READING, Pa. – Inside a neighborhood bar in Reading, the usual sounds of conversation were replaced by boxes being packed and families picking them up.
Among them was Aubrey Tonsil.
“I’m a single mother of four,” Tonsil said. “So, you know, it is hard. I do go to school.”
Tonsil says she saw a post on Facebook asking people in need to share their stories. She sent a message.
“I was like, oh wow,” she said. “So, I messaged her back and she told me, yeah, come this day… and I told her how much I appreciated it, me and my family.”
Behind the bar was owner Chris Fisher, whose family has run the business for 35 years.
“We were sitting around the Thanksgiving table with my family,” Fisher said. “And I made the proclamation that we’re gonna do something now. Our house is paid, our business is paid, our kids are through college. It’s time to give back and this is the beginning.”
The request was simple: send a message, share your story. In the end, 15 families received full holiday meal boxes, while 35 others were given gift cards to help get through the season.
“This is the stuffing,” Fisher explained, pointing to the boxes. “You need potatoes, macaroni and cheese, gravy, cans of string beans, cans of corn, brownies… and the turkeys are down in the cooler.”
For Aubrey, it means one less thing to worry about this holiday season.