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Community DC Radha Muthiah Capital Area Food Bank · Community D.C.

0:08
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
0:11
Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome to
0:13
Speaker 1: the program for the first time, Roda Mathiah. She is
0:16
Speaker 1: the president and CEO for Capital Area Food Bank, is
0:19
Speaker 1: nonprofit that's been around since nineteen eighty is the primary
0:22
Speaker 1: hunger relief organization for Washington, DC metropolitan area. In twenty
0:26
Speaker 1: twenty six, it serves more than one million people annually
0:29
Speaker 1: across DC, Maryland, and Virginia, distributing the equivalent of nearly
0:33
Speaker 1: sixty one million meals through a network of over FOURNERD
0:36
Speaker 1: plus nonprofit partners and direct programs. Here's my conversation with Rota.
0:40
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
0:42
Speaker 2: Good morning, Rota, Good morning, how are you, Dennis.
0:44
Speaker 1: I'm well, Thanks so much for doing this first time
0:46
Speaker 1: for you on Community DC, and I'm so happy to
0:48
Speaker 1: have you a board this morning to talk about all
0:51
Speaker 1: the amazing things that Capital Area Food Bank does. I
0:53
Speaker 1: do want to educate our listeners because I'm sure a
0:55
Speaker 1: lot of people in the DMV have heard about you,
0:58
Speaker 1: but they may not know all the incredible things you do.
1:00
Speaker 1: The pounds of food annually, the sixty million places that
1:04
Speaker 1: you feed over the whole entire annual year. And it
1:07
Speaker 1: really is incredible. The forty six year history since nineteen
1:10
Speaker 1: eighty of what the bank was and what it is
1:13
Speaker 1: today is truly incredible in the growth. Can you tell
1:16
Speaker 1: us a little bit about the history?
1:18
Speaker 2: Sure, now, I'd be happy to and my pleasure to
1:20
Speaker 2: be on the show today. So we opened our doors
1:23
Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty on Martin Luther King's birthday, and it
1:26
Speaker 2: was really a group of ministers across faiths who came
1:30
Speaker 2: together because the congregants were telling them that they needed
1:34
Speaker 2: extra support putting food on their tables. And so once
1:37
Speaker 2: they realized that this was something that was across the
1:40
Speaker 2: board and not just in their churches or temples or synagogues,
1:44
Speaker 2: they really came together to form the capital area of
1:46
Speaker 2: Food Bank. And the idea then was really to rescue
1:49
Speaker 2: food that was available in abundance in one part of
1:52
Speaker 2: our community and to provide it to another part of
1:55
Speaker 2: our community that was struggling to put food on the table.
1:58
Speaker 2: And so we started from you know, just hundreds of
2:01
Speaker 2: pounds of food to where we are today, and you
2:05
Speaker 2: mentioned it earlier, providing over sixty million meals worth of
2:10
Speaker 2: groceries to our community members in need.
2:12
Speaker 1: It's truly incredible the numbers. I do want to talk
2:14
Speaker 1: a little bit more data that you have in the
2:16
Speaker 1: DMV and your footprint about who you work with, and
2:19
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about your partners and programs, events
2:23
Speaker 1: and all the incredible things that you and your team do.
2:25
Speaker 1: But as you look at the latest data that you
2:27
Speaker 1: have as far as adults and children and families, what
2:32
Speaker 1: kind of kind of data are we looking at a
2:34
Speaker 1: people that need meals out there?
2:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, hunger is a huge problem across our entire region.
2:41
Speaker 2: There isn't a single zip code in which we don't
2:44
Speaker 2: provide hundreds of thousands or millions of meals. They're about
2:48
Speaker 2: one point five million people. These are children, adults, older
2:53
Speaker 2: adults who struggle to put their meals on the table
2:58
Speaker 2: and who struggle to think about where the next meal
3:00
Speaker 2: is going to come from. One point five million. That's
3:02
Speaker 2: about one in three individuals across the Greater Washington area.
3:07
Speaker 1: I want to talk about your volunteers, and also we're
3:12
Speaker 1: going to talk about donations too, because I know that's
3:13
Speaker 1: also important. But one of the things that caught my
3:15
Speaker 1: attention that I know you do along with your team
3:18
Speaker 1: is advocating and it's a real big deal. I'm not
3:21
Speaker 1: sure how often you go to Capitol Hill, but when
3:23
Speaker 1: you are doing advocation, what's it look like for you?
3:27
Speaker 2: Sure? Our Food Bank has many different layers of government
3:32
Speaker 2: that are present within our service area, so all the
3:34
Speaker 2: way from the federal government in our service area all
3:37
Speaker 2: the way down to county governments and city governments in
3:40
Speaker 2: the region. So we advocate across all of these levels,
3:43
Speaker 2: and there are different things that we are trying to
3:47
Speaker 2: partner with and trying to ensure a positive policy around
3:49
Speaker 2: across these different levels. So as an example, at the
3:52
Speaker 2: federal government level, it really is about food stamps now
3:56
Speaker 2: known as SNAP, and it's about the Farm Bill. It's
3:59
Speaker 2: the thing that really set the stage for the level
4:03
Speaker 2: of the size as well as who qualifies for public
4:06
Speaker 2: safety programs, So that's at that level. At the state level,
4:10
Speaker 2: we might be talking to delegates about how those programs
4:16
Speaker 2: are administered from the national to the state level, and
4:20
Speaker 2: programs could be administered differently. So we're both feeding information.
