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Talk-Line: Joyce Lewis on Sauk Valley area "mini-marts" · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Our quarter past the hour. This is Monday, It's October thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: the year is twenty twenty five, and it's time for
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  Speaker 1: another informational edition of talk Line here at w i
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  Speaker 1: X and Radio. Good morning, I'm Steve Marco. It is
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  Speaker 1: time for our bi monthly look and news and information
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  Speaker 1: from your Ogle County Health Department and to supply us
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  Speaker 1: with the information. Today we go to the grant's coordinator
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  Speaker 1: of the Ogle County Health Department. She is live with
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  Speaker 1: us by telephone speaking about some very interesting areas of
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  Speaker 1: health issues again through her area. She's been on the
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  Speaker 1: radio with us before. Our good friend Joyce Lewis is
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  Speaker 1: live with us here at w i X and Joyce,
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  Speaker 1: good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Thanks for having me, y Well.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you ma'am for joining. Always a pleasure having Joyce
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  Speaker 1: on board. She's always loaded with information in her area
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  Speaker 1: of the Ogle County Health Department. And we're going to
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  Speaker 1: talk about some very interesting areas that I believe we've
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  Speaker 1: touched base on before with Ogle County Health. But to
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  Speaker 1: break the ice, Joyce, how many years with the Ogle
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  Speaker 1: County Health Department isn't for you?
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  Speaker 2: Now?
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  Speaker 1: Over to good okay? Well that you know you know,
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  Speaker 1: I knew that. You know, it was a fairly you know,
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  Speaker 1: new area that you were getting involved with with the
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  Speaker 1: Ogle County Health Department. But you've been in health for
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  Speaker 1: a while, right health.
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  Speaker 2: The Yes, I worked through local hospital organizations in our
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  Speaker 2: area and then I took on the position at Ogle
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  Speaker 2: County Health Department. And I'm much closer to home and
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  Speaker 2: see my kids in the morning. So it's a plus
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  Speaker 2: plus for everybody.
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  Speaker 1: The kids kids are off today probably so uh.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, they're still they're still sleeping, all right.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, okay, well it is Columbus Day,
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  Speaker 1: all right, so well, depit of that, let's let's let's
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  Speaker 1: talk about your area of expertise. And we wanted to
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  Speaker 1: talk about some very interesting areas that we have touched
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  Speaker 1: based on before, Joyce, that you're going to kind of
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  Speaker 1: update us on as far as your area is concerned,
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  Speaker 1: and that is action grants. We're going to talk about
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  Speaker 1: action grants today in various areas of Ogle County Health.
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  Speaker 1: And to start with something that we touch based on
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  Speaker 1: before is the four county area and the uh what
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  Speaker 1: what would call what would you call markets, Joyce, that
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  Speaker 1: that are that are within our county area that have
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  Speaker 1: been established through Ogle County Hills. Is that right?
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  Speaker 2: We call it a four county catchment area because we're
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  Speaker 2: trying to take attention of everybody within Lee, Ogle, Whiteside,
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  Speaker 2: and Carroll County.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, and bring us up to date now on what's
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  Speaker 1: happening in.
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  Speaker 2: This area now sure, so just to catch everybody up.
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  Speaker 2: The Action Grant is a government funded program through the
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  Speaker 2: CDC that is designed to support organizations and addressing conditions
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  Speaker 2: to improve population health. We incorporated many food centers that
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  Speaker 2: look like sheds with a refrigerator, freezer, and a shelving unit.
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  Speaker 2: We now have six of those placed throughout the four counties.
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  Speaker 2: We have two in Ogle, one in Oregon, one in Creston,
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  Speaker 2: two in Lee County, one in Amboy, one in Dixon,
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  Speaker 2: Sterling in Whiteside County, and Mount Carroll in Carroll County.
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  Speaker 2: And since we've placed those, if we look back at
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  Speaker 2: some data, since October of twenty twenty four, Stalk Valley
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  Speaker 2: Food Bank out of Sterling, Illinois has donated over one
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  Speaker 2: hundred thousand pounds of food to all the many food centers.
