Why You Don't Have to Wish Me a "Happy Mother's Day"

Hi Friends!

These thoughts have been on my heart for years. As I've watched my dearest and closest friends, cousins, coworkers, etc. have babies, I've had these thoughts. As I've watched the struggles of getting pregnant, difficult births, and parenting, I've had these thoughts. As I've watched divorces and single parenting, I've had these thoughts. I chose not to share them because it seemed silly, in a way. It seemed as though I should be grateful for all the times people told me "Happy Mother's Day."

And I was.

But I've never liked it.

Today is Mother's Day. The day where we celebrate all the mommas. Not only mommas by birth, but step mommas, grandmommas, not-yet mommas, fur mommas, and everything in between.

And today a lot of people have, and will, wish me a Happy Mother's Day. They do so knowing my heart would love to be a momma's heart, but isn't yet. They do so knowing how much I love their children unconditionally, often times, like my own family. They do so with the compliment that "one day you will be a momma too!" And while I understand, and appreciate the sentiment, I do not like it. And I especially do not like the underlying "I'm sad you are not yet a mother" tone that comes with it.

So today I'm asking you, please do not celebrate me.

I am not a mother. I have not carried a baby. I have not birthed a child. I have not experienced a miscarriage. I have not painstakingly gone through an adoption process. I am not married to a man whose child I am helping raise. I have not endured the disappointment of fertility treatments. And I do not have animals. 

I am not a mother. I am not an adoptive mother. I am not a stepmother. I am not a furmother. I am not a trying-to-be mother. 

Yes, I would love to be a mom. Yes, I believe it is my divine destiny to be a mother. Yes, I love your children like my own family. 

But I am not a mom.

In my 20s I prayed for a lot of years to understand why I wasn't gifted a family of my own. I wanted to be married. I wanted children. I wanted a white picket fence around a white house on a hill next door to my best friend Lauren where we would raise our children barefoot in the kitchen together. And I couldn't understand why I wasn't granted that gift. I was worthy of my Heavenly Father's Blessings, He was pouring them out in other areas. But not in the area of "FAMILY.” Or at least, not like I wanted Him to do. I spent a lot of these years spending every other weekend with my nephews, filling what I felt was a void with their laughter and cuddles. 

One day I was visiting with some sisters from my church. Both of them married with kids of their own, we were discussing families. And I blurted out that I felt like my role right now was not to be a mom, my role was to be an aunt and to help with the children around me. I don't remember having this conversation previously, although I may have, but I remember the feeling of being complete in my heart after I said it. I thought about it all day, and for the next weeks to come.

I finally understood His plan. He did not intend for me to be a mother right now. And while I did not expect that, He wanted this for me. So, I started to embrace it. I wasn't going to be a mother, but I was so much more... A friend. A sister. A daughter. And my personal favorite: an A U N T.

It was with this realization that I promised myself the people around me would know of my love, and I would be the best aunt I could possibly be!

At first it was just my nephews. Then they got older and lost interest (LOL) in spending weekends with me. At that time my friends were having babies. And I was throwing baby showers and changing diapers, and babysitting for date nights, and visiting in the hospital — you name it! And with time, I saw how rich my life was with the people in it, and I did not miss the family I didn't have.

Because I do not have a family of my own, I have been able to do so much that I otherwise couldn't do. I have spent the night in the hospital with friends. I have babysat a countless number of hours. I have been up well into the morning talking to friends who went through many trials, including divorces. I've dropped everything to be there for friends without having to accommodate my personal family. I've stayed at my sister's house for weeks while she enjoyed vacations. I have traveled across the country to hug friends in need. I've spent 9 nights in a row with multiple different friends who have needed love in one form or another. And the one thing I could not do on my own, my sister let me do — I got to experience the birth of my niece, Josey Grace.
 
Most importantly - I have received unconditional love from more children than I can count on my hands, toes and eyelashes! I have given piggy back rides, pushed swings, held hands, made lots of meals, given millions of hugs, told stories, made crafts, celebrated birthdays, wiped tears, comforted, put on bandages, tied shoes, taught life lessons, and helped with homework. I have also disciplined, been peed on, thrown up on, and hit in the face.

I am not lacking because I am not a mother.

Quite the opposite; I am overjoyed and full of love and life lessons, because I am an AUNT.

