Theme park workers rely on food bank for meals during furloughs
Woman asking for help for first time
A theme park worker still out of work is having to turn to a food bank for assistance. Her story is one shared by many in Central Florida as our tourism economy has suffered greatly from the coronavirus pandemic.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Many theme park workers are furloughed or haven't been called back to work. For Sofonie Pierre-Mauricette, she \ never imagined she would need to rely on a food bank to help feed her family.
“I had a good job and things were really good; my bills paid. I don’t struggle to pay my bills anymore and everything was perfect,” Pierre-Mauricette said.
The mother had been working as a chef at Universal Orlando for four years but was furloughed when the parks shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I didn’t even know what to do, where to start from,” Pierre-Mauricette said.
She has been out of work since with no unemployment assistance.
“I was scared because I didn’t even know where to start because imagine, you just bought a house, you have four kids in the house to eat and drink,” Pierre-Mauricette said.
(FOX 35 Orlando)
She says her savings are starting to run out.
“Things was starting to get pretty hard,” Pierre-Mauricette said.
That’s when she got a call from the Second Harvest Food Bank offering some help: A box of food to feed her family at least several meals each week.
“I have to do it for my kids. I have to do it for my family. I have to,” she said. “It’s not only the box, it’s the love behind it, you know what I mean? Because they don’t just give you a box, they show you how they love you, how they think about you.”
Pierre-Mauricette says the box represents so much more than just food.
“I feel like I am not alone in this. I feel like I’m loved,” Pierre-Mauricette said.
She said she is offering catering services for family and friends as she waits to be called back to work.
Food banks helping out with jobs
Coronavirus is making it hard for people to find work and food banks are coming to the rescue. Some of those same food banks help culinary students find steady jobs but the pandemic has changed all that.