This year, Bread for the City has enlisted the help of a Story Squad to fill a Story Bank with anecdotes and messages from our clients. This month, we’ve been focusing on Holiday Helpings! The project is a way to give Bread for the City’s clients a platform to share their holiday traditions, recipes, opinions, encouragement, and experiences with the world.

And we invite you to share your own story — about your holiday tradition, your experience with our Holiday Helpings campaign, and so on — at our Story Bank form here.

Thanks to Angie Stackhouse and Judy Hawkins for producing these stories, and to Steve Goldenberg for photography.

Ms. Jackson: The holidays are when we communicate fellowship with one another. This is our time to give thanks -- not just for the food on the table but for the entire year that we’ve made it through, together.

Ms. Jackson:
I used to come here years ago. But then I got a job at Walter Reed as a supervisor. I lost [that job] in July when they closed us down. Lot of people out of work. And this I know is a place of support. We definitely need Holiday Helpings this year. I’m the youngest of 10 siblings, and we’ve all been through a lot — I lost sisters and a brother to violence. But there’s a lot of us still together. My sister and her family, my daughters are home from college, there may be 20 people at that table. And we all bring to the table ourselves, so this way I can still have food in my home for me and my daughters. A really big help.

Ms. W:
Anybody who has it, you should think about giving some back. Anybody. My brother has been homeless since 2000. He’s HIV positive, and has had trouble with drugs. He’s burned a lot of bridges, including with our family. But I told him he can come stay with me. We’ll see how it works out. I hope it will work. Everybody deserves a second chance. Nobody else in the family will give that to him, but we have to move forward with each other. Helping each other, that’s how we gotta do. And so we’ll see everyone together around the dinner table for the holidays soon!

Ms. Bessie

Ms. Anthony:
I have been a BFC client for quite sometime now.  I am very grateful for the food that Bread for the City provides for me especially for the holidays. I don’t have any place to cook it right now, but I do have some friends who can help me with that.

As Mr. J was picking up his holiday basket from the pantry, he shared a touching story with us: 
Mr. J comes from a family of eleven children. For a long time, his family had not gathered for the holidays — or really any time of the year, he told us. But last year all of that changed when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Mr. J said that his mother’s illness has brought all of her children closer. Instead of spending the holiday apart, last Thanksgiving they shared food and fellowship with her in the hospital. This year he and his siblings are going to continue with this new holiday tradition. They are “playing it by ear,” so that whatever happens, they can be there to support their Mom, to see her laugh and be happy.

Bessie:
The holidays aren’t like they used to be when my husband was alive. I called him ‘Dad,’ and he was in the Navy. He made his way up through the ranks as a chef — and always wanted to have his own business. But he got sick.

Our parents were both in slavery. We kept hoping that things would get better. And they did. We had three kings and a princess together. One of my boys died. I don’t know where my daughter is. But you could spot her in a crowd — she looks just like me.

During the holidays, Dad would always do the cooking. He’d roast the turkey, fix the dressing. He’d have a big bird, we’d bring out all the best silver from my mother. We don’t have big meals like that any more.

This year I’ll go to with my niece’s house and cook with my granddaughter. She’s seven years old, and we’ll make this together. Her mom is a bus driver, which is okay – but if not for [Holiday Helpings], we just wouldn’t be able to do this.

Ms. Washington (posing here in front of our new mural) came with her daughters to Bread for the City's Pre-Employment Program:

Ms. Washington and her daughters:

I came here years ago, to get help with food. But when I had a job [with the local government] I didn’t need the help. This summer I lost my job, so I’ve come back for food assistance – and this time, I’m also coming to the Pre-Employment Program. I’m studying for my GED. and looking for work again. I’m looking everywhere, but my unemployment ran out last month. So thank God for Bread for the City. It’s just not possible to really do a big meal up right without an income. Without Holiday Helpings, I just wouldn’t be able to purchase a turkey this year. And what’s Thanksgiving without a turkey! These kids are big, and they got appetites!