Bertie Is Thankful for Friends Like You

Bertie, 78, has cared for others for as long as she can remember. Growing up in a family with a single mother, Bertie helped raise her four younger siblings. Times were often difficult.

Bertie wishes food banks had been around to help during those lean years. “We had to take care of each other and share with each other so that we could survive,” she says while picking up bags of groceries at her local food bank. “Food has always been hard to come by,” she says.

Before the pandemic forced the closure of a local cultural center, Bertie worked there as an interpreter, cook, and gardener. She enjoyed keeping busy, as well as earning a steady paycheck. Now she’s living on a fixed income, and the local food bank has become a lifesaver, she says.

“I don’t have to worry about trying to get food anymore. It’s right here for me.”

The groceries she’s able to pick up help feed her grandchildren and their families, some of whom she looks after every day. “That’s what life is all about: helping each other and taking care of each other,” she says.

Bertie is thankful for supporters like you who make it possible to get the nourishing food she and her family need to stay healthy. Thank you!