Latest / Cut the BS, Your Health, Your Choice / Season 3, Ep. 6: Breadcoin: Dignity through Food

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Season 3, Ep. 6: Breadcoin: Dignity through Food · Cut the BS, Your Health, Your Choice

• Marcia Lee: Welcome to the day today's episode of Cut the BS, Your Health, Your Choice. I am Marcia Lee, your host. So today I have the honor of having as my guest Mr. William Spence. He is the creative director of Bread Coin, which is a nonprofit in DC. He'll tell you all about that, but I'm going to read you his bio real quick. Brother William brings more than two decades of urban ministry. Individual and group counseling, program management, and community leadership. And he embodies the model the Breadcoin Network brings to our community. Since 2000, he has pastored at Harvest Life Fellowship Church in Washington, DC. He serves as Bridcoin's Visual Engagement Director, was a founding board member of the Breadcoin Foundation. From 2027, I'm twenty twenty seventeen to twenty twenty-three and leads Breadcoin's early D three DC work. He also owns and operates a Robeks Juice and Smoothie franchise in Rockville, Maryland. Earlier service as a senior chaplain and recovery program leader among people experiencing homelessness and addiction. And as an additions counselor, roots his leadership and dignity. Wim was born and raised in Washington, D.C., as it was I, yes, and serves our city with passion and a deep sense of purpose. Welcome, Wim. So I had a chance to meet Wim on several Braid Coin outreach programs and, events. So I want him to come on because what they're doing in the city is phenomenal. So, Wim, do you want to talk about what bread coin do and then relate into the health of our residents, William Spence: Well absolutely. First of all, you know, you you gave me the privilege today of calling you Marcia. And so I want to take that privilege public. I'm gonna take that privilege public today. just appreciate you for the invite to come and be with you and to connect with your community and those that are following your podcasting. And I'm new to podcasting, but I'm excited about it and because I love talking about what I do, and I get up in the morning every day and get a chance to do something that I And so that's my prayer. And that's a health and wellness point, right? We get up in the morning and get to do those things we love to do rather than just things we feel like we are forced to do. And so I'm grateful to being here today, grateful to be connected with you, and great to meet you as Breadcoin is out in the community doing the work it does. We run across so many amazing DC residents and and any other cities that Breadcoin is in as well. But we started here in DC. This is our headquarters, so this is where we cut our teeth and understood how to do this on Breadcoin Network Building in local communities. So glad to be with you today. Appreciate your love and your spirit, your fire, your passion for your city and for the residents and the neighbors that you touch every day. So thank you and for what you do. Marcia Lee: Thank you. Thank you, Wynn, 100%. Because I am out here promoting health, well-being. I love my city. I'm a multi-generational Washingtonian, not leaving DC never, ever, ever. But again, when I had the privilege of meet of meeting your executive director at the time, I had never even heard of Bread Coin. So I was very privileged that she came on one of the meetings I was in. I'm like, okay, this is interesting. And then y'all were having an anniversary event and I attended and I got to see what you do in the community. So you wanna talk about what made Breadcoin start something, a program like this? William Spence: So let me let me let me jump back to one of the pieces in my bio that talked about a place called Central Union Mission, which is a men's rescue shelter in downtown DC. And it's the place that I met the founder of Breadcoin. With Scott Borger. And and so he's an economist, and he did a lot of work in in in Córdoba and in Africa many years ago, missions work, and he was impacted by how local economies worked in the motherland. He was interested in how do we bring that kind of connection and that kind of communal living back to the United States of America into local urban cities, and so hence rapid run run, kind of run it up here. the breadcoin food token was created. And because, you know, what Scott was doing was coming down to Central Union Mission many years ago, the place that I worked, that's where I met him. And he was sitting with brothers who were unhoused at the time and having meals with them. And just this whole vision of how do we make sure that everyone has a seat at a table? Because he was experiencing a sense of belonging. a sense of love, a sense of connection. and he's a PhD, you know, working for the federal government. But here he was downtown sitting with people who were unhoused, and it changed his life. It changed his heart. It changed how he saw the world around him. And so ultimately the bread coin food token was developed because we need to create local currency or local economies, right? Where we can support these tables. We can set tables where everybody would be welcome and nobody's left out. From having a seat at a table. So that's primarily why bread coin was started to make sure everyone was affirmed, included, and belonged. At a table where