My name is Emily and I live with my sister, brother and my dad. We live in a trailer right now, but I have lived in apartments, a house, a car, a tent and now the trailer. It’s kind of cramped in the trailer because my sister and I share a bed, but my brother has the bunk bed above ours to himself. My hobbies are art, music and marine biology—I like to daydream about my future a lot. One time we didn’t really get to celebrate my birthday because we couldn’t afford it.
My dad does the best he can to buy food here and there, but it runs out really fast. He refuses to eat until we all have full stomachs, but it’s rare that I eat breakfast. When I don’t eat it, my stomach hurts and I have a hard time focusing, but my trick is to drink lots of water when I’m hungry. I always eat lunch because I get it at school. Plus I get the Kids Cafe meal from the library after school – that snack time is amazing. In the summer it’s hard, but we go to the park for free meals, and they have them at the library too. I try to get my favorite vegetables, broccoli and carrots, at school because I don’t get vegetables at home.
This food has helped me so much—if I didn’t have the free meals from school and the Kids Cafe meals we get at the library, my family would probably starve. If I could say something to the people who give us this food, I’d tell them thank you very much and that I owe you one in the future. Oh, and I’d tell them bless their souls.
