That was one of those deals where they had to spend it on somebody by Oct. 1 or give it back.

The ladies at the food stamp office started calling around. And by the time we left the office, we had food and clothes.

The engine of my car blew up. So there we were by the side of the road, with no way to go any further.

We knew it would be months before we could go back.

We didn’t have any hope, either.

By the end of the day [Friday, Sept. 1] we had clothes and food.