Bailey’s adult life has been devoted to caring for and teaching young children. After nine years in the classroom, she chose to stay home to raise her four children.
Around the time Bailey left her teaching job, her husband, Gabe, started his own business painting houses. Unfortunately, Gabe fell from the roof of a house while painting, fracturing 12 ribs. He was unable to work for two months.
During this time, there was one month when the family had no income. That’s when a friend encouraged Bailey to visit Chase County Care and Compassion in Strong City, a Kansas Food Bank agency partner. Now, when her family needs a little extra help,
she knows where to go.
“It’s been a blessing…It’s been a really big help to bridge the gap,” Bailey says, adding that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) “only gets you so far.”
Bailey is grateful to remove the stigma of visiting a food pantry for her kids — Ezakias, 10, Acacia, 7, Merak, 4, and Severy, 1. She emphasizes that this is just a season and it is okay to ask for help, something she says she had to learn herself, too.
“My kids love pantry day,” Bailey says. “When we get home, they help unload and it’s kind of you know like a treasure [hunt]. It’s like ‘oh what do we have?’”
Thank you. Friends like you help make it possible for families like Bailey’s to keep enough healthy food on the table this summer and all year long.