4:24
Speaker 2: Like you just asked me about one point five million
4:26
Speaker 2: people who are food and secure, seventy seven percent of
4:29
Speaker 2: whom are working. So when things like work requirements are imposed,
4:33
Speaker 2: on the one hand, we're saying the majority of those
4:36
Speaker 2: who have food and security working, those who are not
4:40
Speaker 2: are not working for I would say good reason. They're
4:42
Speaker 2: older adults taking care of children and so they're not
4:45
Speaker 2: able to go and work. So it's this kind of
4:47
Speaker 2: information that we can share at the state level that
4:50
Speaker 2: helps the state think through how they might execute different programs.
4:54
Speaker 2: At the county level, we've had many counties step up
4:57
Speaker 2: once they've seen the Hunger Report data in their particular
5:01
Speaker 2: county to say they need to allocate a greater portion
5:04
Speaker 2: of their budgets to support those who are food and secure.
5:07
Speaker 2: Some have stood up food policy councils to really dig
5:11
Speaker 2: deeper into this issue of food and security. So there's
5:13
Speaker 2: a whole range of ways in which advocacy can take place,
5:17
Speaker 2: and we don't do it just ourselves. We do it
5:18
Speaker 2: with partners. We have a Client Leadership Council that are
5:21
Speaker 2: individuals who have lived experience with food and security and
5:25
Speaker 2: they are really the best spokespeople and are speaking to
5:28
Speaker 2: policy makers to let them know what their lives are
5:31
Speaker 2: like and how policymakers can help them Scanny.
5:33
Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing all that you know. One of the
5:35
Speaker 1: things is I was on the website preparing for the
5:37
Speaker 1: interview to get my arms around was all the moving
5:40
Speaker 1: parts that you and your team have you talked about
5:43
Speaker 1: the different agencies giving you data. After that, how do
5:47
Speaker 1: you decide about when it comes to food and security,
5:49
Speaker 1: about who you're going to help and not necessarily not help,
5:51
Speaker 1: But then how do you help them? And how does
5:53
Speaker 1: word get out? And there's so many tentacles I imagine
5:57
Speaker 1: it's mind blowing, but how does it all work?
6:00
Speaker 2: Or no, I'm happy to speak through that first, You're right,
6:03
Speaker 2: its awareness? How do we make people understand that? One?
6:07
Speaker 2: If you are in need of food, please don't hold back.
6:10
Speaker 2: We are here, our partners are here to be able
6:12
Speaker 2: to support you, and we do that through various media
6:16
Speaker 2: outlets like yours right now, to be able to highlight
6:19
Speaker 2: the need and to share what's possible. We do it
6:22
Speaker 2: through people coming in to support and volunteer, but they
6:27
Speaker 2: might know someone who is in need of support as well.
6:30
Speaker 2: So there are many ways to be able to get
6:31
Speaker 2: the word out through our website, social media channels, etc.
6:34
Speaker 2: So that's one way. The other is really who qualifies
6:38
Speaker 2: you asked, and I think for us as a food bank,
6:41
Speaker 2: if you are in need, you qualify. There's certain streams
6:45
Speaker 2: of food that we get that might be targeted to
6:48
Speaker 2: certain individuals. I'll give you an example. Much of the
6:51
Speaker 2: food that we get from USDA, the Department of Agriculture
6:54
Speaker 2: might be targeted. A certain program might provide food for
6:58
Speaker 2: older adults, so you have to be over the age
7:00
Speaker 2: of sixty or sixty two. Other programs might be targeted
7:04
Speaker 2: to children as after school meals, so that is provided
7:07
Speaker 2: to them. But we buy a lot of our food,
7:10
Speaker 2: we get a lot of food donated. All of that
7:12
Speaker 2: can go to whomever is in need. So we'll manage
7:14
Speaker 2: all the behind the scenes in terms of who gets
7:17
Speaker 2: what food. But if you are in need, please don't
7:19
Speaker 2: hold back and come to the Capital Area Food Banks
7:23
Speaker 2: website and you'll be able to find a partner who
7:26
Speaker 2: lives close to you.
7:27
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily want to spotlight one type of person,
7:30
Speaker 1: but listen, I live in Northwest DC and I see it,
7:33
Speaker 1: and I've lived in a lot of different markets because
7:34
Speaker 1: of my job. Not having a home anymore is a
7:38
Speaker 1: real big deal, and it's happening everywhere and it's happening
7:40
Speaker 1: in Washington, DC and the DMV. With that said, when
7:42
Speaker 1: it comes to encampments, are people that do not have
7:45
Speaker 1: a home right now? Are you able to help them
7:47
Speaker 1: as well?
