Those who are struggling to feed their families often end up giving in and buying junk food instead of choosing healthier options because of the dramatic price difference. However, Altagracia does the complete opposite when it comes to feeding her two young children.

Altagracia has a job as a home health aide, but explained that she only works 3 hours a day, so she doesn’t have a sufficient income. “I came to pick up food so it can help me,” she said. Hunger is never far off for her and her 8 and 10-year-old, but she continues to tell her children about the importance of fresh food compared to fast food and other unhealthy items, reminding them “everybody has to eat it to have a good life and good health.”

She talked about how hard it is to be a parent and the one responsible for getting healthy foods, like milk, fruits, and vegetables because “sometimes you don’t have the money to buy what you need.” The Community FoodBank of New Jersey helps.

Altagracia’s children’s well-being is the most important thing to her, who sometimes sees their food running out at the end of the month, but she continues to pick up fresh foods that she can feed to her entire family as often as she can.

One time when Altagracia came to pick up fresh food, she also was able to pick up a box of crackers for her children. Her eyes light up when she talked about how happy they were and how lucky they felt that they were able to have those crackers. “They took it to school!”

Something as simple as a pack of crackers meant so much to these two young children and their mother since they’re never able to afford such delicacies.

Altagracia is a client of the Community FoodBank of NJ’s Mobile Pantry that travels to local hospitals and is able to pick up groceries once a month. This pantry provides families with fresh fruits and vegetables and sometimes even special treats like crackers. Donating other nonperishables to the CFBNJ can provide another family with that special feeling of luck and gratitude much like Altagracia’s whenever they receive a “special treat” that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.

Donating just 1 box of food can help feed an entire family dinner and donating only $1 can help provide between $8-11 worth of food for a family. Help us help others.