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  Speaker 2: So that number doesn't reflect just food, but nourishment dignity
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  Speaker 2: and community support that we are receiving, so we're very
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  Speaker 2: grateful for that. Absolutely, we're doing very well and we
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  Speaker 2: hope to have a seventh one placed in the spring
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  Speaker 2: of twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 1: Excellent, you know, and these have become quite popular again
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  Speaker 1: for donating and for receiving. This is the idea behind
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  Speaker 1: the Midi food markets. They are again an establishment. They
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  Speaker 1: are kind of a shelter you would call them, but
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  Speaker 1: they are again equipped with a freezer with shelving and
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  Speaker 1: this the premise is simple. It's a simple premise because
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  Speaker 1: all a person that wants to help and wants to
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  Speaker 1: donate needs to do is to visit one of these
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  Speaker 1: areas donate their food stuffs. They can be frozen food
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  Speaker 1: stuffs as Joyce just mentioned freezers are available at these locations,
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  Speaker 1: or dried food stuffs that can be just placed on
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  Speaker 1: the ships. That's all you do. You go in and
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  Speaker 1: place your food stuffs within this area, and then those
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  Speaker 1: in need turn around and come by free of charge,
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  Speaker 1: right Joyce.
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  Speaker 2: This is all Absolutely. They're open twenty four hours a day,
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  Speaker 2: seven days a week, and they're unmanned, so you don't
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  Speaker 2: have to give any information or talk to anybody, you
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  Speaker 2: walk up, you donate what you can and you take
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  Speaker 2: what you need.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and this is the simple present premise. It it
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  Speaker 1: provides those that are in need of food stuffs and
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  Speaker 1: as Joyce just mentioned, they can be frozen or dried
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  Speaker 1: food stuffs that can be dropped off and picked up
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  Speaker 1: again for those in need. And what you told me
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  Speaker 1: about Stock Valley Food Bank and their donations, that's amazing,
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  Speaker 1: you know. And we're just hoping that this increases in
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  Speaker 1: popularity in support, right Joyce, across the area.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we couldn't do this without their collaboration and their
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  Speaker 2: willingness to want help them want to help those in
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  Speaker 2: the community.
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  Speaker 1: And it's really neat to know that there is a
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  Speaker 1: seven that we got six of them already, we were
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  Speaker 1: we started with four. I know that they won't want
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  Speaker 1: the the The early premise was to put one in
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  Speaker 1: each county, Lee, Ogle, Carroll and Whiteside. Right, that was
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  Speaker 1: the early thought.
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  Speaker 2: It is correct, and it was a lot of work
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  Speaker 2: to get those plates because it's it's a new idea
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  Speaker 2: for rural America. These are in bigger cities. They are
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  Speaker 2: in Chicago, they're in Madison, they're in Debuque, but to
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  Speaker 2: have them at an undermanned fire station, or behind a library,
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  Speaker 2: or at a community center in a small town of
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  Speaker 2: three thousand people is almost unthinkable. But we've done it,
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  Speaker 2: and they are making a lasting impact in the four counties.
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  Speaker 1: I think. I think it was a great idea to
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  Speaker 1: start with. And Joyce was here when this started, and
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  Speaker 1: this is and how old now, Joyce, that this.
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  Speaker 2: Started in October of twenty twenty three, Literally the first
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  Speaker 2: day I started here at the Health Department, I walked
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  Speaker 2: into this grant and took a hold of the reins
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  Speaker 2: and took charge. And I have a great director and
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  Speaker 2: administrator by my side helping guide me and answering any
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  Speaker 2: questions that I have. So we do everything that we
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  Speaker 2: can for the community.
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  Speaker 1: And we followed this every step of the way. We
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  Speaker 1: touched and Joyce when she first got on here at
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  Speaker 1: Ogle County Health. We've been tracking Joyce, you know, since
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  Speaker 1: she's been with Ogle County Health, and we have been
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  Speaker 1: tracking the progress of these many food marks, and they
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  Speaker 1: have again, as Joyce just mentioned, added at least two more.
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  Speaker 1: There are two more operating than the four that we
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  Speaker 1: talked about that we're again at the crux. So to
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  Speaker 1: speak of the many food mark you know program, and
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  Speaker 1: now in new On, do we know where that's that's
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  Speaker 1: going to be added, Joyce? Do we know what area
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  Speaker 1: that's going to be added in.
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  Speaker 2: We've got a few people that are requiesed the information,
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  Speaker 2: but as for a specific location at this point in time,
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  Speaker 2: that's still up in the air.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, Well we'll just wait for that information
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  Speaker 1: to come, are we Well, just because it's next year,
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  Speaker 1: right this this is gonna be twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, we just started year three of the Grand
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  Speaker 2: October First.
