As a single mother of three teenagers, Shannon knows firsthand the challenge and weight of showing up for her kids while balancing her career and other responsibilities. Over 20 years, she worked her way up within her company with only a high school diploma and a lot of determination. 

One morning, however, she and several of her coworkers were laid off without warning and with a meager severance package to hold them over while they looked for new jobs. Shannon says that her unemployment lasted longer than expected given the competitiveness of her field, and money became incredibly tight. Thankfully, she was made aware of one of Harvesters’ partner agencies, The Hope Network. 

“For four months, I’m sitting here trying to stretch out the severance package because unemployment didn’t even cover my mortgage,” Shannon says. “And I mean, we nickeled, and pennied and dimed. I relied on [The Hope Network] to help save me from not losing my house I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you guys, so I’m very grateful.” 

The Hope Network is a food pantry and clothing closet in Raytown, Missouri, that serves those experiencing food insecurity and other economic challenges in their community. They are dedicated to not only helping with those two needs, but to connecting people with other services such as rent assistance, transportation, and more.  

Shannon faces some additional challenges when it comes to diet as well. With both Lupus and a severe gluten intolerance, she struggled with the price of gluten free food, meats and veggies. Thankfully, she says that she is able to find plenty of produce and other healthy foods for her family. She even gets creative by collecting ingredients to make nutritious snacks for her kids. 

“We can get nuts and fruit, and so I make our own trail mix,” she says “I’ll use almonds and walnuts, and mix that, and then I’ll use Rice Chex. And sometimes I’ll event get pretzels if they have them.” 

Shannon is just one of hundreds of people that The Hope Network serves on an annual basis. Harvesters partners with them by helping to stock their food pantry with plenty of produce, protein sources and non-perishable items, and we think that they are an incredible resource in their region for those struggling to afford food or other necessities.  

Click here for more stories like Shannon’s, and to learn more about our other agency partners and volunteers!