“The first thing I thought when we got here today was ‘We’re going to be able to have a salad tonight with dinner.’ A real, healthy, loaded up salad. I can’t wait!” -Robert
Robert and his wife, Marie recently moved to Fallon. Robert became disabled four years ago, and the year after that, Marie had to retire earlier than they’d anticipated due to an illness. Now, the couple lives on a fixed income and struggling to just make ends meet.
Most months, Robert tells us, he and Marie feel lucky if they have about $300 that can put towards a grocery budget for the month after covering their other expenses. It isn’t much, but they’re able to make it work by shopping sales and being thoughtful about which items they choose. It means they eat a lot more canned goods than they used to, and Robert says they often marvel at the idea of how much a person can really miss good, fresh produce.
“We’ve worked so hard all our lives. It’s really hard to feel like we’ve become ‘those’ seniors – you either take your medication or you feed yourself. It can’t be both. I just never thought that would happen to us.” -Marie
Recently, Robert’s doctor prescribed some new maintenance medications, and the co-pays for them have been a big hit to the couple’s monthly budget. Suddenly, they found ourselves in the situation of trying to decide whether to skip filling the prescriptions or be left with even less money for groceries each month. That’s when a neighbor asked Marie if they knew about the Food Bank’s Mobile Harvest program, and they decided to check it out the next time the program was in Fallon. As volunteers loaded their groceries into their vehicle, Robert and Marie were both overcome with emotion.
“We received so much fresh produce, I’m amazed just looking at it. There was also eggs, milk, and some meat. So much of that is the stuff we feel like we have to avoid at the store in order to stretch our dollars, so this definitely feels like a real treat. I feel like so many of my worries were just erased. Knowing that I can get the medication I need, and my wife and I can get back to eating healthy, nutritious meals means so much. Thank you!” -Robert
