Latest / Our Community, Our Mission / Ep #290 – United Community: Preparing for the Season Ahead

Transcript

Ep #290 – United Community: Preparing for the Season Ahead · Our Community, Our Mission

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_07: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, uh, Lord, for this day and your blessings and your provisions.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_07: God, thank you for this time.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_07: And uh, Lord, just our special guests on today, and um, Lord, just the incredible work that is going on in the community.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_07: Lord, uh, we're just so thankful for our incredible partners.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_07: And uh, Lord, we just pray uh for our listeners that as they're listening today, God, that they'd be blessed and encouraged and even moved to action, Father.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_07: We love you and we praise your name.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_07: Amen.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, everybody.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us for our community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your host today, Barry Feeker, on a Tuesday, October 28th, 2025, and this is episode number 290.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: We have Mary and Crable, Josh Turley here today, and we also have some friends.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_04: We do have friends, really good friends.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: Really good friends.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: Don't we're always have really good friends on this podcast?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: Are there some not so good friends?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, they're just friends.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: They're just friends.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: So we have some really good friends today.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: So we want to say who the normal friends are.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, everybody who's come before podcast number 290.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: But uh you could be our really good friends too.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: But we have Jessica Lynn here today.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: She's president and CEO of the United Way of Call Valley and Brett Martin, who's vice president of community impact, and also the chairman of the All Hands on Deck campaign to end chronic homelessness by 2090, right?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: Fred?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: 29.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: 2090.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: 2090.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: We pushed it out a little bit.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, these things kind of happen since we chose 2030.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: So uh 2030-ish.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: I think 2030-ish.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I think somebody might have said, really?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna say 2030?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_04: I think somebody might have questioned that.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_04: I wanted you.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 1:43
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think it was Congress, being one.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_04: I think it might have been that same person that thought food would never be an issue.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we're not going to be able to do that.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: No one knows the day or the time, right?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: So, or even the year or anything.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway, so welcome to our community our mission, our United Way friends.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Good to see you.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know what we do here.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: We also then try to really focus on what's important for the day.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and again, there's many, many days in a calendar year, but uh our research and development team with Josh Shurley and Alec over here, they've uh done due diligence to try to come along and say, okay, what's special about October 28th?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh Josh, uh you and Alec really worked hard on this.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so we we put lots of time and effort into this.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_04: So we need to discuss that.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: So this one is the today is National Chocolate Day.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: Jessica, when you heard this, you didn't want woo-hoo.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: I got really excited until I saw the you know that it wasn't National Pizza Day, but that's okay.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um why is that offensive to you?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, pizza's a really big deal in my family.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: Little plug here for Glory Days Pizza.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, a little plug for Glory Days.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_03: I plug Glory Days for Pizza about every Friday.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we really appreciate your part.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you're welcome, yeah.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Not to discount anybody else out there that's listening that has other pizza things going on.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: Occasionally I will dabble in, but Glory Days is right next to my home.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, is it really?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_04: Oh gosh, that would be so dangerous.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I don't travel around much.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway, no, it's great, great pizza.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: So, but it is National Chocolate Day.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: So why, other than it's sorry, Pizza Day, um, why is it so kind of cool to you, Jessica?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh because first of all, I love chocolate.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: It makes me happy.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I eat a lot of chocolate.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: Is that because you just like to be happy or you need to be happy?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I both.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: President CEO of the United Wave Call Valley should be happy as much as possible.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we like chocolate all the time around here at Speaker Rescue Mission.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: So let's jump to the next one.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's National Wild Foods Day.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_04: And did you hear before this all started what Brett said to me?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: What did he say?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_04: He said that I would know about that because I grew up in a tiny town in central Kansas.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_04: I I think maybe that was a slam.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: But it took me a while to figure it out.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: It means there was something valuable about a tiny western Kansas.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: So or Central Kansas.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: Eat what you kill.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: Wild food, yeah.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: What was wild foods when you were growing up?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's like something was running and you shot it?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_04: Like deer.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, deer.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's a wild food.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_04: Birds, do you have birds?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_07: Just to clarify, I think it's for like wild berries in the Trevor Burrus.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's say that it's not about that.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: See, Merriam didn't read the research.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_04: You know the deer eat the berries.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: It's a circle of deer.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's a circle of flags.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: They made the song about that.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: So, Brett, I understand that wild foods are coming back.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: Is that exciting to you?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: It is exciting to me.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um I forage a lot in uh in my own home for food.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: I have teenagers.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot of foraging that.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: That's called survival foods.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, fair.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: Fair, fair.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's a different thing.