7:48
Speaker 2: We are, And that's the beauty of having, you know,
7:51
Speaker 2: hundreds of partners like we do. And so we provide
7:54
Speaker 2: through partners who might target from a geographic perspective, they
7:58
Speaker 2: might target from an age perspective, that they might target
8:01
Speaker 2: for those who are housed versus unhoused. We have many
8:04
Speaker 2: partners who open their doors to those who are unhoused
8:08
Speaker 2: to come in for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, and
8:11
Speaker 2: they actually take the food that we provide to them
8:13
Speaker 2: and make meals that can then be served to these individuals.
8:17
Speaker 2: I was just with a partner not too long ago
8:19
Speaker 2: who opens up their kitchen for those who are unhoused
8:23
Speaker 2: and may not have their own kitchen to be able
8:26
Speaker 2: to come in and do some light cooking and preparation
8:28
Speaker 2: of their food. So the food that we provide in
8:31
Speaker 2: the community really does go to the unhoused. It goes
8:34
Speaker 2: to those who I just mentioned are working but are
8:37
Speaker 2: not making a living wage in our community, so not
8:39
Speaker 2: making enough to be able to cover this increase in
8:42
Speaker 2: costs that we are experiencing through inflation, and it goes
8:46
Speaker 2: to older adults who have done well their entire lives,
8:50
Speaker 2: but now they're on a fixed income and they didn't
8:52
Speaker 2: expect inflation to be what it has been over the
8:55
Speaker 2: last few years, and they need a little extra help
8:58
Speaker 2: as well.
9:00
Speaker 1: Of the things in my life moving around in the
9:02
Speaker 1: early odds, I was living in the northwestern Portland, Oregon,
9:05
Speaker 1: and it was my first opportunity to do some charity
9:08
Speaker 1: work with our radio group back then for a transitional school,
9:11
Speaker 1: which I knew nothing about, and it basically was kids
9:14
Speaker 1: that were un housed, and I learned that they were
9:17
Speaker 1: being picked up at motels or on corners, and also
9:20
Speaker 1: they didn't have any meals, and that area food bank
9:23
Speaker 1: worked with this transitional school, and it just dawned on
9:26
Speaker 1: me that, you know, when people are on housed, having
9:29
Speaker 1: an education to get is one huge thing, but then
9:32
Speaker 1: three meals a day is also a big deal. I
9:34
Speaker 1: was elated, and once again I'm not trying to spotlight
9:36
Speaker 1: certain type of people, but it caught my attention that
9:38
Speaker 1: you're taking care of children after school too. Can you
9:41
Speaker 1: tell us a little bit more about how that works.
9:43
Speaker 2: Absolutely. You know, we are so thankful that many school
9:47
Speaker 2: districts in our area offer free breakfast, some are for
9:51
Speaker 2: free lunch or reduced breakfast, a cost of breakfast and lunch,
9:55
Speaker 2: but often the after school component is not something that
9:58
Speaker 2: schools can take care of. That's really where we step
10:01
Speaker 2: in with partners and we provide prepared meals that are
10:05
Speaker 2: served in recreation centers, places that offer homework support for students.
10:12
Speaker 2: So it's bundled that way so that students young students
10:16
Speaker 2: can get the mentorship and the food that they need
10:19
Speaker 2: to thrive and to be able to focus on their
10:21
Speaker 2: homework and focus in school the next day. So it's
10:24
Speaker 2: a big part of what we do. And during the
10:26
Speaker 2: summer we provide summer meals and we know that kids
10:29
Speaker 2: aren't in school and it's a big problem, and so
10:32
Speaker 2: we meet kids and families where they are. We actually
10:35
Speaker 2: have a bus that moves around and has the ability
10:39
Speaker 2: to both provide some entertainment of their young kids. It's
10:42
Speaker 2: coloring books in addition to meals. It's a way to
10:45
Speaker 2: bring the community together. The parents have a little bit
10:48
Speaker 2: of a respite for that hour or so while the
10:49
Speaker 2: kids are having a meal and being entertained. And so
10:53
Speaker 2: this is something that we are so pleased to be
10:56
Speaker 2: able to provide because you have to, I mean, all
10:58
Speaker 2: of us need to have food. Absolutely need to have
11:01
Speaker 2: good nutritious food as a child because that will help
11:04
Speaker 2: you lifelong.
11:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad that we spotlighted just that a little
11:07
Speaker 1: part because it's extraordinary what you do. And this is
11:11
Speaker 1: a good segue because when it comes to distributing the
11:13
Speaker 1: food and where it's needed most, you've got an easy
11:15
Speaker 1: to understand graft here. And I'd like you to talk
11:17
Speaker 1: about a little bit more, but we're talking about emergency shelters,
11:20
Speaker 1: senior programs, daycare centers, food pantries, multi service nonprofits, group homes,
11:26
Speaker 1: and soup kitchens. I know you're trying to hit as
11:28
Speaker 1: many buckets as you can out there, but it really
11:30
Speaker 1: is extraordinary of all these different places that have the
11:33
Speaker 1: food issues and that you're helping out.