Today is not a day to celebrate me. Today is a day to celebrate mothers. Do not wish me a Happy Mother's Day and send me your love and sentiment about how I deserve to be a mom as much as the next person. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and my day will come. But it isn't today, and I need you to be as okay with that as I am.

Instead, let me be your friend. Let me love your kids. Let that be enough for me. And celebrate me on Aunt & Uncles Day: July 26th!

I may not be a mom, but I am happy, and I know I am where I need to be. And, I am more than in love with my life and my role as a sister, friend, daughter, and aunt to dozens of kiddos. 

<3

When God Told Me to Resign From My Job. And I Listened.

I resigned from my job.

I did not have another job lined up.

I did not (and for the record DO NOT) know what my next step was (is) supposed to be.

But I resigned. From my job.

Gave a four-week notice… and resigned… without a new job lined up… knowing I would have to move…

*deep breath*

I resigned.

WHO DOES THAT?!

Me. I do. (Apparently.)

You should know I have worked for the same company for 11 ½ years. In 2008 I started work as a part time Resident Advisor for off-campus student housing. And in the summer of 2009, I thought I’d take time off from college, move home, and figure out my life. Before I could, the owner of my company offered me a full-time (big girl) job with bonuses and benefits. Only an idiot would say no. (And despite what you might be thinking after I told you I resigned from my job without a new job, I am no idiot.)

When I submitted my notice on Monday, 1/20/20 (the day I like to call D-Day), the most asked question was, “What happened?” And the truthful answer is – God happened.

I’ve always been a faithful follower of my loving and too-good-to-me Heavenly Father. I was gifted this blind, miraculous, enlightening faith that has carried me throughout my life. I have always known, without doubt, of Him and His intense love for me, and as long as I was living my life to be the best person I could be, He would give me blessings. And boy has He delivered on that promise!! I’m fortunate that I have not had to work very hard to know where to go, or what to do, because either the steps of life have fallen into place, or the answers have come quick and have felt positive and reassuring at every crossroad.

Until now.

After my full-time position started (as a leasing consultant) I took to the multi family housing industry like a fish to water. You could not convince me, or anyone around me, that I wasn’t made for this gig. I grew leaps and bounds and just after 2 years was promoted to manager. Was I ready? Heavens no. But my leadership team trusted me and I knew with hard work, determination, a strong team, and a little bit of Jesus, ya girl could kill it. AND. I. DID. Looking back, I have no clue how I was chosen to manage a 375-unit, multi-site property with the little bit of experience I had. I’m still astounded. But here I am. After a total of 11 ½ years in this industry and with my company – at a weird impasse.

I know, I know. You want to know how we got to the impasse. Truth is, it’s been a slow journey.

5 ½ years ago I visited my best friend in Arizona. I fell in love. In a million years I never thought I would entertain the idea I had from the moment I stepped out of the airport – I could live here. I prayed and prayed and was overcome with the feeling that a change would come, but not right now.

3 years ago I felt the stirring in my heart to make a change. I prayed about it and felt like it was time to entertain the idea of moving to Arizona. My sister was pregnant with what she said (and still claims) would be her last baby. I felt like trying Arizona for a couple years while the baby was little and wouldn’t miss me, was the greatest idea. I applied fervently for jobs and when I visited, interviewed my butt off. I even entertained the idea of working in California. (But let’s be real, the California idea didn’t last very long.) None of the job offers I received felt right. None of them gave me peace or reassurance.

Clearly, I didn’t move.

And boy am I glad! Josey Grace was born and most of y’all know she is just the greatest baby in the world, and I seriously could not imagine the past three years without her sweet love in my life!

From that moment forward, I have had this nagging feeling about leaving my job and trying something new. However, local jobs I interviewed for never felt right. The companies didn’t feel right. The positions didn’t feel right. Sometimes it was the person interviewing me that didn’t feel like a good fit. And when I felt good about something, my default decision making method would turn on – is it worth the discomfort to make the change, or would I rather be comfortable? Comfort always won.

Comfort. Always. Won.

In 2018 I started seeing my therapist, Molly. In 2019 I started seeing a nutrition therapist, Laura. The two of them have successfully challenged every comfort-patterned thinking I have ever had. I have spent a lot of money, a lot of time, and ten times as many tears, working through stuff. I can’t even define “stuff” because it’s so much. I have a better relationship with other people, and myself, through all of the work we’ve put in together. And I have found comfort in the uncomfortable.