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's the wild people eating the food, and then you find some left over.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: So wild foods is coming back, apparently.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's kind of like that whole foods thing.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: You can go to the natural grocer's place and get it.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: I blame charcuterie boards.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_07: I think charcuterie boards.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_07: Charcuterie boards.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_07: There we go again.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_07: What is a charcuterie board?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_07: It's a fancy board of meats, cheeses, and wild foods.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: So does it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: You got it.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: Do they have those on there?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I see cheese, I see salami, you know.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, they've I don't know.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_07: I've they've expanded.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_07: I've seen all kinds of stuff on them.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_07: I'm not doing it.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_07: So I actually know someone who does them like custom, like they'll make them for parties for you.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_07: Pretty good business there.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_07: But yeah, they put it make them really fancy looking.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_07: Still eating the government cheese we had when I was a kid.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: So that stuff lasts a while.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's a little green on top of that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, that's a little bit scary.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: All righty.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: So but the the the thing is that the free of pesticides.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: And um going back to that, free preservatives and those kind of things, you do not find at many places that you can drive up to.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's true.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm not sure what we're gonna do about that.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway, so it's also something very serious, National First Responders Day.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so we all appreciate our first responders.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that when you pick up that phone and you need help, uh those people come when they can.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, there's a lot more calls than sometimes we have people for.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, first responders a lot of times are people in social services as well.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's not just your uh fire and police and and ambulance and military.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: It is really first responders um who are there to meet people right where they are.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um United Way and uh Teka Rescue Mission and many of our partner agencies um are the first responders, and sometimes that helps prevent having to call police and fire and ambulance and those kind of things.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: So well, anyway, again, um Jessica, Brett, thanks for joining us.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: You've been on uh this podcast before.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna talk about United Way.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna talk about this big event every year of Christmas Bureau, um, which is man, that's really close now.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we're already there.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: We are so we're gonna talk about that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: And uh before that, uh Josh, there's something called a turkey trot.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: What's a turkey trot?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_07: So we're super excited this year.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_07: Uh our friends over at Fleet Feet Uh Topeka as uh that's a storefront over by kind of Target and CC's over there off Wanamaker.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_07: Um CC's, whoops, competition.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably a different kind of competition.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_07: They got a bum, yeah.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_07: Anyway, um but yeah, they've just moved really fast.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_07: They wanted to partner with uh no, but they they're partnering with us this year.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_07: They're they're doing a turkey trot that they're starting this year on Thanksgiving Day, and I think they're planning to kind of do it annually from here.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but reached out to us and said, hey, we want to partner with a local organization um doing good in the community.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_07: And um, so when you sign up for the run, there's an option to donate there.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_07: They've also got a food drive going on in their storefront where you bring five cans of food, and I believe it's a 15% discount for race registration.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_07: Um so shout out to our friends at Fleet Feet.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_07: Sign up for a turkey trot race, have a start a new tradition.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_07: So, how long's the race and what's the turkey have to do with it?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_07: Well, it's on Thanksgiving.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_07: So actually a lot of carry a turkey when you're don't have to carry a turkey.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_07: At least as far as I know, I haven't heard maybe maybe they'll throw that in there for fun.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_07: But uh no, it's on Thanksgiving Day.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_07: Um so I think it's it's happening kind of early in the morning, so you can go get your exercise in, feel self before you eat right.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_07: Okay, pregnancy.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_07: Um so yeah, I know a lot of towns do this, and so it's it's pretty cool that we're kind of getting that going here in the city.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_07: So like a 5K type thing.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_07: I believe it's 5K, yeah.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_07: And I think there's some other those?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_07: Uh I have.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_07: It's been a while.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_07: I think it was in college.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_07: So it's different.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: I've drove one one time.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: I drove 5K.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Record time, too.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_03: It was great.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_07: But I believe they've also got like a family like mile lap.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_07: It's um out of the lake, and so you they'll have they've got other things going on if you want to just do like a lap or a mile with your family, and so they've got they've got some cool options.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: Super.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: So if people want to participate, what do they do?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_07: So they can go to uh we've shared it on our social media.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_07: They can check out TRM's uh Facebook page.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_07: They can also uh look up Fleet Feet, Fleet Feet Topeka on uh Facebook and check that out uh or check out their website.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_07: I will not ask you to repeat that again.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_04: But you did great the first time.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: Turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: If you want to trot along, just uh go ahead and go to TRM's Facebook page or the website.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_07: Yep.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Or or their website, yeah.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: Their website.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, very good.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: Miriam, we also have something every year that comes around in addition to Christmas Bureau and other things called Giving Tuesday.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: So uh today is Tuesday.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: Is today Giving Tuesday?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_04: Today is not Giving Tuesday.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: Unless you want to give today.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_04: Unless you want to give today.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_04: Every day is a giving every day.