A Chance To Start Over
Anna and her husband Albert are trying to put their lives back together and she says the food bank has played a major role in that effort.
Albert has almost totally lost the use of one leg after three unsuccessful knee replacement surgeries and subsequent infections. He may face amputation. Anna recently was released after 7 1/2 years in prison.
“I made some stupid mistakes and now we are trying to restart our lives at a very old age,” she says.
Anna and Albert are 69 and 74 respectively and retired from responsible jobs. Their only income is from Social Security.
“This [the food bank] is the difference between us having a decent meal and not,” Anna said.
The option is something like Top Ramen every night.
“I can do more things with Top Ramen than anybody in the world,” she laughed.
And for those thinking Anna must be a bit of a hard-boiled personality after the prison term, forget it.
“She’s the sweetest client we have,” said one volunteer walking past as Anna sat for this interview.
“I decided I had to become a whole new me,” she said.
-Chris Fruitrich, retired journalist and food bank volunteer
Note: Anna and Albert are pseudonyms to protect the clients’ privacy