Meet Wanda Brown
Ms. Wanda has raised her two grandchildren since they were born. One of the boys is a teenager, the other twenty; both are still living with her, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Four years ago, her husband – a veteran – passed away, and she is still working with the VA on widow’s benefits. So even though the boys are old enough to help out, the family struggles to make ends meet. Now she visits the Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry in Campti every month and is grateful she doesn’t have to drive 30 minutes into Natchitoches to find services. “It helps out a lot because I get a very limited income. I pay my rent, my light bill, my water bill, and buy a few groceries… and then this helps out in between all of that.”
In spite of their struggles, Ms. Wanda appreciates everything they have. “But we’re making it. And look around, and there’s someone right there worse than we are. It’s hard to look at sometimes.” She looked back to the line of cars snaking its way around the corner out of sight behind her and added, “I know these back here all probably need it, or they wouldn’t be here.”
Most of all, Ms. Wanda focuses on what’s truly important. “Did y’all have a good Christmas and New Years? We did. Wasn’t nothin’ fancy, but we had it anyway. I told ‘em, we had a roof over our head, we had food, and we could be together, and that’s what mattered.”