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_04: So Giving Tuesday is really kind of to help remind people after they've gone through Thanksgiving and Black Friday and spent a lot of money on themselves that there are needs all across the community.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_04: So Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving or the Tuesday after Black Friday, whichever way you want to refer to it.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_04: And we just want to kind of have people start thinking about that on how they can um support the community in different ways.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_04: You know, Barry, there is the needs are so great.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: And with so much um uncertainty that's going on right now uh with the federal government and decisions that they're trying to make or um struggling to make, um people are just kind of panicked, you know, about what will the future look like for them, whether it's around food, whether it's around will they be able to keep their kids in preschool.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_04: There's just so many needs.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_04: And so people are having to make hard decisions on how they're using the little bit of money that they do have.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_04: So Giving Tuesday allows all the folks in the nonprofit sector, but definitely TRM, kind of find a way to get a few more resources that will be able to help people um in the future.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of nonprofits uh recognize Giving Tuesday, United Web Call of the does as well.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll make sure we plug you guys in here to be able to um give to the organization of your choice to be able to help support what they do.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: And and I think we're yes, and you know, we really talk about it as Transformational Tuesday because what we're looking at doing here um at TRM is more than just band-aiding, but really trying to look to the future to help people transform their lives.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um and sometimes that starts because we're able to provide some very basic needs like food.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes it means it allows them to come into the shelter and see a different kind of traject trajectory for their lives and getting back into what the rest of us would consider more normal and sustainable.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_04: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think I think, Miriam, you talked about things are becoming more uncertain right now.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: I think we want to talk about some of that today, um, best that we know, um, because it's not only some uncertainties for people who have need, but also the organization is attempting to figure out how to help them.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: And that will also, I think, affect uh our Christmas giving and Christmas bureau and the whole thing.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so we have some experts here today and identifying what the need is, Jessica and Brett.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I have to, full disclosure here today, uh uh uh I'm surrounded with United Way here today.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, this is this is I have to mention it.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's this Merriam used to be the CEO of the United Way of uh Topeka.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um and uh now it's spread out to Call Valley, and so then we have Jessica over here, and Brett and I see each other all the time.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: So um I'm getting there.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, whether you want to or not, you're a part of the United Way family.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: It may have been kicking and screaming, but we got you there.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: I'm telling you, I always believed in living united, I just never got the t-shirt yet.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_03: So um this is because you're out of them or you don't have them big enough.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm just kind of wondering, you tell me about Living United by.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_03: I haven't got the t-shirt yet.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, all right.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_04: You have to kind of reach a level of commitment.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_04: I have to do.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think you might just be.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think you might be there.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_04: You might.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: We we love you guys, love United Way, and uh really the partnerships with Topeka Rescue Mission and so many others.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: So Jessica Brett, talk about I mean, everybody's heard of United Way.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um they used to uh think about was United Way of Greater Topeka, I think, and then uh it branched out to United Way of Cough Valley, and I think some people know what that means, and some people really aren't sure what that means.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: So, what what is United Way today, obviously in the Topeka area, but beyond?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we are um we are lucky that we have grown in our geographic area.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we cover Douglas, Shawnee, Jefferson, and Jackson counties.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a four-county region.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um while I know people tr traditionally think of us as like kind of a pass-through organization, you give to United Way, they give to nonprofits, while that is still true to a certain extent.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we do grant making um in the areas of like youth opportunity, financial secure financial security, community resiliency, um the healthy community, healthy community.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Healthy community.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know it's gonna be healthy.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for that's why we come together.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um exactly.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: He should probably be able to get around.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: We also do important things um like helping expand capacity for nonprofits, helping support um nonprofits with volunteer engagement.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: We host an online volunteer platform called Caw Valley Volunteers.org that any nonprofit can use to post their volunteer opportunities, and then um individuals can search for something that that meets that matches their needs or something they're interested in, and they can sign up to volunteer for that organization.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we s provide like uh one-on-one support in using that system as well as doing uh different training opportunities uh to help nonprofits, whether it's learning, board leadership training, if it's um self-care, um, all kinds of different needs that have come up that we hope to help strengthen our nonprofit community.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and I think you uh we talked about First Responder Day.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um the United Way is always looking for different ways to meet a need when it occurs.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um we've done this in many different ways with United Way over the years.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: When we ran into uh food issues during COVID, uh United Way stepped up.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um warming centers and volunteer coordination.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_03: You never know when it's gonna get really, really cold in Kansas.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: We last year there was three, maybe four significant weather effects.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: This year.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um January and February or this year.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_04: It was this year.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: Last winter or this year.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: It seemed like the other day.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: But it was serious, serious, life-threatening stuff.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so to peek a rescue mission, number of agencies all came together in United Way again, being there to to not just do what you normally do, but step into that place.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: Brett, you've been um hosting um via United Way what's called the Tuesday call um ever since pandemic.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_03: Talk about that.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um is one of those things uh that uh wasn't just during pandemic, it's still going on now.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: What is the Tuesday call?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the Tuesday call started on March 17th of 2020.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and we actually had a mini call uh before that, where we reached out to uh some of our really key partners.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: That was uh prior to uh what we uh what we were experiencing as a COVID pandemic, uh sort of in the midst of it in many ways, and we pulled together some of our key partners.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: Speaker Rescue Mission, one of them, and we asked uh questions uh of that group.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: And the last question we asked was, What do you need from us?
