“I never thought in a million years that I would be bringing my kids to a food bank,” said Lechelle.
It’s a feeling many parents in our community share. But when you’re unable to afford groceries – a position Lechelle found herself in earlier this year – your options are often limited to accepting help from strangers or going hungry. For the sake of her children, Lechelle looked for help.
According to Lechelle, accessing food became most difficult around the time her family became homeless. Over the course of about eight weeks, she struggled to provide for her children, Evan and Kennedy. But without a job, Lechelle only had a small amount of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to ease the rumbling in Evan’s and Kennedy’s stomach.
When she first came to West Seattle Food Bank, Lechelle said she was only there to pick up diapers for Kennedy. She quickly learned that she could take fresh food with her that would help make her limited SNAP benefits stretch until the end of the month. Because of you, she could feed her kids healthy foods again, including their favorite snack, oranges.
Today, Lechelle’s family is doing much better. Lechelle has started a new job and hopes to soon be able to provide for all her family’s basic needs on her own. Until that time, she remains incredibly thankful to have your support. She knows exactly where to go whenever she needs a little extra help providing good, nutritious food for her family.
“Thank you for the work that you do, and the humility that you show,” said Lechelle. “You really do treat everyone as you would want to be treated.”
