Life-changing event leads former corrections officer to help others

For the second year in a row, Michelle Threatt and her crew have given out free meals on Wednesdays in her northwest Lake Wales neighborhood. 

"It's just a good hot meal just to help out the families, you know, the single moms, everybody needs a helping hand," she shared. "I was a young single mom and people help me. And it's like it takes a neighborhood just like they say it takes a village to raise children." 

"It makes you happy just to see the kids when they come or they run up to you and give you a hug because one day these small children or the kids or teenagers, they're going to come adults and they're going to remember what we did for them," Threatt added. 

Threatt started out as a Polk County correctional officer in 2002, but an incident with an inmate at the Polk County Sheriff's Office in 2006 changed her life path.  

READ Lifelong pit master proud to carry on family legacy at BJ's Alabama BBQ

"I remember seeing all this blood in the wall and he was yelling and next thing I know, we were fighting," she said. "He said that his plan was to bash my brains in, get my gun, kill me and whoever got in his way. But I'm still here." 

Threatt left law enforcement and decided to follow her dream of owning a food truck. 

READ 'Lunch For Healthcare Heroes' campaign aims to give 2021 meals this year

"On my menu, I may have fish, shrimp and fries for $12, chicken tenders and fries are $10, laughter and prayers are free." 

Prayer that she used to help her find her purpose of helping others. 

"Sometimes bad things have to happen to you for you to get a wakeup call and when I think about the things that have happened, the doors that have opened, even in this moment right now, I saw none of this at all, so I know it had nothing to do with me. It was just a purpose," she said. 

A purpose that she is happy to fulfill for her Lake Wales community.

MORE GOOD NEWS: Download the free FOX 13 News app for more #WeLiveHere stories like this