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: And that group said, We need this, and it can't be monthly, it's gotta be more often.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so we all looked at our calendars and it was Tuesday at three o'clock, and we said, What about Tuesdays at three?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh except for uh the occasion where um one of us can't cover the call or it's near a holiday, we've had it nearly every Tuesday since March 17th of 2020, and it has expanded.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: We now just call it the Tuesday call because it's not about COVID-19 response, it's about a lot of things.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_03: So it was birthed out of a need.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: And and when you say the call, it wasn't everybody coming together in the same room.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: It was you couldn't do that back then.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: So it was virtual.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: You weren't allowed to do that back then.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so, but rather than a lot of different organizations that said, okay, we're gonna send everybody home, we're gonna go on pause, social services couldn't do that.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: Couldn't.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um You know, it was kind of nice, Miriam, back in the day.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: There was one advantage to COVID.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: You didn't have to wait on traffic to get to the rescue.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: You could get here, you could speed, and nobody's pulling you over.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: Very true.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: But uh so it's uh we're talking about using the technology of Zoom, and so it's been going on ever since the kind of almost the beginning of the pandemic to be able to address different concerns and needs, which right now is a really important time.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna talk about that in a minute.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: But one of the things that birthed up out of that call was what was called Operation Food Secure.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_03: And uh eventually would take food that came uh that was gonna be thrown away um by the farms, and the USDA um knew that that wasn't gonna work for our farmers, and so we had access to food and to beak a rescue mission uh was able to grab a hold of a lot of food.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: Merriam, uh, we we saw phenomenal building in cooler and freezer space, didn't we?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: And so uh you think back on that, and I'm not sure that we could have moved any faster.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I don't think.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was it it was it was divine.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_04: It was it was unbelievable.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: And and you know, it it was like, what are we gonna do?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: What are we gonna do?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_03: We don't have an answer.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: But then it kind of birthed up, yeah, we can do something here.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: And and so how many people started out on the Tuesday call?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: How many people would you say are now on an average every Tuesday, uh getting on Zoom and talking?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we started uh with about four, maybe five organizations when we started that first call.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: And uh last week uh we had uh an expert uh from a state level policy organization on, and we had 40 people.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so it averages anywhere from 25 to 40.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes when we have special guests, it exceeds 40.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but lots of folks, uh, local government, state government, um, cross-sector partners in the nonprofit area, funders, and others who are coming together to ask questions about the community and put together not only communication but also intervention strategies to help uh the most vulnerable in the community.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_04: And you know what, Barry, when I think about that call, it is incredibly informative, right?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_04: But I think it has a lot to do with what Jessica talked about in terms of self-care uh and how we come together to support each other, regardless if we get anything done that's really tangible on the call or not.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_04: You feel like you're not an island anymore.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: That's good.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: That there are just these people around us.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_04: And I think United Way has just done such an exceptional job of keeping that going.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_04: I can tell you, there is no way in this world that I thought five years later, more than five years later, we would still be going back for that same kind of call because we all think our lives are really busy, right?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_04: We think we have so much to do.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_04: We are all still willing to take time to be together like that, even when there's not an extreme crisis like COVID was or like the food situation is now.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_04: We found something like, and I don't mean to make it sound too, you know, do gooder kind of thing, but it's kind of like this warm hug of knowing that there are others that are experiencing challenges and willing to share information and come together that feels really good.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: So you don't distribute chocolate during that time, do you?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's a different kind of chocolate.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: A different kind of chocolate.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: But it is, it really is a time.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things that um, to your point, it's survived for five years now because people need to come together.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: There's really not anything quite like it in regards to the different concerns that can all come to the same table once a week and say, okay, what do we see in the UK?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: So we want to jump into Christmas Bureau, but this kind of bridges over to that that next thing that I think is really important right now.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of uncertainties.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Where it was uncertain during the pandemic, are we all gonna die?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, who's gonna survive this?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: What organizations are gonna survive this?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: What about the hunger?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: What about the homelessness and so forth?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of things uh uh were positive that developed out of that, like mobile access partnership and different things, but a lot of negative too.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: More homeless, more uh less resources.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: And today we face an unprecedented concern about a lot of things because one, our federal government is shut down right now.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: And um, so just uh from you guys, um Brett, Jessica, talk about what you are you're reading the tea leaves best you can, because you're trying to bring people in with information and trying to help people to know how to process things.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: What are some of your bigger concerns right now that people may or may not be aware of?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, when we're gonna have a loaded question.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: Five to ten major concerns.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: When we started the uh work during COVID, um there was an economist at KU who was referenced in the Kansas City Star article.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I reached out to her and I asked her um what we should be looking for in our community as sort of a leading indicator to help us understand what was coming.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: And she said uh monitor your food pantries.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: She goes, People will go to food first.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: And when you see an increase there, you will know uh about the upcoming strain on the system.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I saw her referenced again last night when I was reading and she was talking about uh something uh something uh similar.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: When we talk about these needs, uh this is a this is a particular need.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know, more than 40 million Americans uh receive SNAP benefits.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um about half of those are are are uh working families.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um this is going to cause a ripple effect, not just through uh in terms of food security, but um a whole host of other strains on not only the household budget, but the individuals in the household.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: One of the strategies that we've used for uh a few years now is we have encouraged uh families with the housing crisis to access food from pantries if they can to free up money for housing.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: Pay the rent utilities.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because we know that it's much more expensive for an individual to get housed again than to lose their housing, and that's devastating for a family.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: This crisis has is causing us.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about it on the Tuesday call last week, uh causing us to rethink that strategy because uh there's going to be a run on food resources.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so we have to think creatively um about ways to message this to the community, message it to families, but also have some action steps there.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: So there's some uncertainties here.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: We're talking about the what used to be called food stamps.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um SNAP is um supplemental nutritional.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_03: Assistance program.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, thank you.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: And uh so uh he knows everything, doesn't he?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: He does.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's like an encyclopedia.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um but um it's uh we have November 1 coming around here really soon.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: And it could be that the amount of benefits just coming into Shawnee County alone, let alone the whole nation, are going to have an extreme impact on people who have been dependent to be able to eat.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um because the food banks, the food pantries are supplemental.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um and there could be a pretty significant impact here in regards to a gap, a huge gap in regards to people having access to resources to purchase food.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um what's that number that we're looking at here that's been thrown around?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we've got lots of different numbers.