Suddenly single, new mom lifted by Sunshine Division

Editor's Note: KOIN 6 and Portland's CW are partnering with Sunshine Division for a special Day of Giving on Thursday, November 6, 2025. To donate, follow this secure link for Sunshine Division

FAIRVIEW, Ore. (KOIN) — For Lacy Thomas, grief hit while she was still an expectant mother. Suddenly a single parent, she faced homelessness, depression and survival—alone.

"He took his own life three days before my daughter was born," she told KOIN 6 News. "It's really hard to keep things going when you're a single person trying to raise a child."

That's when the Sunshine Division stepped in.

"I didn't have a car, and I was pregnant and not in good health and very sad. So I reached out to the Sunshine Division, and a police officer brought me a box to my house, and that was a big deal. You know, I felt like I couldn't do it myself," she said.

That box didn't just bring food, it brought hope.

She’s overcome immense adversity — growing up with parents battling addiction, losing her father to suicide as a teenager, and spending time in juvenile detention. She now has more stability than in the past, but life is still a fight.

She's behind on bills, choosing between power and groceries.

"Are we going to eat or are we going to have lights?" Thomas said. "There isn’t a day that goes by that I don't think about what are we going to eat and drink today?"

Stress is mounting. As the government shutdown cut her SNAP benefits, survival feels fragile.

"I have no idea what it's like to just know that we have what we need and we're OK," she said.

Advocates who run food pantries in Oregon warn this could be the greatest hunger crisis in the United States since the Great Depression. This terrifies her.

"It's so scary. It's just so sad. Just makes me worried," she said. "You know, what is what's going to happen to all of us? Moms are not going to let their children starve willingly."

Today, Lacy Thomas leans on food banks to keep her daughter fed. She never forgets who showed up for her first.

Sunshine Division "really helped me. They did it more than once," she said. "They actually brought me a box to this house, too."

Hope arrives at her door when she needs it most. For families like hers, your donation means they don't face hunger alone.

"It's significant when officers will take their time and bring you a box," she said, "when you're not able to do it for yourself."