry,” Nicholas said.
When Nicholas doesn’t have dinner, his next meal will be the breakfast he receives at school.
To help fill the dinner gap, the children receive a Kids Cafe meal at the YMCA, a hot or cold meal made fresh in the Food Bank’s kitchen each day.
With the meals changing each day, Kaylee’s favorite meal has come to be the tamales with rice. She has even discovered new vegetables she likes. Her brother likes the ham, cheese, and veggies.
“They are healthy; I really like them because they are healthy. They have a lot of good meals,” Nicholas said.
At home, things have started to change with a new step-dad and baby sister in the house. With the support of their new-step dad, the kids are finally able to eat meat.
Though their family’s situation has changed, Kaylee and Nicholas are grateful for all the help the Food Bank has provided their mom during their family’s toughest times.
