Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: Clara Harris shares Goodfellows of Lee County updates

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Talk Line: Clara Harris shares Goodfellows of Lee County updates · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sock Valley. You're back with the Waking crew
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  Speaker 1: here on FM ninety five one and AM fourteen sixty WIXN.
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  Speaker 1: It's eight fifteen on your Thursday morning, and that means
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  Speaker 1: it's time for talk line. And I'm joined in the
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  Speaker 1: booth once again by our good friends from Goodfellows of
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  Speaker 1: Lee County, the lady herself, Clara Harris, beating the heat
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  Speaker 1: to make her way in the studio. And well, you've
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  Speaker 1: been out there just putting in the good work, sweating
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  Speaker 1: all over the place with this heat. It hasn't stopped you, Clara.
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  Speaker 2: Our group is very dedicated and I want the public
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  Speaker 2: to know that we appreciated all of the attendance last
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  Speaker 2: night at City Market. I can't say enough about that
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  Speaker 2: Chamber group. They make sure that we are informed and
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  Speaker 2: we get out there.
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  Speaker 3: So love that.
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  Speaker 2: And this also the radio station. Without you, guys, Brandon,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people wouldn't be informed. So we appreciate
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  Speaker 2: you inviting us back every time.
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  Speaker 1: Happy to have you on here, you know, giving all
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  Speaker 1: the updates. You're the ones doing all the good work.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just here talking to you about it. So I
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  Speaker 1: love getting the word out. And yeah, city Market you know,
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  Speaker 1: my store is only a block around, and every time
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  Speaker 1: I see you can you can hear the crowd. You
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  Speaker 1: see the bustle, everybody's going. Parking spots are filled, but
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  Speaker 1: people keep parking back and back and they walk because
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  Speaker 1: they love City Market.
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  Speaker 3: They do.
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  Speaker 2: And it was well attended, even though the heat was
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  Speaker 2: out there. Yeah, some of the vendors weren't able to come,
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  Speaker 2: maybe because of health issues or whatever. Sure, but it
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  Speaker 2: was well attended. We saw a lot of families there,
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  Speaker 2: which is very comforting to me because we're all about family,
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  Speaker 2: so having them come up and we gave away a
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  Speaker 2: lot of stuff last night. All this stuff is always
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  Speaker 2: given to us from walmarts.
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  Speaker 3: It's free.
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  Speaker 2: It's the end of whatever at their location, and instead
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  Speaker 2: of throwing it away, they gifted to us because they
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  Speaker 2: know we're going to give it to the public free
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  Speaker 2: and then better bargains. Gave us a couple things that
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  Speaker 2: we could put out in a bin and that went
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  Speaker 2: well too. I ended up taking probably about fourteen boxes
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  Speaker 2: full of items and we came back with only three,
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  Speaker 2: so we're pretty excited about that. Lots of puzzle books, books, posters,
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  Speaker 2: football and baseball and all that trivia games. So lots
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  Speaker 2: of things were well received by people, and the kiddos
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  Speaker 2: loved it, the smiles you got from the kids because
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  Speaker 2: some of them were kind of getting grumpy, I'm sure
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  Speaker 2: because the heat. Yeah, but once he knew they got
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  Speaker 2: a poster man, they were right.
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  Speaker 3: There, you know.
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  Speaker 2: So it probably made it a little bit easier for
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  Speaker 2: the parents to finish getting through because they wanted to
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  Speaker 2: go the whole course.
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure to see what was offered.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, love that kind of collaboration.
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  Speaker 1: It's so awesome that they were working with you guys
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  Speaker 1: so that these things didn't end up in a landfill
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  Speaker 1: and instead making kids smile, making families come together. And
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  Speaker 1: you're right, it's so awesome to see even with the heat,
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  Speaker 1: people are getting out there.
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  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 1: It was funny last night we were sitting around the
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  Speaker 1: dinner table and I had turned up the AC and
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  Speaker 1: somebody had had the comment like, how did people survive
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  Speaker 1: before air conditioning?
