Joella is fighting an uphill battle. She has Stage 4 lung cancer and is in the midst of an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. But Joella is upbeat. She says, “The Lord made each cell in my body – he knows what makes them rebels and he knows how to shut them off, too!”
One side effect of Joella’s treatment is appetite suppression – she doesn’t eat as much as she used to. Joella lives on a fixed income and money is tight. But in recent months, rather than spending less money on groceries, she had a different idea. She chose to keep her grocery budget the same, but donate the excess food to East End Cooperative Ministry’s Food Pantry.
For the first couple months, Joella walked to the grocery store and then to the Food Pantry, bags of non-perishable groceries in hand. Recently, though, her stamina is less, so she called EECM to see about a ride to the store.
I had the pleasure of spending an hour with Joella, perusing the isles of Giant Eagle. She came prepared. Weekly sales flier in hand, she mapped out our route, being sure to include those items the Food Pantry needed most: canned fruits and vegetables, side dishes like Rice-a-Roni and instant potatoes, canned tuna, and pasta and sauce.
At the end of the run, she’d spent about $80 and had a whole cart full of groceries to show for her efforts. The only thing she bought for herself that trip was a carton of potato salad.
Joella’s thoughtfulness was a wonderful reminder of how generous the human spirit can be, even in the midst of adversity. Even though she is facing some very serious challenges in her own life, Joella’s focus is on helping those in need in her community. Thanks, Joella!
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