Jennifer has had to make some tough decisions recently.

The Maidencreek Township woman is caught between needing and wanting to go back to the job she loves as a certified medical assistant and needing and wanting to provide safe care for her three children. That’s proving to be an extraordinarily difficult balance to strike as the cost of child care climbs.

“If I were to go back to work, I would literally only be working to pay for child care,” she said. “So, right now, it just makes more sense to stay at home with the kiddos and manage the house while my fiance goes to work.”

But with only one paycheck coming into the house, the family is struggling to keep enough food in the pantry cupboards.

“I budget as much as I can to make the money stretch — going to discount grocery stores for the essentials,” Jennifer said. “But prices are just out of control.

“I remember going to the store with my mom when I was little and $100 worth of groceries would fill the entire trunk,” she added. “Now, $100 barely buys you enough to fill the back seat.”

Jennifer has three children who range in age from 3 to 8, and making sure they have everything they need for a nutritious meal has been difficult to manage with just one family member making an income.

“It was really hard to ask for help,” the 27-year-old said.

She said the family was suffering in silence for about a year until they decided they needed to reach out for help. They got connected to Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank and have been incredibly thankful for the assistance.

Jennifer said she is especially grateful for the pantry locations that allow her to drive her car up to the distribution point and have volunteers load her trunk with groceries, all while her three children are in the back seat.

“With three kiddos it can be tough going to the grocery store, so being able to just pop my trunk and get a box of food has been really helpful,” she said.

Jennifer said the lesson she has learned from her experience with Helping Harvest is that there is no need to be embarrassed if you need a little assistance.

“It’s OK to need help,” she said. “Everyone — at some point or another — is going to struggle. It’s all part of being human.”

History

Operation Holiday was started in 1991 at The Mercury in Pottstown to help families going through tough times provide something for their children during the holidays. The mission of the program is to make sure there is food on the table and gifts under the tree when Christmas morning comes.

Now in its 35th year, the program has served thousands of families throughout Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, expanding its reach in recent years to include communities served by readers of the Reading Eagle, The Times Herald, The Reporter, and Daily Local News.

Nearly $85,000 in donations last year provided gift cards to 366 children and grocery gift cards to 189 families, plus cash donations to food pantries in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties.

This year, Operation Holiday has partnered with 21 agencies in the tri-county area. Agencies have referred 199 families with 403 children for gifts and food.

There is no overhead with Operation Holiday and all funds stay local. Funds are collected and audited in a nonprofit foundation account managed by staff of MediaNews Group who volunteer their time.

Gift cards to area grocery stores are provided to each family for food, so that they can purchase the fixings for a holiday dinner as well as staples for the pantry. Weis Markets is a partner with Operation Holiday and has assisted with food purchases and gift cards.

Gift cards for every child in the program 16 years of age or younger are purchased through Boscov’s and distributed in partnership with the referring agencies so that families can purchase gifts of their choice.

Operation Holiday does not accept families who have not been referred by an agency.

Operation Holiday is funded solely by reader contributions. All contributions are tax deductible.

How to donate

Online donations are being accepted in a secure portal in partnership with TriCounty Community Network. Visit https://tcnetwork.org/ and click on the link for Operation Holiday.

Contributions also can be mailed with checks payable to Operation Holiday to P.O. Box 1181, Pottstown PA 19464; The Reporter, 34 Susquehanna Ave., Suite 100, Lansdale PA 19446; Operation Holiday, 1440 Lacrosse Ave., Reading PA 19607.

The names of all contributors are published in the participating newspapers as donations are received. Please note whether a contribution should be designated as anonymous or given in tribute or in memory of someone.