Thread by @HarvestHillsYYC

Yesterday, we had a call. A call that made 3 of my volunteers cry.

You see, an individual in need contacted @HarvestHillsYYC and asked for help with food. We have permission to tell his story and share his request with everyone.

It started off with a phone call to a new volunteer that was on her first on call shift over the Christmas Break. "N" called and left a message in which he asked to be called back as soon as possible.

So our volunteer Melanie returned his call.

She asked N what he needed help with & he said he needed help with food/rent cause he could pay his rent & not eat for the month & maybe eat once every 3 to 4 days....or pay some of his rent and be able to eat everyday and hope he could find the money to pay the rest of his rent.

She asked if he weren't able to pay a portion of his rent, how much would he be short. N said if he wasn't able to get a food hamper he was planning to use $300 of his money to buy some food & then sell some of his belongings to make up the rest of the money he would owe for rent

She then asked him about his living situation and he told her that he lived alone and was new to all this new fangled technology and he got himself a computer box to be able to contact the foodbank and other groups for help cause his neighbor told him to...and so here he was.

He shared that his two children died of overdoses here in #Alberta and how he had no other family. His wife died over 15 years ago and how he lived alone basically just waiting to die.

That made Melanie cry. So she asked N if it was ok if we helped him with what he needed.

He said "What do you mean?", Melanie made the decision to help N right then because she later told me that there was just something in his voice that tugged at her heart and reached her soul.

She went & got all his info and told him that she would call him back within the hour.

Melanie went to a bank machine (Knowing we have exhausted all our funds & are running on fumes) and she took out $300.00 of her own money for N's rent.

She then phoned me and asked if we had enough to purchase an emergency hamper for a gentleman that had called asking for help.

I said yes we do and I then met her at a #Safeway store in the North East...and we shopped and loaded up two carts of items. We made sure that N was set up and did not have to worry between whether or not he has to choose between paying his rent and eating everyday. #YYC

We checked out and loaded up all the groceries and drove to an address in #Falconridge. We parked and then Melanie called N and said "This is your address right?" He said "Yes, Why?" to which Melanie said "Well we are right out front and we have your groceries."

He dropped the phone and quickly picked it up and said OMG! I Can't Believe It! You Are An Angel! Thank You! Thank You A Million Times!

Melanie teared up and then said "Would you mind opening your door so we can put the groceries on the doorstep?"

He said "I'll be right there!"

I think he thought he was just going to be getting one or two bags of groceries because when Melanie and her son began to unload her car and then move over to mine, N just burst into tears.

He said he was crying because he was figuring that he would only get a little help from us. He asked us why we would help an old man like him....

Melanie's son said it best when he looked at N and said:
Mr, at one point you were someone's son just like I am my mom's son.

Just cause you are alone now, there are people who care about you and those people are my mom and me and Miss Jen.

That is what made Melanie and me cry. Which in turn made N cry and then Melanie's son cry because his mom was crying.

Once we finished unloading & stood in N's front yard, we chatted for a few minutes when Melanie's son said Mr. I think you forgot something. I saw a secret person put something in your mailbox when you weren't looking

Melanie's son was smiling so much that he said his face hurt!

So N went over to the mailbox and took out an envelope. He opened it up and said I promise not to cry this time, because then we will all cry.....and my face is not going to look good for the ladies tomorrow if I cry!

#RentRelief #FoodRelief #RentSecurity #FoodSecurity #FeedYYC

He said thank you profusely and if it wasn't for the current covid19 pandemic going on, he would be giving us all hugs and us ladies a kiss on the cheek!

As we turned to leave, Melanie's son said I hope we can be friends! and promised to be N's penpal since N lived alone!

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Someone asked us a question about Melanie:

Question: Did Melanie use her own money to help N?

Answer: Yes she took $300.00 of her own money out of her account in order to help N. She did not want N to have to choose between #Rent or #Food.