But most of all – they’ve helped me trust myself.

Which in turn, has helped me trust my Heavenly Father so much more.

A little over a year ago I started having this same nagging feeling that I need to explore other employment opportunities. But I just gently pushed it away because staying in my job was comfortable. I needed surgery and couldn’t afford not to have insurance. It didn’t make sense to rock the boat. Plus, I had just started working with my nutrition therapist and was challenging everything I ever thought or learned about diet culture, food, nutrition, and how to not hate my body. (Maybe I’ll be brave enough to write this blog one day.) The biggest decision I was capable of making last year was whether or not I would continue to dye my hair – and the choice was no. (Yet another blog to write.)

But when Heavenly Father has a plan for you, I’ve learned He WILL make it happen. And over time I started exploring the idea of moving outside of Greensboro. GASP. I KNOW. I started planning with my sister what it would be like to live on her land (my brother-in-law’s dream for 7 years has been to move me close), and possibly work for her company. The more we casually talked about this the more realistic and enticing it became, living near my family and seeing them more than a few times a month.

One day in October my mom called me to help her understand some directions for her colonoscopy. My sister was out of town at a funeral and mom could not understand the preparation schedule. (To understand mom and why she needed my help, scroll back a few blogs.) I was overwhelmed with both frustration and sadness that I couldn’t help her. And more so that my sister had to help her after a long day at a funeral. I am still, as I type this, sad because my sister does so much, and I wish I could do more. This event gave a LOT of water to the life-changing-seed that had been planted in my mind.

Over the next two months I am bombarded by the feeling that in 2020 something will change. And I will need to be brave. I knew I would be quitting my job. I knew I would be moving. And while I told a select couple of people, I couldn’t do anything about it because I didn’t know where I would be going or how I was going to leave a city, apartment, job, friends, church, etc. that I love.

So, I sat in my comfortable job and plugged along. I brainstormed possibilities on a regular basis and I stressed and anxiously planned out every worst-case scenario that could happen if I were to make any of these changes. Which made me want to stay even more.

There was a series of events that happened in my personal life and work life where I believe Heavenly Father pointedly showed me, it’s time to move on. Nothing earth shattering, but small instances that continued to water this life-changing-seed. (One of them was the start of my Best Friend Book Club to read Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown.) But where am I going to go?! I started applying for jobs. This time, most of them in cities that would put me closer to my family. Because if I’m going to move, I might as well solve two problems. I had an interview. Score. Beautiful property in Mooresville, right on Lake Norman. During the interview I look this regional manager in the eye and said, whether or not you hire me for this job, I will be resigning from my current company. I don’t remember choosing my words in the three minutes that followed, but I was speaking, and I remember the message I shared: The time has come for me to grow. For me to try something new. For me to be in a new place.

 

I felt the truth of this message in my bones. Stronger than I had with any other time I discussed my future. I knew I would be doing it. In truth I had known for a long time. But I knew, as long as I worked at my job, I wouldn’t make any changes. A bit later I had an appointment with my therapist. I tell her what I’m thinking. We discuss all the fears. I walk through them. I clear my mind of all worldy hesitations. Whatever fog I’ve created that has stopped me from feeling the spirit around these thoughts – is gone.

And this is where God steps in.

Over the next four days I listen to the spirit in a way I have never heard it speak to me. I watch as people are put in my path, and conversations happen, that show me how aware my Heavenly Father is of my need for confirmation. As I write this I am crying with gratitude to share this with you. That Sunday at church we had a talk on faith. In Sunday School we discuss holding to the iron rod. We talk about Nephi being willing to go and do the things the Lord commands. That afternoon, scrolling through Instagram I come across a spiritual thought from Al Carraway titled “When we don’t know WHAT to Move Forward With”. In this she talks about the difficulty of making decisions and needing to know what direction to go. I was overcome by peace as I listened to her remind me that Heavenly Father may not tell us which decision is right (because multiple choices can be right) but He will ALWAYS tell us if a decision is wrong.

In that moment. At 3ish in the afternoon, I had no fear. No sadness. No hesitation. A change was coming. It was here. And the feeling I felt months prior, to be brave, was coming to pass. I would be resigning the next day.