a meal was taking place where people truly could connect with one another. Because you know, as you were talking about a minute ago, Marcia, about this whole mental health piece, the emotional health, the physical health of our people, particularly in the District of Columbia, it has one of the highest mortality rates and infant mortality rates in the country. And one of the highest rates and of diabetes, high blood pressure, sickness from tobacco and nicotine products. I mean, we we honestly are going through a heck of a lot. And city. And so we believe that bread coin comes alongside health and wellness because we believe that all health begins in the mind and in the heart. And we believe that people ought to sit at tables together and have meals together and talk and think about what it means to be with one another and be impacted by one another's storytelling. And so breadcoin primarily is a food token that's minted. It's about the size of a quarter. And and our funders and donors back that token with real money. So that we can put that token in the community in the context of those who need a meal. And and needing a meal means everybody because we all get hungry and we all need a meal. And so what we want from bread coin food tokens is that they be distributed across the city. Marcia Lee: Yeah. William Spence: In the context of hunger, of course, we want to make sure people that need a Marcia Lee: Okay. William Spence: meal are hungry and need a meal get a meal, but we also want to make sure that those folks are getting a meal also in the context of community, that they're able to sit at a table with other people and connect. and begin to share their life story. And share and hear the stories of others and be impacted by those stories. And so I believe that that helps us begin to realize when we feel like we're family somewhere, when we feel like somebody knows our name, we feel like somebody cares about us, we feel like we got a place we can go where people know us and think about us and care about us and actually want us to be there. That is a wonderful place to begin the journey of health and wholeness in your life as an individual, whether you're unhoused or whether you Or whether you got a full-time job or whether you're unemployed right now, whoever you are, wherever you're coming from, we want to make sure that you can find family and belonging around a table. So the bread coin food token is there to make sure people are eating. It's also there to make sure people are seated with others having that meal. And then the beauty of that is that Marcia, we get to support locally owned food businesses. Locally owned small food businesses, these vendors need a lot of support. And so we get a chance to bring more revenue to these vendors by bringing bread coin into communities where people might not normally be able to afford to go into a restaurant in their neighborhood. But with a bread coin, they can go in, purchase their meal. We get a chance to support that local business and keep them open. Right? Keep money local, which is one of the things we really love doing. And and I'm gonna I'm gonna stop here so you can kind of give me some feedback on this. And but while we're keeping that business open, we're keeping it open because we want that business to be a part of a community where everyone has access to a meal. Marcia Lee: Well you wanna talk about how the businesses come to you. Do you actually outreach for businesses to participate in Breakcoin or do they come to you and want to participate? William Spence: So in the beginning, it was all me go to them. That's one of the reasons why I got involved with Breadcoin, is because my sales background, and I wanted to be a part of helping vendors know how important it was to be a part of feeding the wider community in their city, but also to be able to increase their revenue. So in the beginning, we had to go in and knock in. I call it knocking in in sales. You had to go in, knock on the door, go. try to catch the owner, catch up with the managers, talk to them, nail them down, have a conversation. It wasn't easy in the beginning, so but as we went on and vendors began to come on board with bread coin. And they begin to make money from it and realize this is something that should be sustained, it's sustained in the community because it's helping us stay open. Then they start telling their business friends and their business, the other restaurants around the corner or across town, and they started calling us. So it went from us really going after them to them now really calling us a lot of times saying, hey, I want to be a part of this network now because I've realized I can make more money, but also I have a way that I can feed more people in my community. And a lot of these restaurants were already feeding people in the community anyway. What we want them to do is get paid to do it, right? We want to make sure they don't have to give away the food unless that's what they wanna do, but we wanna make sure they're making enough money so they can keep being generous in the community. Marcia Lee: And you know what, Wim, I like the fact that a lot of small businesses are engaged. Like last week when I had the chance to fellowship and share my story with Breadcoin I had never even heard of Blossom. And Blossom is near my house. So I love that. That you go to places where people are not even familiar. So