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  Speaker 2: Well, and I'm old Brandon, I'm seventy one, everyone, so
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  Speaker 2: I do remember having no air conditioning. We use window
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  Speaker 2: fans or you opened your window with the screen and
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  Speaker 2: I hope there would be a breeze blowing through. But
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  Speaker 2: I will say down on the riverfront there was enough
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  Speaker 2: of a breeze that kind of kept us cooled off,
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  Speaker 2: and of course we were all wise enough to take
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  Speaker 2: water or whatever with us. But yes, well received last night.
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  Speaker 1: So love hearing about it. And again, this is all
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  Speaker 1: just part of the organization and you working with different ones,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and donations are such a big thing, and
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  Speaker 1: you guys are still accepting.
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  Speaker 4: Donations right now.
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  Speaker 2: We are accepting donations, and I wanted to put a
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  Speaker 2: plug in about that. Just call us eight one five
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  Speaker 2: seven three five one three five call us. We'll set
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  Speaker 2: up an appointment for you to drop them off and
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  Speaker 2: they are received. If we cannot use them, as I
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  Speaker 2: always tell people when they bring it in, bring it
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  Speaker 2: to us, we'll go through it. We know recovery houses
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  Speaker 2: or the Pad Shelter or other organizations that need items,
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  Speaker 2: and we if we cannot use them, we'll utilize them
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  Speaker 2: to those other organizations. So we're kind of all trying
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  Speaker 2: to work together, and I love that collaboration. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we may get something that works better for one of
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  Speaker 2: those and so we're going to share it.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I've thought this before, have I would think
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  Speaker 1: so I'm a big movie officionados. Sometimes references come to
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  Speaker 1: me in ways of movies. Clara, have you seen Shawshank Redemption?
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  Speaker 3: I have.
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  Speaker 1: I have remind me of Morgan Freeman's character because he
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  Speaker 1: was the guy who could get you anything in prison,
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  Speaker 1: and you are the lady who works with everybody, and
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  Speaker 1: you're like, if I can't find a use for it,
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  Speaker 1: I'll find somebody who can find a use for it.
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  Speaker 1: Because you are so well connected.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for that, but it's only because all
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  Speaker 2: these other organizations have learned that we all should. There's
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  Speaker 2: a networking meeting once a month and we all get
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  Speaker 2: together and we share ideas and we share needs and
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  Speaker 2: we share things that they offer also. So it's kind
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  Speaker 2: of nice that way. And I guess I'll have to
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  Speaker 2: rewatch the movie and make sure. Yet that's a compliment, Brandon,
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  Speaker 2: but it is.
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  Speaker 4: It was a comment.
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  Speaker 1: I love it, And then you could work on your
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  Speaker 1: book and Andy doesn't say it every time he needed
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  Speaker 1: a barrow, soap I found it. Okay, Yeah, that kind
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  Speaker 1: of my Morgan impression. But yeah, no, you guys are
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  Speaker 1: just always so good. Again, like you said, I mean
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  Speaker 1: to tell somebody that even if you don't think we
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  Speaker 1: can't use it.
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  Speaker 4: You're not wasting our time. We'll find something for it. Worse.
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  Speaker 2: That's fantastic, Well, thank you for that. I do want
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  Speaker 2: to put a plug in. We are going to be
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  Speaker 2: at Toolispor Schools which is August the sixth. We will
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  Speaker 2: be handing out information about our organization. We are That
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  Speaker 2: will be the first time at a location that we
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  Speaker 2: will be handing out our applications for this Christmas everyone.
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  Speaker 2: There will be a drop box and next to it
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  Speaker 2: a brochure box. Will put applications on the front of
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  Speaker 2: our buildings. Makes it a little bit easier for people
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  Speaker 2: and Dixon though, make sure you go to the Senior Center,
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  Speaker 2: the library. All the schools will have them Toolspre Schools.
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  Speaker 2: I know parents are going to come. They're going to
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  Speaker 2: get backpacked school supplies, lots of information. I'm sure Summer
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  Speaker 2: Its is going to be there with all the leftover food.
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  Speaker 2: Lots of organizations will be there giving them information that
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  Speaker 2: they can rely on during the year.