I asked a friend for a blessing. Priesthood blessings are given in our church by worthy priesthood holders who have the authority to act in God’s name. The words shared in the blessing, by inspiration and revelation, are as if Heavenly Father Himself were saying them to you. I don’t remember crying. I just remember repeating everything in my head hoping I could remember it the next morning. When it was over I had tear stained cheeks and shirt and sobbed with love and gratitude. How could I fear any change, especially one that He has told me to make, showed me how to make, and orchestrated for me?! I bee-lined home to write down everything I could remember:

• Heavenly Father is keenly aware of me and my needs
• As I walk in faith I will come to know the atonement in ways I’ve never thought possible or even considered
• He is proud of me for making this choice and acting on faith
• I do not need to fear because He will make sure my temporal needs are met. My wants may be lacking, but my needs will be met.
• Do not fear this change
• Be comforted by the atonement
• Know Heavenly Father loves me 
• Stepping into the unknown to me is NOT unknown to Him
• He knows me. He loves me. He is aware of this trial and proud of the choice I’ve made
  

How could I ever fear when He is beside me and I am doing HIS will?!

I can’t.

I didn’t.

I don’t.

I woke up Monday knowing I was walking into a dark room and if I would be patient enough and let Him take His time, He would turn on the light. But first, I need to go into the dark room.

WHO CHOOSES TO GO INTO THE DARK ROOM AND CAN’T CONTROL THE LIGHTS?! Not me. Nope. I don’t.

But I did.

I drove to my corporate office, without any doubt or fear about this decision. I knew Heavenly Father would guide me every step of the way. Instead of anxiously overthinking, I turned on some K-Love and “The God Who Stays” comes on. And these lyrics right here stuck with me:

You're the God who stays
You're the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You're the God who stands
With wide open arms

And when the song ends, I’m in the parking lot, and I know. Not only does He know me. Not only is this His will, but He is the God who STAYS. And I knew He was walking in the door with me that day. And I know He orchestrated it so I could confidently tell my regional manager, then the president of our company, and then the owner of our company, that I am choosing to walk away and faithfully follow my Heavenly Father to something new and different. I hoped I was able to express my gratitude and humility for the opportunity I was given 10 years ago to step out of a part time role and grow with them. For 11 ½ years I have been learning about this industry and developing some key career skills that I hope will help me succeed in my next journey. While this company is headed in a positive direction of expansion and growth, the reality is, I just could not see myself on this journey with them. This company is all I have known as an adult and right now, I feel this overwhelming need to learn something new. Try something new. Be with a new company and new culture. Let new leaders teach and guide me. And, have a fresh start.

Truth is, I felt this three years ago. But Heavenly Father knew I wasn’t ready to listen to Him. And He knew I was too complacent to step outside of my comfort zone. So, He planted the seed and then worked diligently to water it until I was ready. Until I could trust myself to lean on Him.

I sat with my therapist, Molly and said, “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe it. I bet you never thought this day would come.” And she said, “Oh I knew this day would come. I knew you could do it. You didn’t think you could do it. But I knew.” And I’ll be dangged if that isn’t the moral of the story. I didn’t know I could do this. But Heavenly Father sure did. He saw I needed an opportunity to change and grow and He made it happen. One step at a time. I am in awe and wonder of His work and His glory. I am in awe of the trust He has in me to listen to Him.

So, what’s next? I have no clue. Truth be told, I’m still in the dark room. Waiting for the light to be turned on. All the while I’m frantically applying for jobs and semi-panicking about packing my garage to move. I am hopeful for some light to shine soon, but I know it will be on His time, in His manner.

And, I’ll wait. Because while it might seem crazy to quit your job without a new one, and I might agree with that thought, it doesn’t feel crazy knowing it’s what God wants.

Today we’re doing what He wants.

That means applying for endless jobs, planning a move, and packing up my life for whatever is next.

AND it means trusting Him to keep talking to me, while trusting myself to keep listening.

(P.S.  Don’t hesitate to send any job opportunities my way. LOL!)

What Food Insecurity Looks Like From the Inside

Around 2009 my career led me to be a fund-and-food-raising supporter of an organization named Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC (Second Harvest). Supporting thousands of local families through a myriad of programs, this organization touched my heart and their mission hit home with me. This year my company, Signature Property Group, is participating in fundraising efforts with other apartment communities, vendors, and management companies in the Triad. We are all in, trying to raise enough money and food for 500,000 meals. HALF. A. MILLION. MEALS. And we are well on our way!

