11 THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK 2017 ANNUAL REPORT THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 12 Together, we are making a difference. Heba Revere, Massachusetts The medical costs to treat her 4-year- old son, suffering from a brain tumor, bankrupted Heba’s husband and he abandoned the family. With no job and a sick child, Heba found herself the sole provider for her four children and her parents. “It was hard going to the grocery store. I was crying from the pressure and didn’t know what to do,” said Heba who, despite receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, could not provide enough to feed her family. Today, Heba works as a paraprofessional at an elementary school where GBFB operates a School-based Pantry. Heba still struggles to make ends meet. “Now, when my food stamps run out, I still have food,” Heba said. “I get carrots, onions, milk, celery, pasta, hummus— many different things. My kids’ eyes light up as they open the bags.” Jean Brockton, Massachusetts Jean, a breast cancer survivor and senior, lives on a fixed income. Like many seniors living on fixed incomes, Jean’s monthly budget was already tight and became stretched further when the cost of her medications increased. One prescription jumped from $8 to $120 a month. Jean feared for her health and did not know how she was going to afford her critical medication, rent and food. “We have worked our whole lives, but costs keep going up and our income stays the same,” Jean said. Jean turned to her local food pantry for help and now goes once a month. She also receives supplemental food from one of GBFB’s Brown Bag programs that operates at her senior apartment building. GBFB’s Brown Bag program provides seniors with 15-20 pounds of nutritious food every month at 15 partner locations throughout Eastern Massachusetts. “The first time I got food from the food pan- try I said to myself, ‘OK, I don’t have to go hungry today or tomorrow’,” Jean said. Erich Auburn, Massachusetts Erich, a retired U.S. Army medic who served in Iraq, works as a physical therapy assistant at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford. His income makes it difficult to afford nutritious food for his three active teens—ages 15, 16 and 18—and keep up with the family’s other expenses. “It’s a lot of mouths to feed,” Erich said. Recently, GBFB launched a free, produce Mobile Market at the hospital where patients and staff in need, like Erich, receive 25-30 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables each month. “The food we get from the Mobile Market goes a long way when you’re feeding five,” Erich said. “I want my family to eat well, and this enables me to do that.” Carla Lawrence, Massachusetts Carla,19, juggles a full college course load and a part-time job to support her and her mother, who has stage 4 breast cancer. She attends school and works on campus at Northern Essex Community College (NECC) in Haverhill. To help put food on the table, Carla gets fresh fruits and vegetables every month from GBFB’s free, produce Mobile Market at NECC. “I’m the only one in my home who works, so the free Mobile Market helps me have food at home and concentrate better on my studies,” Carla said. “The food I got lasted us several weeks.” GBFB’s community college Mobile Markets help a population that many do not associate with hunger, students. Carla and her mother receive Supplemen- tal Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance, but because Carla works part time, they only receive about $20 a month in benefits. The Mobile Market provides them with 25-30 pounds of nutritious produce.