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things I want to say um about that November 1st day, Jessica and I had this conversation yesterday, was that regardless of the government shutdown, because of HR 1 and that federal legislation, the so-called Big Beautiful bill, uh there were uh actions taken in that bill that added work requirements to SNAP.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: And so you're going to have thousands of individuals who are going to lose access anyway on November 1st, whether the federal government is shut down or not.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think that's really important for us as kind of a first piece to understand.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: We had that conversation last week.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we had Dustin on from Candace Action for Children, and that's how he started the conversation was he said it's important to understand that this is happening regardless of the shutdown and that we need to be prepared for this.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, the shutdown is much larger scale, but we've got people who are permanently no longer going to be able to access because they can't work.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: We've got children, any number of different things.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: November 1st.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's November 1st in regards to that's a pretty quick turnaround for somebody to actually get employed.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um and how long have they known about this?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Ross Powell So it's been a little hard in terms of what the messaging has looked like with that.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um the decision was made in July, uh, and there were conversations that were happening with individuals who were within that eligibility piece through uh partners like Department of Children and Families and other caseworkers who have been having those conversations.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: The issue for many of those folks is that um they because of age of children or disability or age can't work for any number of different reasons.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so um it wasn't a viable option for them anyway.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so there are some who likely have been able to make those changes, but for others, uh it's been more preparing for what are they gonna do when they don't have that supplemental.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: So somebody was um accessing this particular kind of support.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um if you want to continue to get it, now you have to go prove that you have income coming in from a legit legitimate job.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: And so all those take time and paperwork and on and on and on.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: So that's uh, as you said, affecting thousands of Kansas.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um okay, that's challenging, say the least, uh, because not everybody's gonna get there in time, or maybe gonna get there ever.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: And so hunger occurs every day.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um and sometimes more than once a day.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: So um worst case scenario is that they suspend the whole program starting the first.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: What does that mean?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: It seems to be where we are right now based on the conversations that are coming out of the federal level.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so what that means is that we're going to have thousands of individuals in Shawnee County alone who will not have access to those benefits.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: So partners have been telling folks to use their uh their EBT cards before the first because funds left over may not be available after.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um EBT card is.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the uh uh uh electronic benefits transfer.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Almost caught him on the code.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: You almost did.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_06: I was kind of open.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um cards where those are preloaded each month with things like uh the SNAP benefit.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: So they don't lose cash or whatever.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: But it is a credit card.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so there's a sense that those dollars won't be left after um midnight on the uh 1st and so um or the 31st of October.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so they've been encouraging folks to use those benefits.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: So um DCF, for example, uh sent that out to um all beneficiaries to use those resources because it it's kind of a loser.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_04: And here's the addition to this is not just people who are on s currently on SNAP benefits, you have Federal employees that are no longer being paid now.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_04: And so you have this whole group of people that That may not have the resources to be able to purchase food.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_04: So now you're looking at a food system that is going to get hit from multiple sides.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_04: In addition to then people that are impacted in different kinds of ways that are not able now to donate food or resources to the pantries to meet a greater need than there would have been before.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_04: I mean it's it is perplexing and complicated.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_03: Brett, have you um I know you've heard some different uh figures about the impact, the financial impact that this has in uh in in our community, is is there an understanding of maybe a cost per day that uh is going to be um realized at in some level of of those dollars not coming into the community?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: So if you take even the slightest number as, for example, like$200 a month for a family, which is a sort of a small estimate, and you you you run those numbers out um for the thousands of individuals in uh Shawnee County.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're talking about um thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars uh a day uh that are not coming into the community.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_03: I've heard$130,000 a day.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: About$130,000 is is is the estimate that we've had.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: That said, this is the other piece that we're talking about for the larger economic impact for the community.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: SNAP purchases on average make up 7 percent of grocery sales.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's not just hitting the individuals who have been on the receiving end, it's going to hit on the business.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: It is absolutely so the question is: can a grocery store that's already on slim margins take a five, six, seven percent hit overnight?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that that I think is one of those larger ripple effects.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: Then to Miriam's point, you have you have grocery stores looking at that.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: You have individuals who are working at the grocery stores, what is going to be the impact of workers at grocery stores, and how are they going to make up for that five or six percent when they've got slim margins anyway?
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_04: It sounds just a little bit like during COVID, right?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_04: Where farmers were impacted, where where um people that provided food for events were impacted.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_04: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_04: Well, to your point, producers.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: Trevor Burrus, Jr.: It's gonna affect the producers if the grocery can chains cannot afford to buy the product.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: So we're kind of not maybe totally back where we were where farms were shut down.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_03: But it is gonna have a financial impact that ripples across the whole nation that I think everybody realizes we've got to get something taken care of with the federal debt.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um because we're all, you know, our kids and grandkids are having to bear the burden of this, and so they kick the count down the road way too long.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: However, some of these particular changes are not necessarily going to not cost us more on the back end.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's where it's very so we didn't come to talk about all this today, but man, this is really important stuff.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_03: And it will affect potentially.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: Now, now there is still possibility that that there's going to be some um midnight decision that's going to reinstate or keep the SNAP benefits going forward.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_03: And we haven't touched housing and subsidies and uh meeting I was in yesterday in regards to um a reduction in um the number of dollars that may come into Topeka area for things like shelter plus care um and those kind of things, which could affect pretty soon a hundred people.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_03: No, I say pretty soon, not till next June, but that's a hundred additional potential homeless households of uh and and busting at the seams Topeka rescue mission.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um we don't have places for people to go that have no place to go now.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so just all of these things, like can we just postpone Christmas this year's to get this thing fixed?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_03: So um so let's talk about the joyous of the season.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: So we got some big issues coming ahead.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: And and let's go ahead and and and then kind of pivot over to this wonderful thing that's happening uh again um every year, and that's helping meet people's needs during the Christmas season uh that United Way coordinates with a whole lot of individuals and agencies, Topeka Rescue Mission being one of those primaries that helps to bring some light in the middle of the darkness of life that's already been challenged, but also um more so maybe now and who knows what it's gonna look like a month from now in that regard.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_03: So, Jessica being the president CEO, um, you guys doing this not only in Shawnee County, but in three other counties as well.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_03: So talk about Christmas Bureau.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we really do it mostly only in Shawnee County in this fashion.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um we support other Christmas bureaus in Jackson County, and then there's one in Douglas County as well.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but they are not quite at the same level of scale as Shawnee County, mostly because the population of Shawnee County is quite larger.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: And our the Christmas Bureau has been around here for oh I think a hundred years.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: We think we think there's some conflicting reports, and someday we're gonna find someone to help dig into this, but we think it's been a hundred years.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_04: It's been a long time.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: The um Christmas bureau has been in existence.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe somebody Barry's age will be in the world.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, Britt.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, Brett.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_03: Payback's coming, maybe 2030's on you now.
