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Hello friends of Fresh Food Weekly,
I haven’t done one of these posts in a while but today I thought it would be a good day to share with you a little bit about how Fresh Food Weekly is impacting the lives of it’s recipients. This morning I received this email from a recipient who is a single mom of two young children with no one to rely on but herself… and the very few community supports available to her.
This woman has been a recipient of our program for a little while, but it wasn’t until this morning that I learned that she is also a survivor of human trafficking. This is what she has to say:
“I am a recipient of Fresh Food Weekly and I can’t express how much your help and support means to me and my family, and all the others in the community. You are truly an inspiration! I received the email about our stories and in short form, here is mine… I won’t get into detail because it’s a lot, and embarrassing and emotional… I don’t really tell anyone.
I am 26-years-old with two young kids, I moved to Barrie about six years ago. Before that, I struggled with addiction, and I’m a survivor of human trafficking and domestic abuse for six years – it took away my teenage childhood. I got trafficked at a young age and then I got addicted to drugs during these years. I also got a criminal record due to this lifestyle, and that has definitely impacted my life today.
But today I’m a better person. I got clean six years ago and then had a baby girl on my one-year sobriety date – I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. She changed my life and she really inspired me to keep pushing forward and change for the better. Now, I’m finally living on my own and have my life together, and I also have another kid who is one-year-old. Life is still a struggle in this society; I’m just a stay-at-home mom at the moment, and unfortunately my criminal record has affected what I wanted to pursue as a career for the time being, so I’m just on Ontario works (welfare) and I receive housing so I’m very appreciative of those things. But affording everyday essentials and groceries with the way things are with this inflation has definitely affected our family and our income. We are spending most of it on food and daily essentials, bills and transportation as I do not have a car, and rely on cabs – so at the end of it all, we are just paying to live.
Thanks to you’re program and help during the months, you have definitely put a little relief in our lives and are now able to save a little bit of money here and there, that I would have otherwise spent on food. It’s much appreciated what you and your team does for this community!! Keep it up and thank you for everything 🙏❤️.”
I can’t imagine what her everyday life looks like, but it just goes to show the sheer strength and determination this young woman has and how she’s demonstrating this for her children. I’m so thankful to be able to help them, even though I know our food program isn’t enough; one day we’ll be able to help them more. But in the meantime, I’m so proud to live in a #community who shares my attitude of helping the vulnerable and wants to have a positive impact on the world they live in.
If you’re reading this and you would like to help this woman, or other people just like her, you can sponsor a low-income family in #Barrie or #Innisfil with fresh food for $55 (this will cover one month). We can also provide you with a charitable tax receipt for your donation. You can donate either by PayPal or credit card on the website: https://www.freshfoodweekly.com/shop or you can send an e-transfer to: [email protected]. If you send an e-transfer though, send me a PM so I can get your charitable tax receipt details 😊.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Leah
(The image used here is not of the woman in this post)
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