Sometimes, even the helpers need a helping hand.
Michelle East is director of the Norman Smith Memorial Library in Hinton, which participates in the Regional Food Bank’s Grab & Go program. Through this program at the library, children up to the age of 18 can receive a free nutritious meal and snack during the summer months when school is not in session.
But before she accepted her job at the library, Michelle was just another library patron and mom who participated in the summer meals program.
“That’s how I got this job,” she says. “I’d bring my kids here during the summer so they could eat and participate in special activities in the program room. One day, the director at the time messaged me about a part-time job, which eventually went full time, and I was officially made the new director.”
But summers are still tough for this mother of four. “I’m a single mom, and I don’t qualify for food stamps,” she explains. “During the summer, my kids just eat, eat, eat. So I continue to participate in the Grab & Go program. I take home eight boxes of food for my kids, and because of that, I don’t have to get a second job to feed them in the summer.
“It’s made it tons easier,” she adds. “And as director here, I see how this program affects everyone else — how it’s good for everybody.”
Thank you for helping to provide meals for neighbors like Michelle and her children. You’re giving Oklahoma children a brighter future!
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