• 35:40
  unknown: Yeah.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_03: All on me.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: So so that it was uh started um before even United Way um took it over.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: And um I can't remember the name of it back in those days.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but uh it uh I do remember it being even in my time here, which hasn't quite been a hundred years yet, um, that was a different organization than the United Way took it on, which has been a big task, and it's grown and grown and grown and grown.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: But the beauty of it is that it then brings people together to meet people in a need in their time, whether it's an individual, single person that wonder if anybody cares, um, am I am I alone to a family with a lot of kids?
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: So what is it in Topeka Shawnee County?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_03: What does it look like here?
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hopefully, and you know, we've spoken so much about how difficult the coming months could be.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, Christmas Bureau for these families is going to be kind of that that light uh for the holidays, but also help families use their resources differently because everyone wants to get their kids a gift for the holidays or a little something for the holidays.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so let us help you feel that need so you have additional resources for food or housing, rent utility, um, all of those other things.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but for Christmas Bureau here, um, we um have an intake.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: We have several days of intake where we ask individuals who um are uh the cutoff is 200% below the federal poverty level.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: We ask that they um if they want to come and sign up to be adopted.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um they just have to provide us with some uh some information.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they let us know what their wish lists are, like what are the things they're hoping for these holidays.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um and they'll they'll note those down and uh then we ask the community to uh adopt those families, go out and purchase the gifts, wrap them and deliver them to the families.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's gifts and food because we know you know both are important.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: We want families to be able to have a nice big holiday meal.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the the cost for food isn't enough to probably get a big meal, but will help be a supplement to what maybe they're gonna be able to do.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: So the intake times, is that still going on?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it starts tomorrow.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_03: So it's still going on tomorrow.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: Starts tomorrow.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Starts tomorrow.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll go the last day is November 8th.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: And where do people go to sign up?
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um if they want to sign up, um they do have to come in person at Johnston Community Center.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that's over in Echo Ridge.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um the address is 2021 South California Market.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_06: Yep.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um they'll just need to go there.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: We get people in and out pretty quickly.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to come at six o'clock in the morning to wait in line.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: I promise we're gonna get you through quick.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um so it in because we offer it so many days, we usually really truly you don't have to come super early.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: We get there the first day and there's a line out to the street.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: So you um um these are available on the United Way's website, uh, times location, those kind of things.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_03: You also depend upon a lot of volunteers to help take the intakes.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I know Miriam, even though she was former CEO of the United Way, she likes being a volunteer over there.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I love being a volunteer over there.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_04: I love to talk to people.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um it is renewing in a very different kind of way because people are so humble and so grateful and so willing to share with you the struggles they have.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_04: And it can be so very, very heartbreaking how sometimes they carry the shame of having to come there with them.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_04: And that is heartbreaking.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_04: So to be able to help them eliminate that and just embrace them um figuratively, sometimes literally, you know, to let them know no, we are here for you.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_04: We do not be ashamed that you need to be here.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things that we've heard here is you ask them what they need or what they would like for Christmas.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_03: Merriam, I know you've said this a number of times, how heartwarming it is.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_03: They're not asking for big stuff, they're asking for some practical stuff.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, my goodness, I don't know that I've ever had to work so hard to get, especially moms and grandmas or dads that have kids, to tell you that they want something that is special, that isn't laundry detergent or a bucket to wash the floor or those kinds of things, you know, just getting a mom or a grandma.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_04: I I last year was beautiful for me because I finally got this mom to say, I would love a red dress.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, and it was everything like you saw that it was just this dream in her heart.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_04: Before that, it was all this stuff that you buy every day of the week, right?
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_04: And and here she was, she finally was able to just think about herself for just a moment and say, I would love to have her.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_04: And she was gonna wear that red dress to church, which I thought was just so beautiful.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_04: So, yes, so people just ask for the most basic things, not things that I would have ever considered a gift.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I think to your point, people coming in uh just a little bit embarrassed that they have to ask for help.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_03: And uh there's a tendency, because we don't understand poverty, that then we judge poverty.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_03: And we feared poverty to some degree, and then we then fight poverty.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so we say those people, um, when those people are us, and we're seeing more and more, and we've seen this over the years, more and more people who used to be able to help now are very um embarrassed to say, I need help.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_03: I need help more.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_03: So this things have just changed.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: So, Jessica, um, it's a big effort.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um how many organizations, individuals, just generally do you guys try to get to help?
