Happy International Women's Day!

Mar08

Happy International Women’s Day! Meet April. She is a Super Woman.

After her husband was injured at work, he went from working full time to only part time. The decrease in the household income put a strain on the family, but April is looking ahead.

She knew that to help her family she needed to go back to school.

“I always loved school, I loved learning,” April said. “Now you have to have a degree in something in order to get that high pay rate to be able to sustain your family, so I had to go back to school.”

Though she has four kids, she is a full-time online student at University of Phoenix and Bringham Young University-Idaho. She is a few months shy from completing her degree in human resources at the University of Phoenix and will transfer her credits to BYU-Idaho to complete her bachelor’s degree.

“It’s hectic. I have to have a set schedule for when I’m going to take this class, and when I’m going to devote time to this class, when I’m going to devote time to family, for myself, and when I’m going to make time for just me and my husband,” April said.

In addition to everything she does, she still finds time to volunteer at her local soup kitchen, preparing hot meals for those in need. 

Trying to balance her time between school and her family isn’t the hardest part for April. With less income available to pay their expenses, their bills continue to pile up. The family’s priority is to keep the Internet and the lights on, so April can use her computer and take her classes.

April visits the Food Bank’s Partner Agency, Churches Touching Lives for Christ, where she gets canned food items, meat, bread and fresh produce to make meatloaf and spaghetti. She’ll make big meals for her family that will last her two or three days.  

Thanks to the Food Bank, the family can save money at the grocery store and use that money to pay for their bills to make sure April can take her classes.

“I just want to say thank you for your support and your donations and everything that you do,” April said.