Hattie, 73, faithfully worked 45 years in a hospital lab before she retired — only to come out of retirement just a short year later. In her new role, Hattie has found both purpose and a special way to help support her family.
Hattie and her husband are the proud grandparents to three grandchildren, Journey, 2, Jayceon, 2, and Guarzzus, 10. When Guarzzus was just 2, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and Hattie began accompanying him when he went to Gertrude Walden Child Care Center.
“I was here so much that they gave me a job,” she recalls. “They pulled me out of retirement.”
That’s how Hattie learned about Treasure Coast Food Bank’s Mobile Food Pantry at Gertrude Walden where she can pick up food for her family — including her grandchildren — every Tuesday.
Hattie says the children’s parents are all working, but it’s still difficult to keep up with rent and all her other expenses while keeping healthy food on the table for the kids.
With the food from the Mobile Pantry, ”they have more income that they can put for other things,” she says.
The children all enjoy the food Hattie brings home from the Mobile Pantry — but special favorites are the cereal, snacks, fruit and macaroni and cheese.
“Everybody likes the mac and cheese,” she says with a grin. “All three of them.”
Thank you for helping to create a healthier Treasure Coast for us all.
