Michele is an active volunteer at Love Center food pantry, a member agency of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. She has two children and also takes care of her 82-year-old father. When she is able, she helps unload the pantry’s trucks and passes out food to her neighbors facing hunger.
Today, at the end of her volunteer shift, Michele takes a small grocery cart and fills a bag with fresh green beans, meat, and her daughter’s favorite, canned fruit.
“I take the food home and I feel like it’s Christmas,” said Michele softly. “It’s the summer days that my kids don’t get breakfast or lunch at school. I provide three meals a day. Because of this place, I know my kids will have food.”
Michele smiles, then pauses, and slowly puts her hand over her heart and says, “I had to have a pacemaker put in. A few years ago, I was working to support my family when my son passed away in a car accident; he was texting and driving. Just a couple days later, I was rushed to the hospital when my heart stopped beating. I was diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome.”
Still struggling with health issues, Michele is unable to work a full-time job. “People would be really hungry without this place,” she shares. “This pantry truly is a blessing.”