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um big effort is an understatement.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we're and we just think of numbers alone.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was over 1,163 households last year, um, which equates to over 3,000 individuals that were needing adopted.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um we can't do that alone.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we absolutely can't do that.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: So thank goodness for partnerships like Topeka Rescue Mission, um, doorsteps, some churches, um, Topeka North out Topeka North Outreach.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, organizations that will help support us, they'll take families from the Christmas Bureau and uh go ahead and purchase gifts and ensure that they have a special holiday as well.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that is vital for the success of this program.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_03: Some of the companies, businesses do this, maybe departments, um, um churches, I assume, and and maybe a Sunday school class or whatever.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_03: They will then um how how do they sign up?
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_03: How do they how do they sign up?
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: It is uh this well, actually we last year we um uh launched a new website thanks to Advisors Excel for helping us create this.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: But individuals will go to our website, United Way or uwcalvalley.org.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um they'll be able to um sign up that way.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: They just enter in like how many individuals are hoping to adopt.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um that once they enter that information, it will match them or show them options of individuals.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you actually get to pick the family that you want to adopt.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you'll be able to read what their story is, how you know how old the children are in the house, what kind of gifts they're looking for.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you choose the family that you're wanting to adopt.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_00: Once you select that, you will get their contact information and the full list of the items that they're wanting.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_03: So then you those volunteers then take those gifts that they purchased to the home?
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: They take them to the home.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: They wrap the gifts, they purchase the gifts, wrap the gifts, and then they deliver them um to the homes, which is very important and helpful for us because if you can imagine delivering to over a thousand households like home delivery, that would not happen before Christmas.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_03: So, Mary, related to that, Topeka Rescue Mission uh ministers to the guests here with Christmas who are staying here.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: Also, um Topeka Rescue Mission um uh does Christmas for the participants at MAP.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, the unsheltered homelessness.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_03: So that uh that will be with the Salvation Army this year.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um and some other things that TRM's doing uh for our unsheltered neighbors, but then also um adopting uh names from United Way's Christmas Bureau.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_03: And and doing the same thing, taking it to the homes, right?
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, we actually take it to the homes.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um we there's something really special about allowing our staff to help with that, you know, to let them be a part of that part of the joy.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_03: We get to So you're working in shelters all the time and then you actually go over to the city.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_04: Get out of the building, kind of thing.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um, to be able to deliver gifts.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_04: So yes, so we you I think we adopt about 600 people.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_04: So all total, when you consider the 250 plus that are at the shelter and the unsheltered neighbors, we're serving, you know, about a thousand people.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: Jessica, do you ever uh lose a little sleep uh around this time of year?
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: I have to tell you, my um woman in her office, Nancy, she answers the phones, and so she gets some really tough phone calls all like from a month ago till Christmas Day.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: People that are panicked because they haven't been adopted yet or whatever.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's a tough time around her office.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: So she got us all little ornaments that say joy on the front.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: And on the back, she wrote, Don't let the Christmas bureau take away your season.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because it gets pretty intense.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: And you want everyone to experience this wonderful holiday like you hope for yourself.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: And in the heat of it all, if there's a field adoption, you know, things happen, it gets so stressful, and it does kind of like you know, kind of damper the mood a little bit.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little grinch.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: It does, it really does.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_03: There's never an okay we don't have enough.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_03: There's never been.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um there was there's been some close calls, right?
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_03: Close calls at TRM, close calls at United Way, um, the Christmas Bureau, but it's never like, okay, we're not gonna try.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um because you're just gonna keep doing it and doing it and doing it.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_03: One time there was a telethon before your time, probably before your time.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_03: Before my time.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, over Channel 13.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I remember uh there just worse than enough organizations or individuals, and uh named Jim Ogle one time, he said uh this can't happen.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so sure enough, within 24 hours, you know, just the power of the television.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not like there's ever okay with a no.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's always we're gonna find a way to make it happen, a yes.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so so this is uh a little bit more challenging time uh this this year uh with some uncertainties, but we're gonna go ahead and plow through and uh uh learn and adapt as we go forward um with uh trying to bring joy um into people's lives in this very super challenging time, more so maybe than we've ever seen before.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: So what else, Jessica Brett, would you like people to know about Christmas Bureau, how they can plug in, how they can contribute?
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what is it that um would be good for uh people to know so that they can say, hey, I want to do something?
