Michelle Barkey recently found herself worrying about how she was going to feed her kids.
Then she remembered a friend had added her to a new Facebook group called Give Orillia, and it lived up to its name.
The single mother of three young children saw a post from group creator Allana George, encouraging anyone in urgent need of food to contact her. Barkey sent a message and, soon after, George was at her door with a bag of food.
“Without them, I don’t know what I would have done because I didn’t know what I was going to give my kids,” she said.
Barkey is one of many who have benefited from the generosity of others through Give Orillia.
“I just thought of it as a way to bring community together, to share resources and offer help and love,” George said. “It’s so nobody feels alone. The world needs more of that.”
She started the group a little more than a week ago. In that short time, more than 2,200 members have joined and George has been overwhelmed at both that number and the number of people who have reached out for assistance. Food and other essentials have been donated to more than 25 families so far.
“I wasn’t expecting there was going to be such a huge, urgent need,” she said.
And, that’s what Give Orillia aims to address: urgent needs.
George recalled getting a message from a single mom who was working seven days a week. She was able to feed her kids, barely, but that meant she didn’t have enough money to feed her dog. It had been eating table scraps, “and now they were running out of food,” George said.
So, she appealed for donations in a Give Orillia post and had a bin in front of her home.
“Within an hour, the bin was overflowing,” she said.
When the woman received the food, “she broke down crying in my arms,” George said.
It’s been an eye-opening experience for George, 30.
“I’ve grown up with privilege, so I did not envision this. I was completely oblivious to it before,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as fulfilled as a person.”
While she was taken aback by the response from community members, she now understands why Give Orillia has become such a success so quickly.
“People are inspired to give because they’re connecting with people’s situations,” she said.
Barkey appreciates it, and she hopes to one day pay it forward. For now, though, she’s focused on turning her current situation around.
She became ill almost a year ago with an undiagnosed neurological disorder.
“My body had the severe stroke symptoms without the stroke,” she explained. “It was a really traumatic experience.”
She said her husband at the time had to stop working to take care of her, but they lost their home and moved into a camper. Then there was a fire that forced them from the camper. Barkey is no longer with her husband, and she lives in a motel with her four-year-old son and two daughters, ages three and one-and-a-half.
“Our life’s been a roller-coaster,” she said. “We were used to having a big house and our own rooms. Now we’re in a small, basic motel room. It’s very crammed.”
Her only income comes from the Ontario Disability Support Program and the Canada Child Tax Benefit.
It’s not her intention to keep turning to Give Orillia for support, but she encourages others in need to reach out.
“No matter the situation we’re in, we just have to hold our pride and try,” Barkey said. “I thought about the spot I was in. Would it be harder to reach out or to have someone turn me down? It was a shot in the dark.”
That shot in the dark brought to light a part of her community she didn’t know existed.
“What these people are doing is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. There is so much compassion and care and love,” she said. “The fact (George) took this on herself and turned it into this beautiful thing is amazing. My hopes were fading and she helped boost that back up.”
George paid Barkey and her kids a couple of other visits after the first one, bringing her more food and then some clothing and sheets.
“It melted my heart,” Barkey said.
Anyone in need of assistance can visit the Give Orillia group here and send a message to one of the administrators, listed under “members.”
