The Central Missouri Food Bank says its clients cannot afford the gas it requires to get to food pantries.

Karen Lupardus is not cradling a baby, but a bunny someone abandoned shortly after Easter. Karen enjoys giving all kinds of creatures good homes including her pet snake. But about seven years ago, Karen struggled to provide a home for herself and her son Dylan.

"I had just found out I had Hepatitis C. In kindergarten Dylan was down to like 30 pounds," explained Lupardus.

Dylan had Celiac Disease which meant if he ate anything with wheat, he'd get very sick. Even if she could afford it, Karen could not shop at a regular grocery store.

"I had to go to Clover's and one paper bag of groceries would be $50 to $100. So, this mother started eating less herself in order to buy the right food to keep her son healthy. She said if it weren't for the Central Missouri Food Bank, she wouldn't have eaten at all.

"What am I going to say? What am I going to do? And then when I explained my son had Celiac Disease, I had a lady go help me. She read every single ingredient that was on there and helped me figure out what else I could get for Dylan and they let me get some extra stuff cause Dylan could eat that,"said Lupardus.

Karen went on to get married, get her bachelor's degree at Columbia College and finish at the top of her class. She graduated from the Law Enforcement Training Academy and is now a Department of Mental Health Investigator working on her master's in criminal justice. The food bank fed her body as well as her mind.

"My son the other day said he looked at me as a hero and I said why and he said cause everything you've done. Don't let your kids starve. Don't let yourself starve. There are people that will help you and the food bank helps a lot," said Lupardus.

If you're interested in helping families like Karen's, click on the Central Missouri Food Bank link included.