At 90 years young, Bradford maintains a lengthy list of hobbies, from playing piano and reading to knitting hats for children in his neighborhood and cooking up meals for himself and any family who might be visiting.
“I cook all the time,” he says. “I cook whatever I have.”
Bradford is grateful to have plenty of healthy ingredients to cook with, thanks to visits he makes to pick up nutritious groceries from Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry, a Kansas Food Bank partner agency. Since 2017, Shepherd’s Heart has been focusing on distributing fresh fruits and vegetables to ensure pantry guests have access to items they cannot afford to purchase.
“It helps me,” he says of the visits. “They give me a lot of good food.”
Bradford, an Air Force Veteran, was married for 28 years before his wife passed away, and he has lived alone ever since. The couple had three children, and now Bradford has two grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Two of his adult children live nearby and often stop by to visit. He’s always happy to cook for them.
“We get vegetables, soup, bananas, eggs, beef rolls, pork rolls,” Bradford shares enthusiastically about some of the food available at Shepherd’s Heart. “I couldn’t survive without it.”
“I couldn’t imagine not having this place,” he says.
Thank you for sharing so generously to make sure our neighbors have daily access to nutritious food this winter and all year!