Feeding America

Meet Jim and Jean - “I got up that morning at 8:30 and looked outside and it was pitch black,” said Jean Bauman, a retiree who lived in Paradise, California. “I went back into the bedroom and I said to my husband Jim, ‘You’ve got to get out of bed.’” At first, Jim and Jean were hoping the Camp Fire would be contained before reaching their small home – a secluded one-floor cottage nestled amongst towering California Foothill Pines. “It was still three ridges over that morning,” Jim recalled. “That’s a long way away.” But the fire moved fast, devouring an acre of land – an entire football field – every second. An hour later, fiery chunks of debris were pelting the couple’s home. “I went outside and the sky was glowing red all around us,” Jim said. “We started grabbing pictures off the wall and got out of there.” On November 8, 2018, the Camp Fire incinerated nearly all of Paradise, including the Bauman’s home. The inferno left nothing but brick chimneys and charred sludge in its wake; the once-green rolling hills yellowed and ashen. “We lost fifty years of everything in that house,” Jean said. “It’s numbing.” As the couple navigates insurance to begin rebuilding their house, they’re finding that there are far more out-of-pocket expenses than they’d ever imagined, so the couple reached out for assistance. The Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, a member of the Feeding America network, was there. After the fire, the food bank began a mobile food distribution just a few miles from Paradise. “It’s nice coming to a place like this where people are actually just trying to help us,” Jean said. “Anything that we can save on food will help us rebuild our home faster,” Jim said. “This food is a gift. It’s uplifting. It gives us hope.”

Meet Zoey - 8-year-old Zoey is bubbly, friendly and vibrates with energy. She's a pretty normal kid – she loves to play outside, go to the park, draw and hang out with her four siblings and her parents, Mikel and Tiffany. She also adores animals. And when she grows up, she wants to be a veterinarian. "I want to help animals," she said. "They're my dream to take care of." But before Zoey can be a veterinarian, she needs to grow up healthy and strong. And for her family, that can be hard because there's not always enough food in the fridge to feed everyone. Mikel, Zoey's dad, spent eight years in the U.S. Army, including a deployment to Iraq. Because of his time in the military he is disabled but tries to fill the gaps taking jobs as a part-time mechanic. And Tiffany, Zoey's mom, stays at home to take care of her and her four siblings. Without a consistent income, money – and food – can be hard to come by for the family. "We eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner sometimes because there isn't much food in our house," Zoey admitted. "My mom and dad have to go without just so that us kids can have food in our stomachs." And that sacrifice isn't lost on Zoey. "It makes me sad," she said. "Because it's either I can eat their food or I don't eat at all." But the family isn't alone. They visit a food pantry near their home in Monroe, Louisiana. The pantry works with the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana, a member of the Feeding America network. "The food bank helps us because it gives us food to eat," Zoey said. "It gives us cereal and milk. It gives us lunch and dinner too." Zoey knows how important it is to have the food she does from the pantry. "Food makes you healthy, it makes you strong and it helps you grow," she said. And despite the family's struggles, Zoey stays positive. Her energy and hope shine through even in the most challenging of times. "My family is big. But if I had a wish for them, it would be that we all have food to eat."​

Meet James - James is a colon cancer survivor. But he says he wouldn't have survived if it weren't for the food pantry he visits in Farmville, Louisiana. "The food was much needed during the chemo," he said. The pantry receives food from the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana, a member of the Feeding America network. James has to drive 45 minutes to the pantry, but it's worth it, he says. Without the healthy food he received, his road to recovery might've been much bumpier. "I would probably be spending all my money on food without this," he said.​