11:36
Speaker 2: You know, it's so important to us to not only
11:38
Speaker 2: be able to provide the food, but to make it convenient,
11:41
Speaker 2: to make it accessible so people don't have to go
11:43
Speaker 2: way out of their way, you know, to be able
11:46
Speaker 2: to get what is really a basic human right. For
11:48
Speaker 2: them food, and so we look at the entire region.
11:53
Speaker 2: The Hunger Report that we publish every year tells us,
11:56
Speaker 2: you know, not only the number of people who are
11:57
Speaker 2: food and secure, but where they and so that allows
12:01
Speaker 2: us them to map this on a Hunger heat map
12:03
Speaker 2: and then to overlay where our partners are. So we're
12:06
Speaker 2: able to then understand do we have a particular area
12:09
Speaker 2: where there's a higher density of food and secure individuals
12:12
Speaker 2: and perhaps not enough partners. And let's think then about
12:16
Speaker 2: who might be the right new partner to bring on board.
12:19
Speaker 2: Or should the Food Bank ourselves go and distribute food directly,
12:22
Speaker 2: for which we do for over twenty percent of the
12:24
Speaker 2: food that's provided. We would set up a farmer's market
12:27
Speaker 2: style distribution, the only difference being that all the food
12:30
Speaker 2: is free. So our focus really is on convenience and
12:34
Speaker 2: access because we know that those who are struggling to
12:37
Speaker 2: put food on the table are also so constrained with
12:40
Speaker 2: transportation and childcare and the multiple jobs that they're working.
12:43
Speaker 2: We don't want to make it difficult for them to
12:46
Speaker 2: get the food that they deserve. We want to make
12:48
Speaker 2: it as convenient as possible.
12:49
Speaker 1: I don't want to make a bold assumption, But I
12:51
Speaker 1: imagine you're making a huge dent in people that have
12:53
Speaker 1: the food insecurities and then needed. But when it comes
12:55
Speaker 1: to the data that you're looking at, is it's always
12:59
Speaker 1: never enough for you run a nonprofit And I realize
13:01
Speaker 1: that bought. But are the numbers growing continually?
13:05
Speaker 2: Yes, Unfortunately, the numbers are growing. And when I look
13:08
Speaker 2: back at the last few years, they've been all these
13:10
Speaker 2: exogenous external events. Right, we had COVID, you know that
13:14
Speaker 2: lasted a couple of years. We had the high inflation
13:18
Speaker 2: that we hadn't experienced since the nineteen seventies, you know,
13:20
Speaker 2: hit right after COVID. For a few years, we've had
13:23
Speaker 2: federal policy shifts that have disproportionately affected this region with
13:28
Speaker 2: the number of federal government workers and contractors. So when
13:30
Speaker 2: you there hasn't been a break. It's been consistent. And
13:34
Speaker 2: I think one statistic that I think tells this story
13:36
Speaker 2: really well is that as a food bank, we used
13:39
Speaker 2: to provide about thirty million meals worth of groceries a
13:43
Speaker 2: year prior to COVID, and since COVID we've not dropped
13:48
Speaker 2: under sixty million meals. So we're consistently at sixty million
13:52
Speaker 2: or higher. And now we've got geopolitical events that we
13:56
Speaker 2: need to take into account as well that are affecting
13:59
Speaker 2: the flow of food. The you know, the price of transportation,
14:03
Speaker 2: the price of you know, gas oil, et cetera, plastics
14:07
Speaker 2: and aluminum that you know that are packaging around our food,
14:11
Speaker 2: and all of those things are increasing in costs. So unfortunately,
14:15
Speaker 2: despite all best efforts of our community, ourselves and others,
14:19
Speaker 2: these events are causing an increase in the number of
14:21
Speaker 2: people who need our help.
14:23
Speaker 1: Ron I want to pivot over to nutritional education and
14:26
Speaker 1: for people like myself and my family that can afford
14:29
Speaker 1: to make a choice whether I want to buy healthy
14:31
Speaker 1: or non healthy stuff for myself and my family, there's
14:34
Speaker 1: a lot of people that don't get to have that choice. Well,
14:36
Speaker 1: what you do do, especially on the website, imagine you
14:39
Speaker 1: do this with all your partners, is nutritional education. Can
14:42
Speaker 1: you talk a little bit about that.
14:44
Speaker 2: Yes, nutrition is a core of our work, right from
14:48
Speaker 2: providing nutrition education through thousands of recipe cards. We've got
14:52
Speaker 2: nutritionists on staff, We've got cooking demonstrations so as people
14:57
Speaker 2: come to get their food, they can actually taste what
14:59
Speaker 2: a recipe we might look like with an ingredient that
15:02
Speaker 2: they may not have used before. So all of that
15:04
Speaker 2: is central to how we work and how our partners work.
