A single mother in Watts received a special gift this Thanksgiving, courtesy of a local nonprofit.
Gabriela Quiroz works at an adult day care center and loves her job, but inflation is making it more difficult than ever to prepare a feast for herself and her four children.
“It’s really hard to buy food at the moment,” she said.
In recent years, she said, she’s had to skip Thanksgiving entirely, so questions from children ages 4 to 23 are inevitable.
“Why don’t we make dinner like everyone else?” they asked her. This is a painful question for mothers.
“It’s sad,” said Katherine Reyes of Gordon Philanthropies, a Los Angeles nonprofit that provides free books to needy families. “We know that is the reality not only for her family, but for many families in Los Angeles.”
This year, Gordon added something special to the basket of new books he gave Gabriella. She also received four $100 gift cards to shop at her local Food4Less store.
Gabriela was all smiles as she walked down the aisle, carefully selecting the ingredients for this year’s feast: traditional Mexican pozole. She chose a large can of hominy, two bags of frozen shrimp, and fresh pork.
She also chose pumpkin pie and cherry pie, which is one of her daughter’s favorites just because she can afford it this year.
“My kids are good kids. I love them!” she said with a laugh.
Reyes said Gabriela’s story caught the nonprofit’s attention because she never let circumstances or finances get in the way of teaching children the joy of reading. One of her favorite techniques is to read aloud to her children while preparing meals.
“That’s great,” Reyes said. That’s why we wanted to surprise her. ”
Gabrielle did not allow her gifts to diminish her own generosity. She plans to use whatever she has left to buy food for some of the clients at the day care center.
“If you have more, you have to give,” she explained.
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