“People May Look at My Family and Never Know We Are Living with Food Insecurity.”

In Jessie Damroth’s kitchen in Newton, you might find her using masa flour to make tamales with her two children, or helping her daughter turn overripe bananas into a cake.

“It’s important for my children to understand how to cook and what it takes to prepare a meal, and it teaches them to be creative,” she says. “Also, it’s part of family bonding.”

Some of the family’s most used ingredients—fresh vegetables, yogurt, chicken, beans, masa flour, and bananas—are provided by the Newton Food Pantry.

Jessie and her children experience food insecurity. “I am so thankful that the pantry has been available for us in our greatest time of need,” she told a rapt audience of GBFB supporters at our Taste of the Food Bank event.

Until recent years, Jessie was living and working as a nonprofit director on Martha’s Vineyard. When her children began experiencing concerning, chronic medical symptoms, everything changed. The family moved to Newton to be closer to Boston hospitals, and all three members of the household were diagnosed with an ultrarare genetic condition.

“I have drained every savings account I have had to survive,” Jessie explained. “It has been a full-time, unpaid job to coordinate medical appointments, transport my kids to different doctors, and get my kids to the places they are in today.”

Jessie asked other parents to stop and imagine the experience of food insecurity. “Imagine the feeling of sheer panic when you’re asked to bring in prepackaged snacks for a classroom event, and your SNAP dollars have run out for the month. Imagine feeling relief—and then guilt over the relief—when your daughter is invited to a friend’s house for dinner and there’s one less meal to provide.”

She acknowledged that in Newton, as in many cities and towns, people may assume that hunger is not an issue in their community.

“I wish more people knew that their neighbors living with food insecurity are not lazy. Most people don’t want to rely on benefits,” Jessie said. “We don’t plan to be a client of the Newton Food Pantry forever, but I will always be a supporter of this vital resource.”