15:08
Speaker 2: One other thing I'd like to highlight is of the
15:10
Speaker 2: sixty million meals that we provide each year, forty percent
15:15
Speaker 2: of all the food that goes out is a fresh
15:17
Speaker 2: fruit or vegetable standing. So forty percent of everything is
15:21
Speaker 2: fresh produce, another ten percent is protein, which we know
15:25
Speaker 2: is so critical as well for development, and then the
15:28
Speaker 2: remainder is nutritious, shelf stable items. So we track the
15:33
Speaker 2: level of sugar, the level of salt, the level of fiber,
15:36
Speaker 2: and we're committed to at least seventy five percent being
15:39
Speaker 2: low sugar, low salt, high fiber, and as I mentioned,
15:42
Speaker 2: the forty percent being produced, so that the nutrition quality
15:49
Speaker 2: of the food that we provide is very much a
15:52
Speaker 2: critical factor that we address because we want to feed people,
15:56
Speaker 2: but we also want the food that we provide to
15:59
Speaker 2: improve health outcomes and not take away and cause health problems.
16:03
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree with you more and I think this
16:05
Speaker 1: is another outstanding segue to talk about farms and gardening.
16:08
Speaker 1: This gout my attention because once again, every city I've
16:12
Speaker 1: lived in, I've seen in city gardens, and it's really
16:15
Speaker 1: truly incredible how we've changed over the last couple of
16:18
Speaker 1: decades of having farms and gardening. If we're including in
16:20
Speaker 1: the inner city. Can you talk about this partnership a
16:22
Speaker 1: little bit, Yes.
16:24
Speaker 2: Absolutely. In fact, we have an urban demonstration garden here
16:27
Speaker 2: at the Food Bank and we grow all kinds of
16:30
Speaker 2: things and the main audience, well some might think there's
16:34
Speaker 2: several audiences, but I think the main audience is the
16:36
Speaker 2: children who come on field trips because we want them
16:39
Speaker 2: to be able to understand that fresh vegetables and fruits
16:43
Speaker 2: taste delicious, come from the ground and not just a
16:45
Speaker 2: can or a package, and you can put all of
16:49
Speaker 2: this together and make something really unique for yourselves. And
16:52
Speaker 2: so that is a big part of what we do,
16:54
Speaker 2: and we partner with many other organizations to help people
16:58
Speaker 2: realize that, oh you ownly have a small windowsill or
17:02
Speaker 2: a small balcony and you don't have a big yard
17:05
Speaker 2: or a garden where you can plant, there's still things
17:07
Speaker 2: that you can do in pots. We provide seeds, we
17:10
Speaker 2: provide the education so that people really can start to
17:13
Speaker 2: grow for themselves and enjoy that, whether it's at a
17:16
Speaker 2: small scale or a much larger scale. And I'll just
17:20
Speaker 2: add on that we also try and purchase as much
17:23
Speaker 2: food as possible from local farms during the growing season
17:27
Speaker 2: in our area because we want farm to table to
17:30
Speaker 2: be something that everyone can enjoy, not just those who
17:33
Speaker 2: are more well off than as compared to you.
17:36
Speaker 1: I really love that that you're working with people locally too.
17:39
Speaker 1: I did want to talk about, since we're pasting the
17:41
Speaker 1: halfway mark, to talk about how people can help. And
17:44
Speaker 1: you and your team have given everybody that's listing here
17:47
Speaker 1: and that goes to the website and chats with you
17:50
Speaker 1: several different ways that they can do that to donating volunteer,
17:53
Speaker 1: being a large partner, whether you're a small, medium or
17:55
Speaker 1: large business or your own entrepreneur, Can you talk about
17:58
Speaker 1: all those things for us?
18:00
Speaker 2: Yes, no, I'm happy to you know, as a food bank,
18:02
Speaker 2: we're always focused on maintaining the most efficient effective operations
18:07
Speaker 2: possible so that every dollar of support from funders and
18:11
Speaker 2: every hour of donated volunteer time can create the maximum
18:14
Speaker 2: impact for the people that we serve. And so there
18:17
Speaker 2: are a few ways. One is, if you are in
18:19
Speaker 2: a position where you can help financially, please do because
18:22
Speaker 2: every dollar that you contribute allows us to put two
18:25
Speaker 2: meals on someone's table. Second, you may not be in
18:29
Speaker 2: a position to contribute, but you really feel grateful for
18:32
Speaker 2: what you or others that you may now have benefited,
18:35
Speaker 2: and you want to help others, So please come in
18:37
Speaker 2: and volunteer with us. We have volunteer opportunities in our warehouse,
18:41
Speaker 2: both our warehouses in Virginia and DC, and in the community.
