Photo: Courtesy Jackson Family
in our January/February issue, Sasha Abramsky profiled Aubretia Edick, a full-time Wal-Mart worker from upstate New York getting by on as little as $10 a week in groceries. Subscriber Marlene Feltus-Jackson read the story and “looked at her picture thinking, This could be me.” Born and raised in New Orleans, Marlene and her husband, Lewis Jackson, lost their home and three cats during Katrina. Now, she says, all her paychecks go toward insurance payments, while Lewis’ cover living expenses. Still, the couple “made some alterations within our budget” and sent Edick a $500 check and a letter with their bios: “Marlene: Grandmother, 58 years old, part-time college math instructor, anti-war, Baptist (was Catholic), BIG Motown fan”; “Lewis: Grandfather, 62 years old, high school band director, Vietnam vet, anti-war, Lutheran, super Saints fan.” It concludes, “Hopefully Obama will do something about these slave wages of working citizens across America, for all of us.”
