Owasso Family Turns To Food Bank After 'Perfect Storm' Of Setbacks

Here at Channel 6, we've teamed up with the Community food bank to help fight childhood hunger.

We've focused primarily on the food bank's backpack program that gives supplemental food to children. But the agency does much more.

In eastern Oklahoma, the food bank network is serving 60 to 70,000 families a week, and many of them never dreamed they would need the help.

A few short years ago, Tangela Ekhoff was a stay at home mother of two, with a husband pulling in a six-figure salary. But when the economy tanked, so did Renee Ekhoff's career.

After working at housekeeping and handyman jobs in Alabama, the Ekhof's decided to come home to Owasso.

"He always said the job market was good here and we could bounce back. And it still took him six months to find a job. And that job was a minimum wage job for a pizza restaurant," Tangela Ekhoff said.

Tangela was job hunting too. She has a master's degree in education, but her certification had lapsed before she could get her credentials.

Last spring at age four, her son Adam was diagnosed with type one diabetes. He spent four days in intensive care.

"People would say ‘well, just go get a job.' Well, I would. But I spend most of my time at that job leaving to make sure he's ok," Tangela said.

Adam's blood sugar has to be tested four to five times a day. Supplies and insulin can run hundreds of dollars a month. But just when the family was adjusting, came the third wave of disaster.

"Lost my mom September 10th, lost my dad February 12th of this year. It's just been the perfect storm," she said.

The storm landed the Ekhoff's in a place they never thought they'd need -- a food bank. Tangela says Owasso Community Resources, which partners with the Eastern Oklahoma Food Bank, has been nothing short of a God send.

"The people have been so kind to us. And not made us feel bad about what we're going through. So many people are hardworking and hit one hiccup... and they're in the ditch," Tangela said.

There is good news; the Ekhoff family is pulling out of that ditch. Renee landed a job in his field in January and Tangela has picked up a few jobs as a motivational speaker, one who has been tested by fire and speaks from the heart.

"If there's one thing I know now is that you can be happy no matter what's happening. And that's what I want to promote. No matter how bad it gets, it can get better," she said.

Visit Food For Kids if you'd like to help families through the storm