it's really a win-win situation. Like you said, you outreach to the community, they're participating, you give them promotion. While meeting your mission? I love that. William Spence: And we and like, you know. You, Marcia, thank you for coming to our shared table because we do these shared table lunches throughout the week and throughout the month so that we can bring people to those businesses. Just like you talked about, we can invite people to come to those businesses and realize these businesses are feeding the city. These businesses care about their neighbors. So let's support them, right? We don't need to keep giving our money to businesses that take the money out of our city and away from our community. We need to support businesses at our number one. They treat our neighbors and our residents in our city with love and with dignity and with care and compassion. Number Marcia Lee: Mm-hmm. William Spence: one. That's number one. But then number two, why are you taking their money? You ought to be treated well when people taking your money. So that's number one. But we're partnering with businesses who love to do this. They're in the business of making people feel good and making people happy through food, right? And many of them, like Blossom, we went to the other day, are farm to table businesses. They're bringing farm to table, which means this is food with very few unnecessary ingredients in it, right? She's making food that's healthy for our community at this business. And those are the businesses we like partnering with in the city. Because you can't find a lot of them, but more and more of them as we support them, they'll be able to grow and open new locations where people are getting more whole foods, right? Rather than Just all these shelf stable foods and these foods that have that have preservatives and in them that are hurting our people and physical health also hurting their emotional and mental health as well. And so I appreciate a place like Blossom Bakery. I appreciate the fact that she cares about our community. I appreciate other places like Dreaming Out Loud, that's Marion Barry Avenue Market and Cafe the same thing in the city, providing meal with very few unnecessary ingredients and making sure our people are taking care of themselves while at the same time they're able to support them by giving more revenue to them with a bread coin food talk. Marcia Lee: I have the honor of knowing Christopher and his team just do amazing, amazing work. But I want to talk about with the cuts in SNAP SNA how have you seen Breadcoin shift? William Spence: So what what we're seeing with that is obviously the need has multiplied. And so Bretcoin is in partnership with a lot of nonprofits, a lot of family collaboratives across the city, even some government agencies that are doing some innovation work, even obviously churches and mosques and various faith-centered folks who are in the community trying to make sure they are meeting those needs and filling those gaps. And so what these partners do, they get a chance to purchase bread coins and these nonprofits, and we will match their purchase up to $300 a month. So they can double their impact in the community by being able to provide meals, number one, by being able to distribute those bread coins. In the community, and this is helping to kind of fill in those gaps where SNAP is declining and where options, right, are declining and where access is declining. We can make sure we are supplementing that access by getting more and more bread coins into the community. And so we have businesses that purchase bread coins that say, hey, we want corporations that purchase them. We have family foundations that support us to make sure we can continue to get more bread coins circulating in neighborhoods, right? Because this is a very hyper-local system. You hand out a bread coin. you want to point to the restaurant and say you can take it right there and so that's what we do. So in Britain, DC, we got about 70 restaurants now who take bread coin food tokens all across the city. And in in the last 10 years, the Breadcoin Food Network, the Breadcoin Network. Has added over a million dollars, specifically to DC, over $800,000 to local businesses by circulating bread coins over the last 10 years. So, and and most of that money has happened in the last five years because we've really blown up and grown a lot. Five years, but that's what allows us to combat what SNAP issues and what food program issues are causing. We can fill those gaps with bread coin and make sure people are still being fed with dignity of choice, number one, but having access more access to food and to meals to take care of their family. Marcia Lee: And know what? I like the fact that now you're partnering with fresh farms because that's where I saw the the post on Instagram that you were over at one one of the farmers markets in the area that's highly suffered from food insecurity. So is that gonna be a permanent partnership with them or is this just like a one-off? William Spence: Marcia you brought that up, which is really awesome for you to do that today. So that's a new relationship for Breadcoin, and we're going to continue that relationship. we're handing out breadcoins, distributing bread coins at about five of the markets, fresh farm markets across the city. One's at Minnesota, where you were, Columbia Heights, there's one