Heather is currently between jobs because of the pandemic, but she’s holding her own as an accounting student. Her son, Emrystae, who loves playing with Lego® bricks and wants to be an engineer when he grows up, shares his mother’s left-brained dominance.

Emrystae has two other siblings. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Heather began homeschooling all three of her children to ensure they wouldn’t miss out on a proper education. But without access to free meals from school, Heather had to come up with 10 extra meals each week per child. She worried for her kids’ mental health and well-being because the food she could afford wasn’t necessarily the healthiest.

Heather obtained Pandemic-EBT assistance for her kids, a program for families who receive free or reduced-price meals at school as well as families who receive SNAP food benefits with children born after August 1, 2014. Even with this assistance, however, Heather cannot afford enough nutritious food to feed her whole family.

In order to fulfill her children’s nutritional requirements, Heather visits Knock and Drop, a Food Bank of Iowa hunger-relief pantry partner at Franklin Junior High. Heather is relieved to know her children have enough wholesome food to truly reach their full potential.

“Being able to give our kids healthy food is incredible,” Heather says. “Thank you.”

The nutritious food Heather’s family takes home is available because of support from donors like you. Thank you for your kindness.