We love sharing stories from the parents of the children we serve. In today’s blog we share the story of  Ms. Mitchell Jones who is a mother, grandmother and foster mother.

Ms. Jones is a very special woman. She spends a lot of time at Grimsley High School and Kiser Middle School, where her two special needs daughters attend school. It was during one of her many volunteer days at Grimsley that she learned about the Food and Clothing Pantry Programs available to her family.

“The food and the clothing have truly been a blessing. We don’t have to want for anything. It’s a great program.”

In addition to mothering her own two children, she has been a foster mother to several children and there have been times where she struggled to keep food on the table. She struggled, but succeeded in keeping the children fed before the programs like BPB pantries were available to her.

We adults can survive. This is for the children.”

“It makes me teary eyed now. One of my foster children came up to me and said, ‘Ms. Jones, you are the best foster mom I’ve ever had. You make sure we have plenty to eat. Every day, I come home from school and there is fresh food cooked. How do you do that?’ That just made my heart glad to give that to him.” She realized how big of an impact this had on children who had been going hungry for years before they got to her house.

The simple act of providing food to this foster child made his life better. So much so, that when he graduated from high school in 2010, he thanked her again for making sure he was fed while he was in her care.  That’s a huge statement.

She said she gets all of her basics at the pantry and can stretch them out for two weeks. We asked Ms. Jones what her favorite thing to get from the pantry and she did not hesitate. “Oh! Macaroni and cheese!” She said with a laugh, “My kids love it! I also get the pasta and spaghetti sauce and just go to the store and add the ground beef.”

“I always thank the people here at the food pantry,” she says. “The volunteers put in a lot of work to make sure that we all have enough.  I feel blessed.”

If you would like to become a BackPack Beginnings volunteer, please visit our volunteer page. Want to host a food drive or make a donation?  Your donations will allow us to serve more children in need. Thank you!

Written on 7/26/16 by Courtney Murphy.