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Tommy has always been a caretaker at heart- with two children of his own and a growing number of grandchildren, he’s always been a family man and spent his career working with youth in the school system for 40 years before an injury forced him to retire. But taking in his nephew came with new challenges, responsibilities, and expenses.

Tommy had a steady life until last spring, when his youngest sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her 13 year old son with severe behavioral and learning challenges, needed a loving, safe place to stay when she moved to hospice. Tommy took in his nephew, and suddenly his life changed overnight.

Tommy had to find new housing that allowed minors, and adding another person onto his modest fixed income proved difficult. “It wasn’t easy but I couldn’t let him go through that alone,” Tommy said. Tommy called the Central Okanagan Food Bank at his daughter’s recommendation. He started receiving food for his nephew and himself and even started cooking for a couple of his home-bound neighbours with the food support he’s getting. Tommy admits, “I’m kind of everybody’s grandpa.”

A longtime cook, Tommy enjoys cooking with the new ingredients he receives each month and trying to make new things that his nephew will enjoy. “The food hampers help us get by right now. The More Than Food workshop I went to connected me to other people going through similar situations,” he says. “I wasn’t expecting to need that.”

Tommy shares that even when he had a good job, one emergency could have put him into a position in which he needed the food bank. He hopes his story reminds others that everyone, at some point, might need a helping hand and that support can make all the difference. “We give a little, we get a little, and so on.”