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  Speaker 1: That's wonderful. This is such a great, great thing to have.
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  Speaker 1: You can't speak enough. It's just a win win, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and and and you know, to put up just a
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  Speaker 1: simple area and operate it like the like the old
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  Speaker 1: county health departments started. Now the operations are kind of
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  Speaker 1: shared them with organizations, aren't they, Joyce. You know.
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  Speaker 2: So they're placed at a hosting building or facility and
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  Speaker 2: they kind of take charge and do the day to
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  Speaker 2: day operations. We help them along for the first three months,
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  Speaker 2: guiding and you know, answering questions, and I'm here for
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  Speaker 2: them thereafter, but we want them to make it their
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  Speaker 2: own too and provide for the community. And all six
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  Speaker 2: locations are literally hitting it out of the park. We
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  Speaker 2: could not do this without them, and we are forever grateful.
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  Speaker 1: And obviously without the support of donations coming in practically
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  Speaker 1: daily then right, you know, And it can be anybody, friends,
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  Speaker 1: it can be you that can donate food stuffs. If
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  Speaker 1: you've got them to donate, you can just drop them off.
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  Speaker 1: That's all there is to it. You just drop them.
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  Speaker 1: You get one of these food sites and I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: they're posted what websites Joyce, Facebook.
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  Speaker 2: It is. It's on the Ogle County Health Department and
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  Speaker 2: any of the organizations that have the many food centers,
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  Speaker 2: they also promote it. And it's promoted on Facebook. You
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  Speaker 2: can even type up many food centers near me and
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  Speaker 2: it will actually come up on the web.
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  Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent, simple as that. So again, if you'd like
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  Speaker 1: to donate, it's just no phone calls, no middleman, it's
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  Speaker 1: just you friends that donate the foods to these many
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  Speaker 1: food marks and it is you friends that are in
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  Speaker 1: need of the food stuffs that can just as Joyce mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: no registration, no again the forms to fill out. You
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  Speaker 1: just stop by and pick up what you need as
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  Speaker 1: far as these many food it's a wonderful program and
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  Speaker 1: it has been firmly established now since twenty twenty three
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  Speaker 1: in our Sock Valley area. Joyce Lewis is with us
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  Speaker 1: from the Ogle County Health Department to talk about that
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  Speaker 1: action grant that supports again these many food mind, Joyce,
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  Speaker 1: anything else that you wanted to talk about today with
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  Speaker 1: the Yeah, I'd.
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  Speaker 2: Like to add. In addition to the many food centers,
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  Speaker 2: we've also expanded into paths of hydroponics, which is a
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  Speaker 2: soil free growing system that allows us to produce microgreens
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  Speaker 2: year round. You can grow them in your home with
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  Speaker 2: extreme ease. So for those who may not know what
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  Speaker 2: microgreens are, they're young, edible plants that are harvested just
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  Speaker 2: after the first leaves develop. We grow them from vegetables, herbs,
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  Speaker 2: and grains, and microgreens are actually packed with concentrated nutrients
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  Speaker 2: and they have a vibrant fl and beautiful coloring. So
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  Speaker 2: these systems are not only here at Ogle County Health
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  Speaker 2: Department in Oregon and our Rochelle office, but they're being
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  Speaker 2: placed in community centers, retirement facilities, and libraries throughout the
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  Speaker 2: four counties.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, And all a person needs to do then is
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  Speaker 1: stop by one of these areas and pick up these
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  Speaker 1: micro greens. Then is that right?
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  Speaker 2: They can they can pick up a sample or if
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  Speaker 2: they check into their local library on their website. We
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  Speaker 2: will be hosting two classes at each library that you
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  Speaker 2: will have to register for. But we're going to be
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  Speaker 2: or I'm going to be teaching microgreen classes and each
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  Speaker 2: participant will go home with their own personal passive hydroponics kit,
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  Speaker 2: which is valued at one hundred dollars.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, simply by registering and joining you then at one
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  Speaker 1: of these seminars coming up then right, okay, yeah, okay,
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  Speaker 1: when do we know when these are going to be held?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I have quite a few libraries that are
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  Speaker 2: already scheduled throughout October through February. And we've got libraries
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  Speaker 2: such as Savannah Morrison, Sterling, Prophetstown, Leaf River, Ashton, Byron,
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  Speaker 2: Mount Morris, Rochelle Dixon, Chadwick. We're all over the place,
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  Speaker 2: all right, and you're.
