Living in rural Greene County, Rebecca grew up with a small garden. As a child, her father taught her how to can vegetables to extend their shelf-life.
Now, at 52, Rebecca uses canning to care for her own family, canning fresh produce from her local pantry so the food won’t spoil so quickly. “[My finances are] pretty tight. If my dad wouldn’t teach me how to can and stuff, I’d be struggling every day. Just because this box doesn’t last long by the time you’re making meals throughout the week.”
Once a month, Rebecca picks up two boxes of food filled with produce, dry goods, eggs and bread. She delivers one box to her brother who is disabled, then takes the other box home to her husband who is also living with a disability.
The food is more precious than before, as Rebecca recently lost her SNAP benefits with the new requirements. The new working requirements are especially challenging for Rebecca, who caretakes for her husband full-time.
“It was a big hit. It was a big hit. Yeah. My husband is disabled and he gets so frustrated. He wants to work. It’s not like he doesn’t, he’s so used to working and then I don’t work because he can’t do a lot for himself. But trying to get me paid to be able to take care is a hard process.”
Rebecca says her story isn’t unique for the area, and many people are having a hard time making things work. “They’re hurting and you’ll see it and they feel less than, there’s a lot of people around here that feel that because they are struggling, they don’t want to be seen. They don’t want people to know what they’re struggling through me. I learned a long time ago, you can’t worry about what people think. You got to take care of you.”
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank helps to provide food to partners like Corner Cupboard, which serves many pantries just like Rebecca’s in rural Greene County.
Rebecca says for her, it’s more than just food. “Oh, it means the world.”