here at Union Market. We do, Fresh Farm, and and other locations as well. But yes, we're gonna continue to do that. And Breadcoin is doing Direct distributions of bread coins now on a weekly basis. So we'll be at either Dreaming Our Louds Market and Cafe or Blossom Bakery or at a Fresh Farm. And we put that out on Instagram every week. So if you follow our Instagram, Breadcoin Washington, DC, if you follow that channel, you'll get a notice every week as to where breadcoin is distributing tokens in the city, and people can come and be a part of that. Marcia Lee: You know what? That is, you know, that's just absolutely I'm I don't want to get so emotional because what you're doing is just such a need. And it's it's a need where so many people, are getting served Wm. because like you said, you make them feel even when we were fellowshipping last week, it it was just phenomenal. I mean, and it wasn't like a big crowd, everybody. I think a lot of times less is more because we really got to be more intimate. And check this out. And I like the fact that Breadcoin Breadcoin top tier. They got MPD involved. So how'd you get your partnership involved with MPD? I'm sorry, Metropolitan Police Department. William Spence: So year years ago and as we were growing the network, I've been a part of Bread One from the start here in DC and so as it read in the bio, but in the beginning it was like, you know what, let's figure out how we can begin to impact our neighborhoods in different ways. And one of those ways was, you know what, you know, I I need officers in my city. I grew up in this city, right? I mean, I went to Cook Calvin Cool. High school. I grew up in northeast D.C., partly in northwest D.C. in the Petworth area, D.C. in the 80s, you know, where the drug issues in DC were at their worst. The murder gang was at its worst in this city growing up during that time. And we didn't have good relationships with the police. We just did not have when I was coming up. And so one of the things that I felt like we needed in the community was to figure out how we can find those officers, man, who really have a For community and really want to make a difference. And how can we help empower them to do that? And so I just went into the district and said, listen, this is what we're doing, and we'd love you to be involved. I just need to meet the right people within the district to make sure they represent Breadcoin the right way in the community. And I met people like Sergeant Leith right, who was at our shared table last week. Who's out of fifth district doing outreach? And this brother is giving out bread coins every week, right? He's at Starburst Plaza. This brother's down in Northeast over there handing out bread coins and making sure people are being fed every week. And they calling him the bread coin cop now, right? Cause he's he's got bread coins. And so what we learn. And we took that to other districts then because it was like, okay, we need these officers equipped with tools that they can go into the community and and de-escalate situations. You don't always have to arrest somebody. Sometimes that person is simply hungry. They're acting out because they're hungry. And we can give them bread coins and we can de-escalate that situation, get them a meal. And we don't have to lock that person up that day. And so that's what we really want to see in law enforcement and the stats side of it is that the public service side of law enforcement is equipped with a tool, right? That they can do things like that and be more communal, right, in their community and more connected with the neighbors in the community, right? So that was kind of how that started some years back. And so we do some donating to MPD and and then there are people who want to buy bread coins to make sure MPD officers have them in the community. So Yeah, that's that's how they guessed on it. Marcia Lee: So for those who not to cut you off, but for those who are not familiar, you wanna talk just briefly about what where Star Burst Plaza is and why why is that area so critical in serving the community. William Spence: So know, back in the day it was Hechinger Mall, right? So in DC. And so right off Benning Road, you know, is where these needs are so great. I mean, we have vendors down there. One is called Wings and More Wings, which is right to the night right at 19th and Benning, 19th and D, right there at the corner, another restaurant, Royal Rooster Right there that takes bread coins, and so we get an opportunity to have officers distributing those coins right in the community, and these customers or these folks who receive them can walk right down and become customers, right? They don't have to walk in and ask for no free food, they can bring in and pay, bring in their bread coins and pay for their meal. That's empowering that they can come pay for their meal, bring their son or their daughter down to the local restaurant and pay for their meal. It could be, you know, a burger. Birthday, right? And and they able to take their child out for their birthday, man, to go get a meal. And people, we had a young guy one time who earned some bread coins at school, and we found this story out, man, and we tell this story all the time. He all he wanted to do with his bread coins was take his little brother out for his birthday. I mean, just Marcia Lee: Mm. William Spence: powerful. When you think about the mental