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, last year, talking about adaptability and and almost having to go, well, we do the news and say help us, we had that last year.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: We had over 300 households that were not adopted about three weeks before Christmas.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um and but what we've seen, and and we ensure everyone is adopted, and we were able to do that.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: But what we're seeing over time is what we saw last year is less individuals are able to go out and shop and deliver to families to be able to adopt a whole family.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: But people are donating more, financial giving a financial gift.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that is kind of one it kind of shows that where the families are stressed right now, um that they still want to contribute and be a part of it, but they may not be able to fulfill the needs for an entire family, but they'll give a little bit.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so the beauty of the ability to do that really helps us because then we combine those gifts with another individual that can only give a little bit.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then United Way will go out and ensure that family is adopted.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um so and it doesn't matter so if you can't give enough to adopt a full family, if if it's five dollars, um, we will stretch that five dollars to ensure that we can get every family adopted.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um so those dollars sometimes can come to Topeka Rescue Mission.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um in addition to what Topeka Rescue Mission is asking for help.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_03: And then Merriam, you have shoppers um that go out and gifts.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_04: We do.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it it really takes a village, uh to say the least.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_04: It kind of is at this point taking a metropolitan area.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_04: I was gonna say metropolitan area, not just a not just a village.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_04: Uh but yes, so we have shoppers that will go out then with finances that come to us, whether from all different kinds of sources, or people bring us the gifts, and then we have all those volunteers that are putting together all of the things that are gonna be delivered.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_04: So there is just there is an overwhelming need for however people can contribute to do that.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_03: So there's ways that people can plug in, there's ways that you can receive help in this time, and uh as we go forward, um, in addition to Christmas Bureau, we're gonna continue looking for ways that we can help our community.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, even though we're in one of the more challenging times that maybe we've seen, you know, it's uh um again, we kind of talked about the pandemic and how that was something that was very, very troubling to all of us.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_03: But we saw people come together.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_03: And uh right before we created Operation Food Secure, um, we had this very unusual call um from um this organization called World Vision um and the USDA, and also a representative of the White House at the time.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_03: And they said, Can you get on a call with these guys?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: I go, What?
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_03: And uh so I did.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_03: It was a Zoom call.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_03: And um they said, Hey, we're thinking about doing this, and we've got access to some food and so forth.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_03: And we're calling you because we've heard something about Topeka, Kansas.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going, Oh, what have they heard?
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_03: That you guys have great volunteers in Topeka.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely they step up to the plate.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think you could mobilize some volunteers to feed lots of people?
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_03: You know, um, everybody's home, they're not doing anything.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they don't want to come out.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_03: We lost a lot of volunteers at the rescue mission at that time because people were afraid.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, people were wearing masks and and so on and so forth.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_03: And they said, Well, we've heard that Topeka is special.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_03: And so we said, Okay, we'll give it a try.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_03: And um we made a lot of calls and there wasn't much response because people were kind of hunkering down, and then one person shows up, and then another person shows up, and another person shows up.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_03: At the end of all of that, we found within the greater Topeka area there were 500 volunteers who stepped up to the plate to help feed hungry people in ten counties.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_03: 110,000 unique individuals were helped, um, sometimes multiple times with four million pounds of food.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_03: My point of all that 6,000 boxes a week.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_03: 6,000 boxes a week.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_03: And these were big boxes.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_03: They were huge, huge.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_04: I would give anything to have those 6,000 boxes a week back.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_03: That was right off the farm.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was so you know, I I I throw that out because you guys are right at this very crucial time in a community like all communities are struggling.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_03: But Topeka has been known and was known after that to be one of the leads in what was called uh what we called Operation Food Secure.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh um it was called uh Farms to Families.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um with the federal program.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_03: But you who are listening right now, just know that you're not alone.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_03: And um also those of you who are listening, just know that you can be a part of that team.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_03: You can be a part of that team this Christmas season, Topeka Rescue Mission, the United Way, or another organization that you're already working with, or just go to the United Ways website, go to the Topeka Rescue Mission website and say, hmm, I'd like to check out more of what I could do to be a part of that reputation that we have in this community of being a community of generosity, a community that rolls up their sleeves and does the job.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_04: And you know what, you know what, Barry, I think particularly here at TRM, you know, we talk about not being alone because we have so many great partners around us and people that are really pushing forward.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_04: And on our side of things too, we also have to have the faith that the that God is gonna provide for us.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_04: That's right, right?
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_04: And that we not become too panicked, right?
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_04: That that we do the work, that we continue to push forward, but that we know there is a bigger plan here.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_04: And there we have such this privilege to serve this God that is way ahead of us.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_04: He's way ahead of us.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_04: And I surely wish he would talk a little louder in my air on any given day, but knowing that together and from our Christ-centered perspective, right, that that the Lord will provide.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_04: And we just have to be faithful in knowing that and just keep pushing forward.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes it's a matter of him talking a little louder and sometimes us listening a little harder.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_06: Well, you do so not say anything about you, Mary.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, no.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_03: I just know me.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_03: I just saw it reflecting.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_06: I felt the conviction.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, I I that's a that's an extremely important point here.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, if it if we lived in panic, we'd quit.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_06: There's pressure.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_03: There's pressure.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_03: But pressure motivates us to action.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna stand in the gap because that's what we're all assigned to do here, um, to be able to join with others living united to be able to do this.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then also um we ask for some divine help and extra help in this.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_03: So Jessica Brett, uh, Unit Way Call Valley website for people wanting more information is uwcalvalley.org.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_03: Uwcalvalley.org.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_03: Miriam, uh people can go to the website, Josh, for our um needs list there as well.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_07: Absolutely, trmonline.org slash needs list.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_03: There we go.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_03: So there's opportunity for all of you who are listening right now.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_03: And uh just know that uh you are part of a great community and you're part of our community, our mission.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_03: Again, if you'd like more information about Topeka Rescue Mission, you can go to TRMonline.org.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's TRM Online dot org.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you uh for all of us uh being able to be here as a community as we join in the mission together to help our neighbors in need.