I am writing this blog because one, I want to ask YOU to help us. Just $1 affords Second Harvest the opportunity to buy 7 – YES, SEVEN – nutritious meals. $13 will feed one person three nutritious meals for a month! It really is this easy to make an impact.

More importantly, I want you know why the mission of Second Harvest hit so close to home…

Before you continue reading, I want you to know I had a good childhood. It wasn’t perfect, but I had a mom and sister that I loved and friends who were so fun. I played a lot of games, dominated in mother-may-I, and read more books in 3^rd-6^th grade than anyone in North Carolina, I’m sure. I had clothes on my back and my aunts always made sure we had birthday and Christmas presents. I never realized the battles we faced were unique because my closest friends faced the same battles. I honestly didn’t know I was “missing out” on anything until I went to college and made some of the greatest friendships I have today. As I share my experience, I am asking that you know the struggles I am going to share, and others I might share in the future, have molded who I am, and in a way, define who I am, but have not made me jaded to my past life. I still look upon my childhood with love in a lot of ways and I know there are many out there (some may be reading this now) who have had a much harder life than we did.

That being said…

As a child, there were a few days each month that I remember making me excitedly happy – 1) sleepover days, when friends would ride the bus home with me, 2) Monopoly game days with my best friend John, and 3) the 5^th of every month – when momma went to Jacksonville and picked up our food stamps!

Until I started supporting Second Harvest I didn’t know what it meant to be “food insecure”. I knew there were a lot of days I was hungry, but I didn’t know there was a possible solution – again, I grew up with friends in very similar situations.

On food stamp day my sister and I would come home after school and mom would be waiting to leave, anxious like we were, to go to the grocery store. Armed with a piece of paper, pencil and calculator, we would head to Food Lion, excited to have food again. 

Again. 

An adverb meaning once more, or returning to a previous condition.

The food we would buy this day would last us the next 3 weeks. Max. We wouldn’t get treats, we wouldn’t get bagel bites or French toast sticks (or other fun snacky food I grew to like at my friends’ homes), we wouldn’t get fresh fruits or vegetables (except maybe a bag of oranges and a bag of apples – for the month), and we wouldn’t get enough food to last the next 30 days. Of course, we would hope that the spaghetti, chili, porkchops, chicken, bologna, bread, potatoes, ramen noodles, etc. that we did buy, would make it the full month, but it never did. 

It would last close to 3 weeks and then we’d scrimp by, my sister and I eating our only real meals at lunch at school, having ramen noodles or mayonnaise sandwiches for dinner, sometimes going to bed hungry. Until we good food stamps… and had food… again.

And until right now, as I am writing this, I never thought about my mom, and how she must’ve felt throughout the day, knowing she couldn’t put a meal on the table for us at dinner. Maybe she didn’t stress about it as much as I imagine her stressing, but it couldn’t be easy knowing she couldn’t change our circumstances.

(For more insight on our momma and the unique struggles she has, you can read a blog I posted a few years ago titled “i love you, momma”.)

So this is what “food insecurity” is. It is not famine, it is not starvation, it is extreme bouts of hunger. It is going periods of time not knowing where your next meal is coming from. It is summer months of not having school lunch and hoping the community lunch truck is going to show up because you haven’t eaten a meal in three days. It’s eating carbs on carbs on carbs because they’re cheap and filling and not knowing until you’re 20 that you like steamed broccoli and you love fresh pineapple. It’s going to a friends’ house and sneaking packs of fruit gushers in your backpack while everyone is asleep so you can have a treat over the next couple of days. Food insecurity is going to school hungry and lying when the teacher asks why you’re so lethargic or grumpy and off from your normal mood because you haven’t eaten since lunch the day before. 

And then the 5^th of the next month comes. And for the next three weeks you’re happy. Tensions at home are subsided because everyone is fed. You think more clearly at school, you don’t sneak snacks at friends’ houses, you don’t have a reason to lie to your teacher and you get a good nights’ rest on a full belly.

Until the food runs out and you’re hoping and praying someone asks you to join them for a sleepover.

Last year I started seeing a therapist. Molly. One of the greatest gifts ever given to me is her referral (thanks Heather!). For the past year Molly and I have worked through so much. I jokingly tell her by the time she solves my problems (which she always reminds me she can’t do) I’m going to put her kids through college! This year we’ve talked extensively through my weight loss challenges. And while on maternity leave for the summer she referred me to a Nutritional/Dietician Counselor so I can specifically work on the underlying issues with my obesity.