18:45
Speaker 2: If you want to come with your kids and you
18:47
Speaker 2: want to be able to do a family activity that
18:49
Speaker 2: shows kind of civic duty and giving back to the community,
18:52
Speaker 2: we have many volunteer opportunities as well. And if there's
18:55
Speaker 2: some in kind support that your company thinks you're able
18:59
Speaker 2: to provide us that can leverage one of your assets
19:03
Speaker 2: to support us in our ability to reach more individuals,
19:06
Speaker 2: we'd be happy to have that conversation as well. And
19:10
Speaker 2: some people want to be able to contribute food, So
19:13
Speaker 2: you go to the grocery store you're shopping for yourself,
19:15
Speaker 2: if you want to purchase for another family and drop
19:19
Speaker 2: off that food at the food bank, that is absolutely
19:22
Speaker 2: something that you're welcome to do as well.
19:24
Speaker 1: I know and we've acknowledged that you and your team
19:26
Speaker 1: are working very hard and doing some incredible things, But
19:28
Speaker 1: right now, what kind of challenges are you facing today?
19:32
Speaker 2: There are a couple of key challenges that we're facing.
19:35
Speaker 2: First is there's still so many of our neighbors who've
19:39
Speaker 2: been disrupted by the job losses experienced by federal government
19:44
Speaker 2: workers and those who are contractors. We are still providing
19:48
Speaker 2: just a lot more food to that community in particular,
19:52
Speaker 2: as well as to our broader community. When we started
19:55
Speaker 2: this year, we thought we'd distribute about fifty million meals.
19:58
Speaker 2: We're going to end this year sixty five million meals.
20:01
Speaker 2: A good portion of that increase is due to the
20:04
Speaker 2: disruptions due to federal policy shifts, and we think that
20:07
Speaker 2: will continue. So we are really ramping up even in
20:10
Speaker 2: the coming year to provide up to seventy million meals
20:14
Speaker 2: into our community. This is really looking at approaching the
20:17
Speaker 2: heights of COVID in terms of the amount of food
20:20
Speaker 2: that we're providing. The second key issue that we're really
20:23
Speaker 2: looking at is the what's called the HR one or
20:26
Speaker 2: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was passed last
20:29
Speaker 2: summer by Congress. This bill has significant implications for individuals
20:34
Speaker 2: across our area, we're estimating that another fifty thousand individuals
20:40
Speaker 2: might lose about one hundred and eighty seven dollars in
20:43
Speaker 2: food STEMP benefits per month. Now, when you take the
20:46
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty seven dollars and divide it by
20:48
Speaker 2: the average cost of a meal in our area, that's
20:51
Speaker 2: forty meals disappearing from a household's table each month. And
20:56
Speaker 2: that is likely to take effect in the coming year.
20:59
Speaker 2: So these are the two things that we are mindful
21:03
Speaker 2: of and we're preparing for because we know they are
21:06
Speaker 2: going to be so many more people who are not
21:08
Speaker 2: qualifying for or getting less in food stamp benefits who
21:14
Speaker 2: are going to be relying on the food bank. And
21:17
Speaker 2: for this act that passed last year, it is the
21:19
Speaker 2: same people, very same people who may not qualify for
21:22
Speaker 2: Medicaid any longer. So we know people are being squeezed
21:25
Speaker 2: with health care costs going up, you know, food going up,
21:28
Speaker 2: and having less of a benefit in both of those areas,
21:31
Speaker 2: and so we know many of them are going to
21:33
Speaker 2: be coming to us.
21:34
Speaker 1: I know when your A plus here is as president
21:36
Speaker 1: and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank, you've probably
21:39
Speaker 1: seen some miraculous and some very cool things happen out there.
21:43
Speaker 1: I don't mean for you to pick one or two
21:44
Speaker 1: different things that have happened that are truly incredible, but
21:47
Speaker 1: I love to ask this because you know what I do,
21:50
Speaker 1: you know in my in my living and what you do.
21:54
Speaker 1: This is why we get up every day thing when
21:56
Speaker 1: something really cool happens, whether you have an effect on
21:59
Speaker 1: one person or a whole group or many people out there,
22:02
Speaker 1: there's something you could share with us where you know
22:04
Speaker 1: something truly extraordinary that happened that you and your team
22:07
Speaker 1: just had a small part in. You said, you know,
22:09
Speaker 1: this is why we get up every day. This is
22:10
Speaker 1: pretty cool. Did this happen?
