MACON, Ga. — Patricia Lingo has overcome two major heartbreaks.
"In 2012, my son came to a -- I call it a freak accident -- he got electrocuted wiring a house, helping a friend. He was five days shy of his 48th birthday," she said.
After losing her only son, she found a new family with her coworkers at the Waffle House on Ocmulgee East Boulevard in Macon, and the staff at the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank across the street.
"2019, May 1st -- this is where I really got to know the Middle Georgia Food Bank. David, Rodney, and a couple of the gentlemen that work there ate where I work, at the Waffle House, and they had found out I had a heart attack," Lingo said.
She returned to work less than two weeks after leaving the hospital.
"It, financially, put me back to work. I actually didn't have food to eat in the house, and that's where Middle Georgia Food Bank came in. They had like three humongous boxes of groceries for me. I can say it was probably $200 or $300. That was $200 or $300 I didn't have," Lingo said.
She says that was just what she needed to get back on her feet.
"Anyone who needs help and truly wants help, that's what they're there for -- to help," she said.
Lingo has been working at the Waffle House across from the Food Bank since 1999.
She says the staff comes over to check on her all the time, and she even knows their orders by heart.
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