Insert Laura. She’s a gem. In the short time I’ve been seeing her I can tell I’m already giving her a run for her money… I’ll let her know she can expect me to put her kids through college too!

A couple of months ago I told Molly I’ve had this nagging feeling that my childhood somehow has led to my obesity and I can’t figure it out because WE DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH FOOD so reason would state I’d be thin. Maybe it was food choices? Because we ate lots of bread and pasta. But again, only 3-ish weeks every month. Sometimes less. My sister and I were talking about the propensity I have to over-eat. We tied that back to the times we did have food and we would get our bellies FULL. And now I am in constant search of that fullness, and constantly over-eating.

Then I brought this up to Laura. And know I know – food insecurity leads to obesity for these reasons and more!

• Food insecurity leads to obesity because it slows down the body’s metabolism to protect from starvation when that week-or-two of food insecurity begins. It stores fat to use it later when the periods of hunger strike.

• Food insecurity leads to obesity because of poor food choice. The cheapest foods are the highest in carbs and sugar. And while the body absolutely needs them to survive, with a slower metabolism the sugar is stored for later and not promptly used.

• Food insecurity leads to obesity because when you have food you will always overeat to overcompensate the fear that you do not know when your next meal will be there or be missing.

• Food insecurity leads to obesity because when you don’t have enough food, you’re not happy. And when you do have food it releases endorphins that make you feel happy. So, in periods of food security you may overeat for that feeling of happiness.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. YES! To all of the above.

When I came to college it was the first time, I had regular access to food. So, I ask Laura, who has to be the most excited dietician I’ve ever known because she gets thrilled when my brain works through problems and I ask her questions, “If my childhood was a cycle of nourishment and starvation why didn’t I lose weight when I had constant food?” GOOD QUESTION! (That’s how I know I’m on to something). She said if you weren’t giving your body constant nourishment it did not learn that it doesn’t need to hold on to the storage for a future period of hunger. And she’s right, I didn’t. I would skip meals (still do), I would prolong eating until way past the point of hunger to finish work in the library (or now at my desk). I found comfort in feeling H U N G R Y and then solving it with a big ole meal. Because that’s how I felt happiness as a child.

Yes, now I’m working through habits and thought processes to help me. I am trying to figure out how to change the fate of my food insecure past that has led me to be the 400+ pound person I am today. And yes, it feels great to know there’s light at the end of the tunnel – but that’s not why we’re here…

We’re here because I want you to see what food insecurity causes. Many of you who read this will be people who know me well, love me deeply, and will probably message me with “I am sorry you went through that”. I am asking you not to be sorry for me, or sorry for my sister, or sorry for my mother. I am asking you to recognize the impact you can have. Not just now, but forever.

I frequently think about the kids whose parents go to food banks, churches, schools, etc. and have to ask for help. I think about the children sitting in school Friday dreading the weekend because there isn’t food at home. I think about the children who are lethargic today because there was no breakfast or who lie to the teacher about why they’re in a bad mood. I think about how their food insecure lives could be leading to health problems in the future. I think about them often because they are me. They are my sister. They are my childhood friends. And there are thousands. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS who need our help and support, if we can give it. 

We’re here because we can do our part to help absolve food insecurity and help prevent childhood obesity. We can do our part to also help adults and senior citizens who need food security as well.

My family and I are living witness that one can survive food insecurity, but should we have had to endure it? Should our neighbors have to endure it? If we can each help a little, they will not have to endure it any longer.

We are here because I want you to donate to Second Harvest. Whether directly to them or through our fundraising efforts, I want you to know you can make a difference. Just $1 buys 7 nutritious meals. Imagine giving $13 and providing 3 nutritious meals every day for a whole month for that sweet child, trying to focus in school. Or for that elderly neighbor choosing medicine over food.

Thank you for your love and prayers and support. If you can, thank you for helping us raise 500,000 meals! And, thank you for just reading to the end, I am proud to call all of you my friends.

To learn more about Second Harvest Food Bank of NW NC: https://www.hungernwnc.org/

To donate to our fundraiser, raising 500,000 meals: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/account/792917?fbclid=IwAR0vUoqo1XcdBT7GuBnCBff3mlgcZEWKAqQZOCFPv_saU825Dn2i3aeCPt8

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