Marion County Community Ministries

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving historically is our busiest day of the year. This year was no different. We set a new single day record as shown in the following table:

We would not have been able to meet this need without the efforts of a team of volunteers who came in on Monday, November 23 to fill boxes so that the Tuesday crew could focus on distributing the boxes. Thank you, thank you to both crews. This Tuesday before Thanksgiving was the smoothest such day we have ever had.

In East Tennessee and especially here in Marion County there are a lot of families just like Gaby’s family in the video above. MCCM is able to assist the Gaby’s in Marion County because of YOU. We are partnered also with the local Second Harvest affiliate, the Chattanooga Food Bank (CAFB), which sends their Mobile Pantry to various schools in Marion. Please take 2 minutes to view Gaby’s story in the video below, and then please consider how you can help support MCCM’s Food Bank and Good Neighbors programs.

My husband Josh and I have three children. John is seven, Gavin is two and Marietta is one. When we first got married our lives were pretty stable. We had a place to live and both of us worked full time. We could pay the bills; we could buy our children the things they needed. But then I lost my job and things went downhill from there.

Josh lost his job the year after I did. We had just moved into a new home so the loss was especially tough. We did everything we could to find other work but apparently it just wasn’t enough. Today, we are down to our last dime. After the bills are paid, there is no money left. In fact, there is no money to pay the bills. We constantly have to make tough choices like choosing between buying diapers and paying the light bill. If it wasn’t for the food bank, we would definitely have to choose between paying for utilities and buying food.

We receive help from the food bank – Second Harvest of Northeast Tennessee – in two ways: through the mobile food bank that comes to our community monthly, and through the BackPack program at John’s school. Each Friday, he comes home with a bag full of healthy food that enables me to make quick, easy meals for all my children. Josh and I may have to skip meals, but we make sure our children never have to. Without help from the food bank though, I really don’t know how we’d feed them.

We never thought our lives would turn out like this – no one does. But when we did find ourselves in this situation we are so thankful the food bank is there to help. We won’t always struggle like this; I have hopes for a better future. In fact, Josh starts a new job this week and I’m planning on going to school to be a welder. We’ll work hard to get on our feet so we can give our children a better life. I want them to have the world and someday, the ability to give back.