It’s a secret she’d kept bottled up forever. Yet, when it finally comes out, nothing can stop the chain reaction it sets off.
A Rough Path
If you’re a child raised in these circumstances, you’re in for a rough ride. Chances are, food is scarce, and proper health care even more so. According to a BBC study, you’re less likely to do well in school, meaning fewer chances at a better life.
But as a child of a single working parent, those are the prospects that 9-year-old Rhys and millions of kids like him are up against.
However, if you think that his road is rocky, you won’t believe the one his mother travels daily.
A Traveling Mother’s Devotion
Along with being a working single mother, Crystal Lachance is in double jeopardy. That’s because she works in the fast good industry, one of the most overworked and underpaid sectors.
As per The Guardian, while the prices of food, shelter, clothing and transportation, the majority are paid less than $15 /hour.
However, like any duty-bound mother, the Salem, Oregon native gets dressed, rolls up her sleeves, and grinds long hours at KFC, her main motivation being to support Rhys.
One day, her manager Miranda discovers the extent of her motherly sacrifice and does something daring. “I just really appreciate Crystal so much and seeing her struggle with things really got to me,” she recalls to FOX.
It all leads to one morning when Lachance arrives for what is anything but another day at work.
A Single Mother’s Surprise
What Lachance sees is so shocking that she takes to Facebook and shares it. “I have been struggling a lot this year but haven’t gave [sic] up and have been working very hard,” she writes.
She closes her posts with, “I feel so blessed today and I just love my job and my boss Miranda, she seriously is the best boss ever!”
You see, Miranda is one of the few who knew all about Lachance’s struggle. For example, how she lives with Rhys in a recovery home. How she walked 3 miles to and from work every day, around an hour’s walk each way.
She also knows how, just when she saved up enough money to buy a car, someone stole it all.
But what she didn’t know was how that morning, Lachance was going to see a brand-new, shiny white ride with her name on it.
Shout Out to Supermom
Unbeknownst to Lachance, Miranda had entered her into KFC’s ‘Kentucky Fried Wishes’ program.
Per KFC, the program has given more than $20 million to 6,400 restaurant employees and students to assist with their education, hardships and personal finance programs. Miranda said that in this case, her motivation to act was simple.
“I don’t ever want to see anyone struggle or go through a hard time,” the manager added. “I thought this would be a great way to help her and bring her spirits back up.”
Oh, did it ever.
“I started crying, I just love this girl,” says Lachance of her manager.
“Now I have a car, there’s so much more I can do. It’s so much easier to get to places,” she says. Now that she has a set of wheels, she says she can save up for a place for her and Rhys.
How One Mother Shows Us That Duty Delivers
Every day, millions of people wake up and get dressed to toil at a thankless, low-paying fast food job they loathe.
But for Crystal Lachance, she’s going home. Among the quotes about family, one by Robin Hobb reads, ‘Home is people, not a place.’ What better describes her workplace — with a manager who cares and a company stepping up to help — than ‘home’?
It’s great to see a fast food company that invests in its people — and a mother who invests it all in her child.
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