During the Coronavirus pandemic, the world has literally been set on its head. Things we used to think were important are not even an issue anymore. We value more time with family, friends and loved ones. We cherish hugs and personal contact a little more. And celebrities have traded place with grocery store workers, delivery drivers, doctors and nurses as the real heroes to look up to.
So it’s no wonder that TIME magazine honored a bunch of moms and cafeteria workers from Dallas on the cover (yes, cover) of their magazine.
Keke Lafayette and the team at TW Browne Middle School are heroes every week.
The group of cafeteria workers help feed their community by stuffing plastic bags with a weeks worth of food, in order to support the families who need it most.
Ever since the pandemic hit and the “Shelter in Place” laws went into effect, restaurants, offices, businesses and schools closed, including TW Browne Middle School. But instead of letting the food that meant for the school year go to waste, these courageous ladies go out into the elements, work together and bag up pounds of food each week to give away free of charge to those in need. Without such efforts from food banks and schools like TW Browne, thousands of children and families would go hungry.
TIME magazine tells stories of 12 people working on the front lines of society during the coronavirus crisis, including Yolanda Fisher, 48, who works at the school. She is pictured with five of the school’s food-service assistants.
Here is Fisher’s story, from the magazine:
I’m still going to work because we’re still feeding the kids—it’s not just kids that attend my school, it’s any child that stayed in Dallas and they need a meal. And if a family is really in need, we give the adults a meal as well. When it first started we would come in from 6:30 in the morning until 5 in the evening, working weekends and stuff, but now it’s leveling off. I’m loving it because I miss [the kids’] faces. You miss hearing their noise. We are feeding our community, and I love that.
I’m very nervous [about contracting the virus]. I have two grandchildren at home, aged 4 and 9. I could harm my family if I bring something home. That’s always in the back of my mind. We have gloves, we wash our hands, we have sanitizers. The mask I have I purchased on my own—the school didn’t have masks. They told us we could tie a bandana around our face, that that would work.
My daughter takes my temperature every day I come home. If she wants to spray me down with Lysol that’s fine, anything to alleviate her fears. My daughter at one point said, ‘Mom you’re older, older people are dying, you can stay home,’ but I was like nah. Jesus was a server. That’s my purpose. That’s why I’ve been in this business 26 years. Most people look at us as a cafeteria lady, I look at it as a service. If there wasn’t an epidemic we would be still serving kids who probably would not get another meal until the next day. It’s an honor for us to serve those kids.
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