CHOP Helps Families Stretch Their Grocery Budgets
Food Insecurity is a complex issue for our community. It’s not always visible and it can cause stress and long-term trauma for those who experience it. It’s not always consistent and it is hard to tell when you slip from someone who is food secure to someone who isn’t.
Just like the Wellows family, who asked to remain anonymous, many families found themselves experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic.
As a family of five, supported by one income, their family quickly started to feel the pressure when COVID hit their household in October 2021.
“I had no idea that the program existed before we needed it to help us feed our family. And it was a huge relief to help us get through a difficult couple of weeks when my husband was unable to work,” shared Mrs. Wellows.
Like many of the families we serve, CHOP’s Produce Distribution and Pop Up Pantries helped the Wellows family stretch their grocery budget just enough to get them to another payday. Oftentimes, the families that use our programs are incredibly resourceful. Some can and freeze food items they receive when we host a community distribution, and creatively make meals around to make produce items last longer.
“We are so grateful for CHOP and those who support them. Every dollar helps our family and as parents we feel so much less stress because of CHOP,” said Mrs. Wellows. “My school-age children also bring home a bag each week from the Backpack Program. They are excited to have snack options I wouldn’t normally have and we are able to try new foods as a family without having to take a chance on spending extra money at the grocery store.”
