HEAVY HEARTS, BUT FULL CUPBOARDS
It had been a whirlwind last few weeks for Kasandra Brady when she stopped by Ministry on the Margins in Bismarck, a partner food pantry of the Great Plains Food Bank.
Her seven-year-old daughter, Justice, was at school, which allowed Kasandra the opportunity to visit the food pantry to fill her empty cupboards. Both Justice and Kasandra have been going through life with heavy hearts as they mourn the recent loss of Justice’s father.
Now learning to maneuver through life as a single mother, this was Kasandra’s first stop at Ministry on the Margins.
“I’m very appreciative and thankful,” she says about what she was able to receive that day.
It’s difficult for Kasandra to imagine where the small family would be without the help of food assistance. When Justice arrives home from school, they are too often faced with the reality of not many resources to get by. They are currently being forced to make difficult choices between using what money they have to buy food and paying for other items they need or bills.
Kasandra is currently working as a delivery driver, but not getting enough hours to make it by. With needing to be home with Justice when she is not in school, she is limited in the hours she can work. The family was also still reeling from the hit they took earlier in the fall with the high cost of school supplies.
But with help from Ministry on the Margins along with Spirit of Life Catholic Church Food Pantry & Soup Kitchen, which is another Great Plains Food Bank partner in Mandan, they are able to get by. The food they receive is enough to last around a week at a time.
And most importantly it helps to keep them moving forward in a difficult time.
With all the struggles the family currently faces, it is comforting for them knowing there are places they can turn to when food is difficult to come back.
“It is a big relief,” Kasandra said.