Patrick Manigque and his family are real clients of Second Harvest and are featured in this year’s Holiday Food and Fund Drive materials. Meet the people that you’ve seen on our food donation barrels:

After migrating from the Philippines to become a teacher, Joy left behind the love of her life, Patrick. Patrick had planned the entire wedding while Joy studied Special Education training in Maryland. At her first opportunity to return and get married, the task was complete.

The happy couple’s life was about to take a dramatic turn. They moved to California to settle down and begin a family. Within a year of establishing themselves in California, they welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Angelica.

“When I first saw her there were so many emotions – happy, nervous, scared, panic,” Patrick said. “You really feel them all at the same time. After a couple of hours or days it really hits you, I’m a dad…Now there’s more responsibilities. You have to do something for your child. Looking for resources was first. Finding out about what services we needed.”

With Joy being the only employed member of the family, they sought out help and found out about the US Government’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. When Angelica became too old to qualify for WIC, a WIC staffer told Patrick and Joy about Second Harvest and they were enrolled in its Family Harvest program.

“The income that I’m getting from my work is not really enough,” Joy explained, “So the food that I’m getting from Second Harvest, it helps our family a lot.”

“Without the help of Second Harvest, the budget for having to buy food would really greatly be diminished with the cost of living here in this area,” Patrick said.

Patrick and Joy use the food from the Food Bank to enhance the life of their daughter.

“Nutritious food is one of the biggest parts of the development of Angelica, of any child actually,” Patrick explained. “So we make sure that nutrition is a very big part of her growing up.”

Watch our Holiday Food and Fund Drive video featuring the Manigque Family:

*** Together, we can solve hunger — click here to take action this holiday season.