Cindy and her husband Joe decided to start the next chapter of their lives by moving to Lubbock to be closer to their sons. They loaded up their RV home and started the journey out west. While on the road, disaster struck when a tornado made a halt to their travels. Out of nowhere severe weather started and Cindy and Joe were caught in the middle of it all. Cindy following in her own car, remembers the moments before Joe, hauling the RV behind his truck, were swept in the air and flipped over. Everything happened so fast. Joe suffered injuries to his ear, face, and head and was taken to the hospital once they were able to remove him from the truck. Cindy and Joe’s home was destroyed along with all their belongings thrown from the RV and scattered throughout the grass and highway.

Then came the aftermath of piecing everything back together. A friend who works at the food bank told them about a pop-up distribution that was being held in Slaton. Cindy says not only did the accident cause them to lose basic necessities, but it also placed them in financial hardships. To help with some resources, they decided to try the pop-up food distributions the food bank hosted during the summer. Cindy says they had never needed to use a food bank before and didn’t know what to expect. They felt the need to give back and volunteer after receiving food. Joe worked on the dock distributing food to clients for several months and Cindy is now the Dry Box room supervisor. Cindy and Joe have a message for anyone who hasn’t been to the food bank- you must volunteer at least once to truly understand how food insecurity effects the community and how it is addressed. Also, the biggest challenges in life can create some of the best outcomes. The silver lining to the hardships they faced is how different life is now, but for the better.