My Happiness

Hi my name is Samantha Keizer. I'm from Woodstock Ontario Canada. During the Pandemic there are so many families struggling now more than ever. There are programs available but it's still not enough. I decided to start a Food and Clothing drive to help those in need during the Pandemic. I started it as something small and it grew to something bigger . I was featured on our music station HeartFm in an interview letting people know if they would like to donate or need help to contact me. I am extremely passionate about about it. A little background about myself so maybe you will understand why I love doing what I'm doing. When I was 14 years old I was kicked out of my house. I was on and off the streets from the time I was 14 until my early 20s. It was the most difficult time in my life not knowing where I was going to sleep at night or where my next meal was coming from. I never wanted others to experience this. I was diagnosed at 18 with mental disabilities and struggle everyday from a severe anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder. The pandemic has made it worse. I realized I'm not alone and there are a lot of families struggling during the lockdowns. So I decided to do something to help. I started by hosting free Bingo games for prizes nightly. People loved it. It was during this time I got to hear their stories and their struggles and decided I wanted to do something more. That's when I decided to start a food drive. I went to grocery stores and explained to them what I was going and asked for help. I was able to help over 22 families the first time around. Then after I injured my back lifting boxes I had to stop for a while. When my back healed I started up again and just continued. When the clothing stores closed down and you couldn't buy clothes even for your children well being a mother of 3 I know how hard it is when your children are always outgrowing their clothes. So knowing that and after seeing so many posts on social media of families needing help with clothing I decided to take a step up and dedicate my basement as an outlet to take in gently used clothing to be able to help families in need. I have been doing this pretty much all year. I love it. Helping those in need is a wonderful thing. Many people give me all the credit but the truth is, I'm just a mom struggling as well but doing the best I can to help the community. It's the donors. Without them I wouldn't be able to continue doing what I'm doing. The community needs all the help it can get and I am so happy I can help. It's been so hard for a lot of people right now. People who are already struggling with mental illness don't need to exacerbate it by worrying how they are going to pay their bills, or how they are going to feed their children. If I had a magic wand I would fix it all for them. I would make it so no one struggles but I unfortunately can't. I am just glad I can ease that burden for them even just a little bit. Give them a listening ear and offer them a bit of hope. Even though we all come from different backgrounds and we have different stories, they are not alone we are all in this together.