and emotional trauma that some of our people go through growing up in a city like DC, you know, those opportunities that bring a sense of hope, that bring a sense of humanity and a sense of dignity and even a sense of divinity to our people's spirit and to their mind. So this is the health that and the health and wellness side of this that bread coin brings to the table. Marcia Lee: And you know what? You make a good point, Wm. because a lot of times people do not realize when you are suffering from food insecurity and when you are hungry, it brings on a whole other it brings on a plus a plethora of of other issues. Am I not correct? William Spence: So hunger is traumatic. Hunger is traumatic. Right? So this is the reality of what people are going through sometimes growing up and not having enough to eat. Right? Students going to school and not having enough to eat. They can't even get their work done during the day because they're so hungry and they haven't had enough nutrients in their body for their brain to continue to develop in the way that it should. So they can learn at the level that they can learn, as gifted young men made in the image of God. Young men and women in the image of God. So we gotta make sure that we are supplying and supporting them with the things that they need so that they can grow, so they can develop physically, so that they can develop mentally, so they can accomplish their dreams and their purposes. And so breakpoints comes alongside, yes. And that's our focus to make sure that these things are being provided. And communities. So historic poverty, these things that cause historic and generational poverty, generational issues in our community where people can't read, they can't write, things that are going on that have a lot to do with food. They have a lot to do with the meal they did not get. The level of nutrients and vitamins they did not receive. Even the violence you see in the community sometimes is connected, Marcia, directly to hunger. Marcia Lee: And see, that's what people don't see, this is why I'm glad we we are having this conversation because I think a lot of people don't know that they don't know that correlation between that because it's real. It's and I mean it's it's really real out here. And especially during like the summer months when the children are out of school and during the holidays and weekends. So how does Breadcoin kinda help fill in those gaps, William? William Spence: So that that's the beauty of it. So part of what we do, like saying during the summer, when you mentioned that kids are out of school so they don't get that lunch program meal during the day. And that's the beauty of having nonprofits in the community that partner with us to make sure Marcia Lee: Yeah. William Spence: those bread coins are getting distributed to those students. And so we'll have places like the East River. Family Strengthening Collaborative or the Far Southeast Family Collaborative. So we have those relationships with these collaboratives. We have these relationships with local churches and obviously MPD or otherwise, but it's more organizations we have a relationship with who make sure those bread coins are being distributed to those young people. About 50% of the bread coins that are distributed in DC go to youth. They're getting to those youth through coaches that are coaching them during the summer and throughout the year. They're coming through counselors that are directly connected to. Those young people they're coming through, obviously, you know, vacation Bible schools during the summer. Maybe that's happening. And then the other thing we do throughout the summer is that we set public tables. So Breadcoin is a token network, but it's also a table network. So we set outdoor dining opportunties Up all through the summer, right? We do it through the spring and fall as well, but definitely during the summer we set these tables up in neighborhoods and we'll end up feeding about, you know, 100, 150 people over two hours. We bring out one of our local caterers, our break-on caterer. We set up tables, we put beautiful white tablecloths down, like you had a wedding banquet, white china plates, silverware, and we just invite the community to come and sit. And during the summer in particular, to your point, and you you you would be not surprised, you wouldn't be surprised, but some people would be surprised how many children end up coming to those tables. How many young people? You know, people get on their cell phone and be like look they got food around here. And people will come and we'll bring out 20 volunteers, and we just treat that like a five-star dining experience. They don't have to stand in line for no food. They sit down at a table where somebody comes up and says, What would you like to have Marcia Lee: Okay. William Spence: today? They go make their plate, bring it back to them again, treating them with dignity, humanity, and love. And that's a way we get to feed more people, and especially during during the summer when them kids is out of school. Marcia Lee: Thank you so much that. And you know what? I I went to one of your one of those events that Candace had at Hedzole her restaurant, and it was so nice to be served. And like you said, because I don't take it for granted because I worked in hospitality for a very long time. So I'm used to fine dining, you know, white glove service, white