LOS ANGELES - The deadly pandemic that tore through the nation’s heartland struck just as Aaron Crawford was in a moment of crisis.
He was looking for work, his wife needed surgery, then the virus began eating away at her work hours and her paycheck.The Crawfords had no savings, mounting bills and a growing dread: What if they ran out of food?
The couple had two boys, 5 and 10, and boxes of macaroni and cheese from the dollar store could go only so far.A 37-year-old Navy vet, Crawford saw himself as self-reliant.
Asking for food made him uncomfortable. “I felt like I was a failure,” he says. “It’s this whole stigma ... this mindset that you’re this guy who can’t provide for his family, that you’re a deadbeat."Hunger is a harsh reality in.