22:13
Speaker 2: You know? I think there's so many as you can
22:15
Speaker 2: imagine over the years, but I think if I were
22:17
Speaker 2: to summarize it, it would be how our community steps
22:21
Speaker 2: up every time to take care of our neighbors in need,
22:25
Speaker 2: whether it was through COVID or various government shutdowns, and
22:30
Speaker 2: now the impacts that we're having with just world events
22:33
Speaker 2: you know that are affecting our area. Our neighbors care
22:36
Speaker 2: about one another, and they step up in the most
22:38
Speaker 2: incredible ways. From an individual that says, you know, I
22:41
Speaker 2: got I had these food stamp benefits growing up as
22:45
Speaker 2: a child. I'm in a much better place now, So
22:48
Speaker 2: not only do I donate financially, but I want to
22:50
Speaker 2: come in and I want to be able to serve
22:52
Speaker 2: these groceries up, you know, and be part of handing
22:55
Speaker 2: it out all the way to big companies that are saying,
22:58
Speaker 2: you know what, we don't need to use this amazing
23:01
Speaker 2: hotel you know that we have right now. You take it,
23:04
Speaker 2: you use it for storage instead of having to rent
23:07
Speaker 2: another warehouse we have, you know. So it's across the board,
23:11
Speaker 2: from companies in our area to high net worth individuals
23:14
Speaker 2: who really say, look, I have more money than I need,
23:17
Speaker 2: you know, and I believe that you will use it
23:19
Speaker 2: more effectively. So it all boils down to or. I
23:23
Speaker 2: have to say, there's one of my favorites during COVID
23:26
Speaker 2: was a young girl, she wouldn't have been more than
23:28
Speaker 2: seven or eight, who said I had a lemonade stand
23:31
Speaker 2: and you know, and I collected sixty seven dollars and
23:34
Speaker 2: nineteen cents and I want to give that, you know,
23:36
Speaker 2: to you it love it, help food, you know, to
23:39
Speaker 2: community members. So there's just so much that our community does.
23:42
Speaker 2: But I think it's how we care about one another
23:45
Speaker 2: ultimately and want to be one stronger, healthier, resilient community together.
23:51
Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing. I did want to ask you about
23:53
Speaker 1: the future. I know you're always looking a year or
23:55
Speaker 1: two even five years down the road, not only about
23:57
Speaker 1: the data and keeping an eye on that, but what
23:59
Speaker 1: do you do you hope for the future and what
24:01
Speaker 1: are you working on them? Maybe you're very excited about.
24:04
Speaker 2: Oh, I'll tell you what I'm really excited about. You know.
24:06
Speaker 2: As a food bank, we are focused, of course on
24:09
Speaker 2: being able to provide good, nutritious food to those who
24:11
Speaker 2: need it today, but we want to help people out
24:14
Speaker 2: of these vulnerable circumstances that they're in, and so we
24:17
Speaker 2: are bundling food with healthcare, bundling food with certifications and
24:22
Speaker 2: higher education so that people can move from a place
24:25
Speaker 2: of instability and vulnerability to one with great financial futures
24:31
Speaker 2: and brighter futures as well. So our partnerships with hospitals,
24:36
Speaker 2: our partnerships with institutions of higher education, that is helping
24:40
Speaker 2: people move the dial and going from a place of
24:43
Speaker 2: concern to one where they are thriving. And so we've
24:46
Speaker 2: got many many programs across the region like this, and
24:49
Speaker 2: that's exciting because it gets to addressing the root cause
24:52
Speaker 2: of hunger and vulnerability to a place where people just
24:55
Speaker 2: won't need us anymore. And so our success is when
24:58
Speaker 2: we can get smaller and not bigger, and I think
25:02
Speaker 2: some of these programs that we're working on with partners
25:04
Speaker 2: will really lead us in that direction.
25:07
Speaker 1: Rod, I don't know how much of a chance you
25:09
Speaker 1: get a chance an opportunity to talk to your peers
25:11
Speaker 1: around the nation, because there are food banks everywhere, whether
25:14
Speaker 1: they're in big populated areas like DC here or in
25:18
Speaker 1: rural areas across the country in Spokane, Washington. With that said,
25:22
Speaker 1: I understand that every region has its own issues it's
25:25
Speaker 1: working on. It's different things, the numbers are different, it's
25:27
Speaker 1: very exclusive to what you're working on. I get that
25:29
Speaker 1: part of it. But as you talk to other people,
25:31
Speaker 1: when you do that, I have that opportunity. How are
25:33
Speaker 1: we doing against the other regions around the country.
25:37
Speaker 2: I think, you know, the first thing I would say
25:40
Speaker 2: is that hunger is unfortunately has been on the rise,
25:43
Speaker 2: and so they're you know, somewhere. The numbers all vary,
25:45
Speaker 2: but between forty five and forty nine million people across
25:48
Speaker 2: the country who are struggling to know where their next
25:51
Speaker 2: meal is going to come from. So one, we're all
25:54
Speaker 2: seeing an increase in need across our service areas, if
25:57
Speaker 2: you will. Two, I think we were definitely disproportionately affected
26:03
Speaker 2: by all the federal policy changes last year, just by
26:06
Speaker 2: the sheer number of federal government workers and contractors here.