tablecloths and all that. But you know what? That just that just brings it another level of elevation and boosts their self esteem, even for those like those one or two hours. Don't you agree? William Spence: You're absolutely right. The smiles you see and and the storytelling, the beauty of of of of health and wellness, core principle I'll say, of health and wellness is telling your story. So we get a chance to sit at those tables and let people tell their story. Sometimes people just feel like they're not being listened to, right? So we get a chance to sit, we train volunteers how to host tables, how to listen. Right? How to listen, how to have the the the cultural humility you need to sit and listen to the story of another person. And it's amazing to watch those kids smile while they're eating, listen to their grandmothers or their moms or dads or uncles tell their stories. Marcia Lee: Yeah. William Spence: And and they can just sit as a family and have a moment. Right? Have a moment where they don't have to feel, you know, like I don't know where my next meal is coming from, or I don't know what I'm gonna do, right? Or next, or I don't know how I'm gonna get this money. They can sit at a table for a moment. And at those tables, all kinds of resources happen. We don't advertise resources at those tables, but when you set those tables, people like Marcia come to those tables. And Marcia becomes an advocate and a supporter who's an advocate in the community and a supporter of people. She gets to sit at that table and say, hey, there's some other resources I can tell you about while I'm sitting here having a meal with you. Right? Marcia Lee: Yeah. William Spence: So we get a chance to do that meal. Marcia Lee: Yes, and you know I do that in real life too. So thank you. Thank you for the thank you for that. I received that. But you know what? It like you say, it's so good. And I like the fact that the meals, like Wynn was saying, most of the meals are farm the tape. What what they call it, DPR fork, farm the fork. Same concept. And they're getting nutritious, good, well-balanced food. That they're not getting this process. They're not getting this process. Just be and I and my this is my philosophy. Just because you are Under pr you know, on underprivileged, that don't mean that you have to be served underprivileged things. And I think that when you're out here serving Breadcoin gets that one hundred percent. They're making sure people are eating really phenomenal, phenomenal meals. They're trying things they haven't tried before because they haven't been exposed to it. William Spence: That's right. Marcia Lee: So I love the fact that Breadcoin is actually bringing exposure to different types of meals. Isn't that correct, Bill? William Spence: So yeah, we're we're we're you know, one of the one of the visions and missions of Breadcoin is to expand the palate, right? We wanna make sure people Marcia Lee: Mm-hmm. William Spence: have different experiences, right? Because it expands their sense of who they are. And what they have a right to in this world, right? So we get a chance to bring in all kinds of meals. You know, we can bring, you know, Mexican in the community, we can bring some Indian in there, a little bit of mixture of this and that, some Caribbean. We can bring all these various opportunities in international cuisines. I mean, DC is an international city, right? So we get a chance to bring these international cuisines into neighborhoods where normally people all they I mean, I mean, quite honestly, you know, Marcia I'm just being straight. I'm from this city, right? You just go to the corner, you get a wing, some fries, you know, and some hot sauce on it, and that's gonna be about it. And it's like, nah, we need to do more than that because our children need to know. They live in a world where they can explore the world. They have a right to this world. Not just a right to their neighborhood and their apartment, but they have a right to this world. They've been put here by God and they have a right to this world. So they have a right to have these experiences. And so this is a part of why bread corn exists. It's for the humanity, the dignity, and the divinity of every person, right? And then making sure that that meal is provided and that food access is also consistent in the community while we do that. Marcia Lee: You know what, again, I just cannot give you enough praise today. And, you know, again, because I see it. You know, I work in a nonprofit too, and we see it. We we we you know, we see customers come in. When I'm out in the street, I see it. You know, people are hungry, adults, children, and the unhoused. And you know, like you said, and Breadcoin like I said, it got really elevated because a lot of times when you feed the unhoused, you get the same thing. You get a sandwich, maybe a chip and a cookie. And you're really elevating beyond that. They can have more than that. And again, like you said, Wm. it's more besides salt pepper hot sauce, as I call it. You know, salt pepper hot sauce like on every corner. And then again, maybe, and then you know how many lives just sitting down for those few hours are sometimes a a life changer for, you know, for William Spence: right. Marcia Lee: the community. Absolutely. So have you seen that a lot? William Spence: You see it a lot because you see even the volunteers that come out, Marcia