Many people are doing their best to manage their finances, but some still need support to get by. One way to receive assistance is by visiting food banks. This is what a struggling Massachusetts woman did. Unfortunately, she described her first experience at a food bank as “horrible.” She shared a video detailing what happened to her there. You realize that a terrible thing must have happened because she says, “I would rather starve.” She explained that she knew that there were people who were struggling more than her. She, however, has been struggling recently, especially since she was on long-term disability for the last year. This made her contact a food bank and they told her to show up and what documents to bring with her.
The Massachusetts woman’s horrible experience at the food bank was foreshadowed by what happened when she got there. She said that there was a mom and her son in front of her. The mom didn’t speak good English, while the boy spoke better English than her. Sadly, the food bank’s female employee, who was there, was horrible to them. The woman explained how she wanted to leave when she saw how the employee treated the mom and son. It turned out that the employee asked the boy if his father spoke English. When he said “yes,” she told him, “You better tell him to teach your mother.” That’s completely unacceptable.
It was then the woman’s turn. The poor woman didn’t know that she was going to receive the same horrible treatment. She described how there was no dignity when it came to receiving help at the food bank because of how the employees yelled questions about income and such. The woman continued to say that when she was filing out a form, she had to choose the salary range she belonged to. “I was on the way bottom of the range they had,” she said.
When the obnoxious employee received the form, she started looking up and down at the woman. The latter asked her, “What?” and that was when she said a shocking response. “I just want to know what are you doing here,” was the employee’s response. So she basically believed that the woman wasn’t poor enough to be at the food bank because of the salary range she marked.
The woman was shocked but she still responded. She told the employee her exact salary and how she was at the “very bottom” of the salary range. Only then did the employee feel bad as she said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” The damage was already done, however. The woman couldn’t stay there a minute longer. She asked for her ID and bills back so that she would leave. Again, the employee apologized, but the woman had already made up her mind. “She was so mean to everybody that went through there,” she said about the employee.
This situation broke the Massachusetts woman’s heart to the point where she couldn’t help but get teary-eyed. “We feel so small” she said. She started explaining why she even needed to go to the food bank. Apparently, someone has been helping her, but they can no longer keep doing this. Plus, she doesn’t have rental assistance, she has thousands of dollars in medical bills, and she owns cats that are on prescription food. She even had to explain how badly her long-term disability affected her salary. “This woman was so degrading,” she then said before adding later “we live in a really sick world.” No one should be denied help, especially food, just because someone believes they aren’t poor enough. It’s even more heartbreaking that she had to convince herself to go to the food bank believing that people there would have empathy.
People Reacting to What Happened to the Massachusetts Woman
People were left heartbroken after they learned what happened to the Massachusetts woman. She shouldn’t have been treated like this. Since the female employee was horrible, many told the woman to report her. “You need to call the food bank and report her. You deserve to be treated with dignity,” one person wrote. Another person said, “Report her to the organization she works for. They might not know.” Someone else agreed and replied, “I agree. There is no reason for her to act that way. She needs to be reported and the organization needs to keep her away from the clients.” One woman then said, “I’m sorry. I volunteer at a foodbank in Oregon and we would never ever treat anyone like this, we also are kind and no paperwork. No shame should be involved. This makes me mad, not all foodbanks are bad.”
Many also asked the Massachusetts woman to name the food bank, but she was still kind despite what happened to her. “I only avoid naming them because that was my interaction with one employee. I don’t want to speak badly of the entire organization. There may be many kind people working there,” she wrote. Unfortunately, it turned out that some food banks do similar things, as one person said, “The food bank by me is horrible also they talk to you like you are dirt. Last time I was there I treated like I was a child. I walked out in the middle of the service. And then they called me to say that I forgot my food I said keep it my self worth means more. I reported them to the Cleveland food bank.” What happened to helping people in need without asking questions?
