Orestes Was Able to Attend his Mother's Funeral
This story was originally written in Spanish. To read the original version of this story, please click here.
“The truth is, this help was a blessing. Not only with moral support, [this help] made me feel very grateful... I don’t know how to express it in words. When you need help, Giving Kitchen is there.”
2020 was an atypical year for the world with the arrival of the pandemic. For Orestes M. of Atlanta, GA, it got even more difficult the day a call from his brother changed his life forever.
“On June 26, my brother called me and told me that my mom… she had been taken in an ambulance because she was really ill,” said Orestes.
Orestes’s mother, Amelia, was living in Mexico City and she had suffered multiple “mini cerebral embolisms,” according to Orestes.
Orestes had been working for a year as a bartender in Atlanta. He immediately called his boss and asked permission to travel to Mexico to see his mother, who had been admitted to a hospital in the city.
“I STARTED TO WORRY ABOUT MONEY, BECAUSE I HAD ALREADY SPENT MONEY ON THE FLIGHT AND HAD BEEN SPENDING [MORE MONEY] ON MEDICAL CARE.”
“On the 28th, I arrived in Mexico, in Mexico City, and on the 29th I could see my mom who had been in the emergency room. She was in the emergency room for a week and later moved up a floor. As the days went by, she improved a lot and I thought she was going to be out of the hospital in a week.”
But Orestes got some bad news. Amelia had gotten sick with COVID-19 in the same hospital where she had been staying.
“Unfortunately, she contracted COVID-19 in the emergency room and they had to transfer her to a hospital that was just for COVID patients,” Orestes told us. “She was there for nine days fighting for her life, and on the ninth day she passed away from complications of pneumonia, chronic pneumonia… an infection in her lungs.”
Orestes was not prepared for such news and was not prepared for what came next. He had also contracted COVID-19.
“ I started to worry about money, because I had already spent money on the flight and has been spending [more money] on medical care and later, when my mom died, I had to pay the funeral costs, too,” Orestes told us.
“THE TRUTH IS, THIS HELP WAS A BLESSING. NOT ONLY WITH THE MORAL SUPPORT, [THIS HELP] MADE ME FEEL VERY GRATEFUL… I DON’T KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS IT IN WORDS.”
Worried because he knew he’d have to stay longer in Mexico City to take care of his mother’s funeral and regain his health, Orestes called his boss back in Atlanta.
“I asked him for temporary leave. I had come [to Mexico], I didn’t know how long I was going to be there, so I bought a ticket for one week, there and back. I asked for a week off and I told him that I’d return. That day when I saw that the situation was not improving and I got COVID, I immediately told him, ‘if you want to hire someone [in my place], I understand,’” said Orestes.
Friends, coworkers, and customers of Orestes’s restaurant got together to help him. A former coworker even organized a fundraiser on GoFundMe, managing to raise more than $6,500. But with no income and no set return date to work, Orestes still needed help.
It was then that his boss suggested Orestes contact Giving Kitchen and apply for financial assistance. But this wasn’t the first time he had heard about Giving Kitchen and what they do for food service workers.
“I knew about Giving Kitchen because in 2018 I was invited to be a bartender,” Orestes told us. “At that time I found out about the work Giving Kitchen does, and it seemed incredible to me. I knew they were helping workers when they had an emergency, food service workers in the industry and such, and anyway, I wrote to them, explained my situation, they answered me, I did the questionnaire, and here we are.”
Orestes said that his experience with Giving Kitchen was “super good.”
“It was so fast when they answered me, immediately on the same day. Talía, [my case manager], called me right away that day. She communicated with me and told me a bit about how the process would go and what types of things they would need to help me, it was all really, really simple and really fast. Very friendly, very attentive,” said Orestes.
Giving Kitchen assured that Orestes didn’t have to worry about the expenses he left back in Atlanta, nor for his mother’s funeral.
“Relief, love, and support.” This is how Orestes describes the help he received from Giving Kitchen.
“IF FOR SOME REASON YOU FEEL THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES BECAUSE YOU DON’T SPEAK THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPLETELY, DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT. [GIVING KITCHEN IS] THERE TO HELP YOU.”
The truth is, this help was a blessing. Not only with the moral support, [this help] made me feel very grateful… I don’t know how to express it in words,” Orestes added.
Orestes returned to work as soon as he got back from Mexico, but he said he “didn’t know what he would have done” without the help he received.
Now, Orestes wants other food service workers to know about the help he received from Giving Kitchen and about the support he got during one of his most difficult moments.
“Even more than the financial aid, I feel that the real impact was moral,” Orestes said.
“I want to say to people who do not speak English: [Giving Kitchen] has people who speak Spanish. So, if for some reason you feel like you don’t have the same opportunities because you don’t speak the English language completely, don’t worry about that. They are there to help you.”
“I’d also like to say that it’s not only for emergencies. They have professionals who can offer guidance; my advice would be: do not hesitate to contact [Giving Kitchen] when you need help.”
“When you need help, Giving Kitchen is there,” said Orestes.
Are you or do you know a food service worker in crisis? Ask for help here.