Lee: Mm-hmm. William Spence: right? It takes about twenty volunteers to do what we describe as a flash table outside, out that outdoor dining meal opportunity. And it'd be it's amazing to me to watch how the volunteers' lives are changed. Because they they begin to realize that the world is bigger than just their job and their their house and their car, right? That there's more going on in the world than that. They get to come into a neighborhood and where they are being welcomed by the people who live there. See, we come into a neighborhood not just thinking about how can we feed you. We come into the neighborhood saying, this is your neighborhood, you know, would you allow us to sit with you? Would you allow us to sit with you and have a meal with you and just hear your story? Would you allow us to do that? And so that's the beauty of what a flash table allows, because we can give the meal to an individual who's sitting at that table, but the volunteers are also there to eat a meal and sit at that table. We're not there just to hand out food and say, I'm you hungry, I need Give you this. No, we're all there to sit together. So this is not just about charity, it's about dignity. And that's the beauty of that. That's the beauty of what we're talking about. Dignity for the human being. Not just charity. You know, I got more, so I'm gonna give you a little mine, and I'm gonna go on about my business, and and you know, you just, you know, you you you you you you live the best way you can from there. You just make it the best way you can after I hand you this little bit of groceries and I walk off. Because what Breadcoin is focused on, also, Marcia. Is what we describe as a kitchen gap. Because there's a lot of food programs that go on where people are, you know, getting groceries. But if you get the groceries, right, and you get the canned goods and you get the eggs and the milk, if you walk up to a place in a line and they hand you all that stuff, there's a lot of people in those lines who don't have a refrigerator and they don't have a stove. You they Marcia Lee: Or a can opener. William Spence: don't have anywhere, right? They don't have anywhere to store that food, they don't have anywhere to prepare that food. So a Breadcoin food token is there to make sure that that gap is filled as well, right? Just another part of what we do to make sure that that individual, right, who doesn't have that kitchen, doesn't have that, you know, sometimes it don't doesn't mean you don't have an apartment. Sometimes you got a place you live, but you don't have no power on in the place. Right? I mean, the more you do this work like you do and I do in the street, you realize a lot of people out here they got a place they can turn a key and they can go inside, but they don't have anything in there, right? They just in there laying. Right? So our goal is to make sure that we are reaching people that are falling through the cracks, right? And they get a chance to get this dignity and they get a chance to go purchase this meal with Breadcoins and they get a chance to become a part of a network of people, right? A family of people who really want Marcia Lee: Mm-hmm. William Spence: to make sure you have a seat. table, right? We're not just s giving you a coin and saying just see us see you next time. We want you to connect with a community of people, right? This becomes a tool to bring people together to make sure that you don't feel isolated and alone anymore Marcia Lee: But have you seen some of your former guests become volunteers? William Spence: Absolutely. So people that come to flash tables, that's one of the goals, right, of flash tables that folks come to flash tables or they come to share tables or whatever they do. They they meet Breadcoin and or sometimes they just they ended up with a breadcoin in their hand one day and they contact us and like I want to be a part of this. I mean I I ate off I ate with breadcoin Somebody gave me breadcoins I needed a meal that day. Now I want to volunteer. I want to be a part of how other people are being fed. And so that's why this is so powerful, because it invites the whole community. to come together. We're not just some kind of locked away organization that's trying to do stuff, but you can't connect with us, right? You don't know where our address is. You don't know how to connect with us. Our volunteers come by and help us roll up the breadcoins. You know, you've seen them before. They rolled up in a row. Would be. That's how we distribute them in the community, right? And so we invite people to come to our office. You can come here, volunteer, help us roll up the bread coins, and to make sure that's a part of how you are giving back to make sure people are being fed. Or you can come out and be a part of the flash table, right? If you go to breadcoin.org, we got a volunteer form right there. You can just sign up that volunteer form, and then you'll see our calendar of events, and you can just choose what you want to come out. Marcia Lee: That's you know what that's really that's so wonderful. But you know what too and I think what a lot of people miss women, different outfits and what you do with the tables and the meals and the meal and the meal sharing, you're actually talking to people and not at people. And you're engaging, not just talk. See talking and engagement are two different things. So the fact that