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  Speaker 3: Will be there.
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  Speaker 2: We'll hand out probably puzzle books, will hand out books
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  Speaker 2: to read. I don't know if we'll have any posters left.
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  Speaker 2: They went like hotcakes last night, but anything that's offered
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  Speaker 2: to us. We will be bringing extra things there. The
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  Speaker 2: second plug I want to give is we will be
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  Speaker 2: at every location in Dixon for back to school nights,
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  Speaker 2: so that's the tenth, eleventh, and the twelfth, and at
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  Speaker 2: those times we will have Halloween costumes. So parents, come
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  Speaker 2: and make sure you come to those back to school
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  Speaker 2: nights because the costumes are free and I want to
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  Speaker 2: get rid of all three hundred and some of them so.
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  Speaker 3: And they're great for dress up.
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  Speaker 2: Even if you don't their kid doesn't want to wear
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  Speaker 2: them for Halloween, they're great for kids to wear for play,
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  Speaker 2: So please come out for those. We appreciate that. The
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  Speaker 2: other plug is August the eighth, we will have our
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  Speaker 2: cookout out at County Market and that's when we're going
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  Speaker 2: to pull our four winning tickets for our Raffle. I
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  Speaker 2: want to say to the public, thank you so much
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  Speaker 2: for the support. We sold our Raffle tickets in two
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  Speaker 2: months time. They've been sold. It didn't even well, it
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  Speaker 2: was one day short of two months.
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  Speaker 3: So they are sold.
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  Speaker 2: They are in the spinner, ready to go in the spinner,
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  Speaker 2: I should say, because the spinner's at the chamber and
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  Speaker 2: will borrow that for that time and we'll have four
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  Speaker 2: people in the audience. Go ahead and pull our four
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  Speaker 2: winning tickets, So be ready for that and.
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  Speaker 3: Come out hungry.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to make sure that we have those brats
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  Speaker 2: and hot dogs and rebuy sandwiches and pork chop sandwiches
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  Speaker 2: ready for you guys to partake.
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  Speaker 1: Those are always fantastic. Love a good barbecue. I don't
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  Speaker 1: need a reason for that. But this is supporting such
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  Speaker 1: a great cause. And you know, you brought up a
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  Speaker 1: good point about your applications being out there for Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: Get a head start, be the cool parent who's already
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  Speaker 1: taken care of this before your kid even went back
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  Speaker 1: to school. So when Christmas time rolls around, like you're
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  Speaker 1: not worried about it, you know that you were taking
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  Speaker 1: advantage of such a wonderful program. And for anybody who's like,
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  Speaker 1: what are you guys talking about? Clara, you know, I'm
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  Speaker 1: so used to the fact that I know you so
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  Speaker 1: well now, But what for those of those who are like,
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  Speaker 1: what are we talking about? What are we talking about?
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  Speaker 3: Okay?
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  Speaker 2: So the applications with Goodfellows of Lee County, it's based
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  Speaker 2: on family size, family income. We did vote on this
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  Speaker 2: at our last board meeting. We're going to stick with
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  Speaker 2: the guidelines we had last year. That's three hundred percent
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  Speaker 2: high higher than in poverty level, so they're going to
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  Speaker 2: be able to apply with a larger base. I think
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  Speaker 2: it's three thousand, nine hundred and twelve dollars one person
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  Speaker 2: can make a month, and then there's so much added
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  Speaker 2: for every person in the family. So we did see
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  Speaker 2: a lot more people able to apply last year because
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  Speaker 2: they were over you know, they fit within that guideline.
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  Speaker 2: So you're going to make sure that application gets turned
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  Speaker 2: in and please make sure all the information it's asking
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  Speaker 2: for is included. So that's any kind of income. We're
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  Speaker 2: talking about food stamp. People don't think food stamps are
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  Speaker 2: but if you don't have food stamps, you have to
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  Speaker 2: spend money to buy food. So yes, of course the
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  Speaker 2: food stamps are going to be included as part of
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  Speaker 2: your income. You have to have proof that those children
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  Speaker 2: live within your home, and usually that's done with a
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  Speaker 2: medical card you get.
