Roberta's Story

As Roberta pulled up to the holiday food distribution at Northeast Iowa Food Bank the Monday before Thanksgiving, her 9-year-old son Elijah was sitting in the back seat, a computer on his lap, doing schoolwork. Meanwhile, her daughter, the bubbly, rambunctious 4-year-old Eliona, just wanted to charm the volunteers.

“She loves being the center of attention,” Roberta laughed as Eliona popped out of the car, giggling and jumping around. Roberta has a career in home healthcare but needed a little extra help this year affording food for Thanksgiving. She knew the food bank would be there for her.

“This is going to help a lot,” she said as volunteers loaded bags of holiday food – including ham and sides – into her trunk. “We’ll have this for the holiday, and then have leftovers for a while too.” The food helps Roberta make the day special for her family, but she’s focused on more than that.

“It would be a normal day without this food,” she said. “I’m grateful for the food and I’m just really thankful for all the blessings we have.”