26:09
Speaker 2: So we stood out in that way in terms of
26:11
Speaker 2: the level of unemployment that has resulted, the level of
26:16
Speaker 2: economic concern that has resulted. I think the other way
26:21
Speaker 2: in which we're different in a positive way is we're
26:23
Speaker 2: certainly seen as a really innovative region and an innovative
26:26
Speaker 2: food bank that is using data, that is thinking about
26:31
Speaker 2: addressing the root causes of hunger, that has partnerships with
26:36
Speaker 2: hospitals and has food pharmacies across the region, that is
26:39
Speaker 2: really thinking about how can we connect how important food
26:43
Speaker 2: security is to workforce development and economic development in the region.
26:48
Speaker 2: So all of my colleagues are concerned about the rising need,
26:51
Speaker 2: and we're all doing different things. But I do think
26:54
Speaker 2: some of the ways that I just mentioned set us
26:56
Speaker 2: apart very good.
26:57
Speaker 1: Well, listen, we have about two and a half minutes left.
26:59
Speaker 1: I want to get some final thoughts from you. We
27:01
Speaker 1: are going to give the website to everybody out there
27:03
Speaker 1: and make sure that you know if you're a small, medium,
27:06
Speaker 1: large business, or if you're just one person out there
27:08
Speaker 1: a family that wants to donate, there are lots of
27:09
Speaker 1: ways to do that. We'll give the website just a
27:11
Speaker 1: second rod I want to get some final thoughts about
27:13
Speaker 1: what we talked about. The floor is yours well.
27:17
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I just want to underscore the
27:20
Speaker 2: fact that this community always rises to the occasion to
27:24
Speaker 2: support our neighbors in need. We are so grateful that
27:27
Speaker 2: you look to us as a capital area of Food Bank,
27:30
Speaker 2: as a conduit or a channel to be able to
27:32
Speaker 2: express and provide support to others. So we're grateful for
27:36
Speaker 2: the people who continue to step up and support our
27:39
Speaker 2: neighbors during these difficult times. And again, people can do
27:42
Speaker 2: it in many different ways. If you feel like you
27:44
Speaker 2: can support financially, please do One dollar is the equivalent
27:48
Speaker 2: of two meals. If you can come and help us,
27:50
Speaker 2: roll up your sleeves and provide sweat equity and the
27:53
Speaker 2: form of volunteering with us, we are more than happy
27:56
Speaker 2: to have you. All hands you know can make a
27:59
Speaker 2: difference here and again, if you want to be able
28:01
Speaker 2: to support with food donations or other kind of kind expertise,
28:05
Speaker 2: that is valuable as well. So we're here together to
28:10
Speaker 2: be able to support our community, and we really can't
28:12
Speaker 2: do it without our community as well. So a lot
28:15
Speaker 2: of gratitude to those in our region.
28:17
Speaker 1: And what's the website for everybody?
28:19
Speaker 2: The website is Capitalareafoodbank dot org.
28:23
Speaker 1: All right, and there's a big fat orange donate button
28:26
Speaker 1: on the top right end corner that you cannot miss,
28:27
Speaker 1: so check that out. And also if somebody just wants
28:30
Speaker 1: to drop off some food, what's your address?
28:33
Speaker 2: Sure, So we're at forty nine hundred Puerto Rico Avenue
28:36
Speaker 2: here in northeast DC. If you're in Virginia, we're also
28:41
Speaker 2: in Lorton, Virginia. Both addresses are on the website, and
28:44
Speaker 2: there's some big bins where you're able to put that
28:47
Speaker 2: food in and we will retreat it as soon as
28:50
Speaker 2: it's placed there.
28:51
Speaker 1: Outstanding, and listen, before I let you go, I want
28:53
Speaker 1: you to acknowledge your team, because I know it's just
28:56
Speaker 1: not one person operation. You have a great team that
28:58
Speaker 1: does a lot of different things. Just for a few
29:00
Speaker 1: moments can you talk about them.
29:03
Speaker 2: There is no way we could do the work that
29:04
Speaker 2: we do as a Capital area food bank can provide
29:07
Speaker 2: sixty million meals worth of groceries in our community without
29:11
Speaker 2: just an incredible team behind us, if you will, all
29:16
Speaker 2: the way from the folks who are our drivers, who
29:18
Speaker 2: are out there delivering the food, engaging with our partners
29:22
Speaker 2: making sure it's all set up appropriately, to our warehouse
29:25
Speaker 2: and operations staff who are receiving all that food and
29:28
Speaker 2: who are inventorying it and making sure it's fresh and
29:32
Speaker 2: as it goes out, to our teams that support our
29:34
Speaker 2: partners across the region, and to those who engage in
29:37
Speaker 2: advocacy and data and back office operations. It takes all
29:41
Speaker 2: of us to be able to really enable the work
29:45
Speaker 2: that we do. So a huge gratitude to our team
29:48
Speaker 2: members as.
29:48
Speaker 1: Well out Stanni, thank you for that, and Rona, thank
29:50
Speaker 1: you so much for your valuable time. Continue success to
29:52
Speaker 1: you and your team, and I'm glad we could spotlight
29:55
Speaker 1: you with iHeart and community DC.
29:56
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
29:59
Speaker 2: Dennis