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  Speaker 3: You know, if you get that, it's usually all.
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  Speaker 2: The names are on that and if you don't have that,
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  Speaker 2: then you can call the school they're going to attend
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  Speaker 2: and they will send home a sheet of paper that
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  Speaker 2: verifies their enrolled in the public schools. It's got their name,
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  Speaker 2: parents' names and address on it, so that we can
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  Speaker 2: verify that they honestly are at that location.
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  Speaker 3: Because sometimes people move and they don't think about it.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they're trying to get their kiddo's enrolled and
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  Speaker 2: taking care of everything else, so they don't think about,
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  Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I got to make sure about this
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  Speaker 2: it gets changed on forms. The school will help them out.
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  Speaker 2: All they got to do is call their counselors. Those
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  Speaker 2: counselors they love to help families out and they're going
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that we get the information that we need.
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  Speaker 2: So when you fill that application out is I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to tell them at back.
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  Speaker 3: To school nights until for schools you have to have
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  Speaker 3: them in.
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  Speaker 2: If you want to be in the running for your
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  Speaker 2: kiddos with shop at the copper shop with the Sheriff,
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  Speaker 2: they have to be in by October thirty first. That
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  Speaker 2: means even postmarked. If the twenty ninth or thirtieth rolls
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  Speaker 2: around and you don't have it in yet, make sure
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  Speaker 2: you fill it out, take it physically to the counter
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  Speaker 2: at your post office and ask them to make sure
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  Speaker 2: the envelope is stamped with that date on it, because
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  Speaker 2: anything dated through the thirty first will be looked at.
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  Speaker 2: The reason we have that first cut off is because
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  Speaker 2: those two, both of the law enforcement agencies, they got
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  Speaker 2: to have names by November, second, third, whatever the first
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  Speaker 2: Monday is after that, so that they can figure out
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  Speaker 2: who they're going to pick to take shopping and they
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  Speaker 2: have to know that so they have enough money to
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  Speaker 2: make sure it's done. So that's why we have that
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  Speaker 2: first deadline in place. We've worked with them for a
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  Speaker 2: long time now. The other total you're done is December first.
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  Speaker 2: I will take them all the way up to December first,
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  Speaker 2: and you'll still get to come. Your kids just won't
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  Speaker 2: be in the running for that, and you will not
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  Speaker 2: get a food voucher. So make sure it's an incentive.
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  Speaker 2: You want that food voucher, get it in by October
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  Speaker 2: thirty first, you want your kiddos. And I always remind
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  Speaker 2: them because the kids are usually standing with their parents.
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  Speaker 2: If you want to go shopping with the copper or
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  Speaker 2: the sheriff, they will pick you. Maybe if your mom
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  Speaker 2: and dad gets that application and the kids are like mom,
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  Speaker 2: you know. So it's kind of fun because you're kind
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  Speaker 2: of helping them to remind the mom and dad it's
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  Speaker 2: important to them. And if it's important to them and
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  Speaker 2: they're plugging it to mom or dad, it's getting done.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely, there you go get on top of it.
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  Speaker 1: Unfortunately we're out of time, Claire, but I do want
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  Speaker 1: to while we do have a minute, if anybody has
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  Speaker 1: any questions or needs some more information about anything you've
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  Speaker 1: talked about today or anything with your organization.
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  Speaker 4: What's the best way to do it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the best way is to call eight one five
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  Speaker 2: nine seven three five one three five. And we also
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  Speaker 2: are on Facebook. Jennifer Lang our girl of the Hour.
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  Speaker 2: She is the one that puts everything on there and
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  Speaker 2: if something comes in she notifies me right away. You
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  Speaker 2: need to message or call this person back. They want
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  Speaker 2: some info, so yes, please call us.
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  Speaker 4: There you go, give them a call.
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  Speaker 1: Clara, thank you so much for coming in braving the humidity,
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  Speaker 1: and as always for all the fantastics fine work that
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  Speaker 1: you and everyone over at Goodfellows a Lee County does
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  Speaker 1: for the community.
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  Speaker 4: We truly thank you, Oh thank you.