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2020-11-25
COVID Leaves Thousands Unable to Feed Families
COVID has caused many to lose their jobs, impacting their financial stability. Many have to decide what they are able to pay for each week, one of those difficult decisions being if they can afford groceries or not. Food banks have been a life saver for thousands of families across the nation, providing them with food and relief knowing that they and their children don't have to go hungry. I have found my way in those long lines a few times, never thinking in my life before 2020 that I would need this kind of assistance. But, here we are, in my family some of us lost our jobs or were out of work for a long time. We are going to be facing the financial repercussions of COVID for a very long time. But, food banks like these have helped my family and many others alike worry about one less thing during these trying times. -
2020-12-14
My 2020 Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving of the year 2020, was different among all of my Thanksgivings in many ways. My family and I did not have our usually gathering this year. My grandparents were not able to due to COVID-19 the global pandemic, we did not want to put them at any risk. It also did not really feel like Thanksgiving at all, since we were not in school in person, I still cannot believe we have been doing school online since March! Wow how time has flied by. This year it was really hard for me to get into the fall spirit, yes I carved pumpkins, made pumpkin pie, and drank many iced pumpkin spiced lattes from Starbucks, nothing made it feel like Thanksgiving. Growing up I have always craved that feeling of leaving school, walking out those doors, knowing your not going to go back for a week. Oh how amazing that feels. But this year, that never happened. All I had to do to leave school was close my laptop, that's it. I was already at home, nothing had changed. Even though we did not to anything jurastically different it still did not feel like Thanksgiving, not even one bit. I never ever in a million years thought I would say this, but, I miss school, I want to go back so bad. I can not wait, I can not wait. To whoever is reading this probably years from now, please never take anything for granted, not even toilet paper. Yeah, toilet paper, it was impossible to find it anywhere, and even if you did, it was really bad, like worse than public restroom bad. Well, anyways Thanksgiving 2020 was a total bust and I can not wait for the day to come when everything goes back to normal, no more limits on how many people can enter a store at a time, no more temperature checks, getting to eat inside at restaurants! Never thought that would be something I would not be able to do, and the thing I know we all want most, is no more face masks. Yes, we have to wear face masks these little peices of paper that we wear on our face that cover our nose and mouth to help us maybe not get the virus. Half of my 8th grade year is gone already, and oh boy, I can't wait to go back to normal, I just really can't wait. -
2020-07-29
How BLM and COVID-19 impact L.A.’s Black Restaurant Week 2020
A news article detailing an event in LA focusing on Black owned restaurants, and the ways it has been affected by COVID-19 and the BLM protests. Interviewing Warren Luckett, who started Black Restaurant Week as a way to highlight the Black food scene in LA. During COVID-19, they are moving their event digital, and aiding Black owned restaurants that are close to closing. -
2020-08-01
2020: A Wild Year of Change
I feel like this photo is a great representation of what 2020 has been in my life. For me, 2020 started with a bang. At the beginning of January, I was flying across the country to California with about 10 people for my wedding. We were determined to start the year off big and what’s bigger than going somewhere you’ve never been to marry your partner of 10 years?! It ended up being even better than we had planned. Looking back, I am so glad that we decided on a random Wednesday in January to get married because if we would have waited, it never would have happened. This is one of our wedding photos, just the two of us holding hands, looking towards the future, and ready to take on anything…little did we know what was in store. We weren’t even out of the honeymoon phase when February hit and rumors started flying around about news of a deadly virus that was becoming a major deal in most of the world. We worried what would happen if it became a problem in the United States and how would that affect our family. By the end of the month, we were traveling to our best friend’s intimate wedding, while wondering if we should even be attending (my husband was the best man). On our way out of town, I got a text from a friend telling me our city was going to announce a lock down that weekend and would probably take effect on Monday. We stressed and cursed ourselves for leaving but we were only 20 minutes away from our destination. A few hours after the wedding ended, the city announced the lock would be happening. We were so thankful that we had recently gone grocery shopping since we knew a panic would begin. The next days were us waiting to know if I would still have a job. The city deemed brewery production “essential” so off to work I went. It was eerie. The brewery staff met, and we discussed our options on a short-term and long-term basis. There would be a lot of switching to the full-time employees taking over all responsibilities in order to meet salaries and keep our jobs. It seemed like an okay plan and I was just thankful to have a job. While the days, weeks, and months dragged on, each day became more draining and grimmer. Was it worth it to be living in a city we were planning to leave before the pandemic happened? Was it worth it to be working a job with increased stress and less hours/pay? My husband is self-employed, my job is deemed “essential”, but I had qualifications to take those skills anywhere. I’m working on a bachelor’s and my husband is almost finished with his master’s. I did awful in the Spring semester due to work related COVID-19 stress and was ready for a change. We were already going to leave but we became too afraid to follow our plan. After a long night of discussing stress and how our living situation was just causing us depression, we decided there was no time like the present to change our stance in life. We could follow stay at home orders no matter what our address was, and social distancing is the same everywhere. I put in my notice at my current job and we both began the job hunt. I landed a job within a few weeks and that was it. We had to set this into motion. We have been in California for almost three months and it was the right decision. We both have jobs that make us happier, we’re content staying at home in our new place when not at work, and I have all A’s in college! While it is extremely hard to see any kind of light or hope during such a tragic and extreme pandemic, life does continue. My bills and rent are still due every month. I still have to acquire a paycheck and take care of my family. And I deserve to do them in a place with lots of sunshine in my backyard perfect for hanging with the family and studying.