Hallee had, in her own words, a tough upbringing. After her parents separated, her mother relocated them to Kansas City, where she worked multiple jobs to try and make ends meet and provide. Hallee recalled times she and her sister had to borrow food from her neighbors when there wasn’t enough at home and not always knowing where her next meal was coming from.
As a teenager, Hallee got into some trouble and had to complete a community service program. While researching places she could volunteer, she found Harvesters.
“They welcomed me with open arms,” she said. “They were there when I felt like I didn’t have anyone, and now I want to be there to help. It gave me a village.”
The more Hallee volunteered, the more she caught the bug, and she even recruited her mom and sister to join in, sometimes volunteering at the same time they were also receiving food assistance.
“I mean, we learned a lot,” she says. “We bagged onions. We learned how to cut onions. If it wasn’t for Harvesters, I feel like we probably wouldn’t be where we are today, food-wise, knowing health and nutrition.”
Now a mother herself, Hallee models for her kids the same sense of selflessness and hard work she developed as a child. In fact, she has just completed a program at Metropolitan Community College to become a certified Community Health Worker. She said that journey started back when she was a teenager, first volunteering with us.
“Being able to volunteer for Harvesters and seeing all the families that were able to get the help and be successful is what led me to become a Community Health Worker,” she says.
“A Community Health Worker is basically someone that goes and puts their boots on the ground in the community, helps out where need be, offesr resources, and to just be an advocate and a voice for the people who sometimes don’t feel comfortable with a doctor.”
Hallee still frequently can be found in our warehouse volunteering when she has the time. She has found a community of friends and classmates who often give their time together and alert each other to upcoming volunteer opportunities. One thing that Hallee brought up frequently is the fact that you don’t have to have it all together to start showing up to help people or feeling like you have something to offer.
“I’m at the point where, yeah, I might still struggle here and now, but I can actually give back,” she says. “I just want somebody to know that even though you’re struggling, or you’re down, you’re not going to always be down, and there’s always a light coming. That’s my motive, I think.”