you're actually engaging and talking to them. Is making such a difference. I've seen that in person. William Spence: Yeah, bless you for saying that. Because that's exactly, because it either that or we just pack this, pack this tent up and move on and do something else. Because I want to have real engagement. I want to build real relationships. I want to have real connections, right? And if we all sacrifice a little bit of our time, a little bit of our talent, a little bit of our treasure, we can bring the whole community up, right? So it's just a matter of making sure we're willing to make the sacrifice of time and effort. And even money to support this. I mean, we we ask every every person we meet, right? Marcia, you know, whoever that person might be, we ask everybody to buy bread coins. Because we want everybody to use bread coins at our vendors. What does that do? That destigmatizes hunger. We want to make sure everybody's using our bread coin. I said in the beginning, we treat this like a local currency, right? So if everybody's using it, right, number one, Hunger is destigmatized. Number two, more and more people are being fed, obviously, with that local restaurant. They get to feed more people and get more customers. And then, you know, the third thing we haven't talked about today that Breadcoin does is that we have a loan network. So we have the tokens we distribute, we have the tables we set, but we have a loan network too. And our local restaurant vendors can come to Breadcoin and apply for a micro loan. Right? And they pay it back in bread coin. So this is our donors' desire to make sure these local businesses stay open, stabilized, so they can continue to feed the community. Marcia Lee: Wow. Wow. Thank you so much for that. But as we wrap up, Wm. how can people can you please share all your contact information, your socials? How do people get connected with Breadcoin for donations, volunteer, outreach? Wanna share that with us? William Spence: Well, absolutely wonderful. Thank you for that. So, first of all, my direct email address is W.Spence, as in William Spence, wspence@breacoin.org You can always email me directly and I'll respond to you quickly. And you can also go to Breadcoin's website, breadcoin.org, and learn all about the token network, the table network, and the loan network. You can also learn on our website how you partner. We have partner applications on our website. So if you're a nonprofit NDC, or anywhere for that matter, you can come on Breadcoin's website, you can sign, fill out our partner application, and we'll get back to you. If you're a local vendor, local restaurant, you want to be a part of Breadcoin, you go on our website, breadcoin.org, look for the vendor tab, click that, and we have a vendor application. You just fill it out. Somebody's back at you just like that to make sure you get onboarded with the BreadCoin network. And of course, I said earlier, we have a volunteer form, you go on and fill that out. But there's a lot of information on that website as to what breadcoin is, what it does, and how you can get involved. we also do on a monthly basis what we call Discover Breadcoin. Marcia Lee: Yeah. William Spence: So you can go on our website and look at our calendar under events, and you can register. As a matter of fact, the next one is next Tuesday. on the 18th. We do one hour virtual meeting where we show the community everything that Breadcoin is and what it does. And then we break out in breakout rooms based on region and interest and people can talk to us directly and ask questions and we'll answer them. So that's a beautiful way to begin to get connected with breadcoin through our website. Email your brother right here today as well directly and and go on and sign out one of those fill out one of those forms online, whichever is more specific to what you want to do and just get connected and talk and figure it out. yeah, thank you so much for that. Yeah, my communications person will be like, William. So we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook, obviously, under Breadcoin Washington, DC, and Breadcoin Instagram as well, BreadcoinWashingtonDC Bradcoin Foundation, right? We have a couple of channels on there. So if you just look up Bradcoin, you'll see them all pop up. Because we're in Baltimore City, we're in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, we're in Tampa, Florida. We're going to about three more cities this year. Before the year closes out, we'll be probably in two to three more cities. So, but for our area, Bradcoin, Washington, DC, we want you to follow us again, as I talked about earlier, because we do. announcements about where bread coins can be picked up, where they'll be distributed during the week. So please go follow our Instagram because that's a powerful opportunity to learn about us and but also to find out where you can send other people who may need some bread coins. Marcia Lee: That's excellent. And I also have those in my show notes so everybody can go back and review it. William, this has been such an educational, uplifting, very informative. chat that we had today. And I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to to speak with me. And again, for everybody listening, thank you for tuning in. This concludes another episode of Cut the BS, your health, your choice. Stay fabulous and be well. Thank you. William Spence: Blessings.