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  Speaker 1: And they're gonna be seminars held at these locations at
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  Speaker 1: different times of the period that you just talked about.
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  Speaker 2: And absolutely yep, there during the day during the week,
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  Speaker 2: we've got some in the evening and even some Saturdays,
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  Speaker 2: so we can appeal to the masses.
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  Speaker 1: Good all right, and the premises. All you do, all
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  Speaker 1: you need to do is is attend one of these seminars,
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  Speaker 1: learn how to again raise these areas and then take
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  Speaker 1: home a kit and and do it on your own.
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  Speaker 1: Do it, do it, you know, go into microgreens and
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  Speaker 1: go into hydro hydro fix. You know, with help from
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  Speaker 1: the Ogle County Health Department, you will be supplied the
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  Speaker 1: materials as Joyce just mentioned by attending one of these.
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  Speaker 1: So it just takes a preregistration then Joyce at one
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  Speaker 1: of these areas and then a visit right to this okay,
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  Speaker 1: and it's free.
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  Speaker 2: So we encourage everybody to take advantage of this and
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  Speaker 2: come and learn, get a free k and add more
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  Speaker 2: nutrients to your diet.
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  Speaker 1: There you go and raise at your own residents, right,
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  Speaker 1: this is this is raising right these areas at your
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  Speaker 1: own today, okay. Absolutely, hydrophonics, hydroponics and microgreens, and they
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  Speaker 1: become a rage. I'll tell you this. This has become
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  Speaker 1: a very interesting area. This has taken off too. You're
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  Speaker 1: talking about the Bitti food barts. This area has kind
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  Speaker 1: of taken off, not just regionally, but nationally as well.
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  Speaker 2: It is it's making such a difference in people's lives
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  Speaker 2: because a lot of people don't like vegetables. So if
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  Speaker 2: the USDA is telling you you need to eat two
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  Speaker 2: and a half cups of vegetables and two and a
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  Speaker 2: half cups of fruit a day, that's a lot for
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people. With microgreens, which are the baby vegetables,
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  Speaker 2: the leaves, you can eat three quarters of a cup
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  Speaker 2: of microgreens and that equals your two and a half
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  Speaker 2: cups of fresh vegetables daily.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Right, So you're taking care of your daily nutrient
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  Speaker 1: needs and at the same time, I think you having
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  Speaker 1: probably fun, you know, raising these.
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  Speaker 2: You know, absolutely, it's very therapeutic. It's very relaxing and
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  Speaker 2: you can kind of just get in the mode and
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  Speaker 2: you can take time to yourself. It may only be
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  Speaker 2: five minutes, or if you have a setup like I
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  Speaker 2: have here at the Health Department, it could be an hour.
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  Speaker 2: It's just it's a great way to just kind of
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  Speaker 2: relax and dive in and find your green some there
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  Speaker 2: you do.
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  Speaker 1: And it is all provided through the Ogle County Health Department,
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  Speaker 1: through their grant funding and this area again that Joyce
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  Speaker 1: is in charge of again putting up all of these
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  Speaker 1: educational seminars and putting up all of these opportunities through
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  Speaker 1: the Ogle County Health Department. Can a person dial the
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  Speaker 1: Health Department for information Joyce on.
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  Speaker 2: These areas, Absolutely yes, I encourage them. Give me a
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  Speaker 2: call eight point five five six two six ninety seven six.
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  Speaker 2: I'm extension two two four to two and I'd be
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  Speaker 2: happy to answer any question.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's great again if you need help with
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  Speaker 1: the many food marks or the hydroponics micro greens seminars
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  Speaker 1: that are coming up through our entire soft fail. This
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  Speaker 1: is not just Ogle County. Joyce mentioned Whiteside County. She
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  Speaker 1: mentioned Lee County libraries that are going to be involved
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  Speaker 1: in all of these educational seminars coming up. Call and
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  Speaker 1: again pinpoint a date that you can get by and
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: again visit with the Ogle County Health Department professionals. As
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  Speaker 1: Joyce just mentioned, she's going to be one that is
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  Speaker 1: going to be teaching one of these seminars in areas
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  Speaker 1: across our Stock Valley area. So you might just run
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  Speaker 1: into Joyce in your work with this area of the
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Ogle County Health Department, some great information shared by Joyce Lewis,
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  Speaker 1: our grant's coordinator through the Ogle County Health to Pomata Deo. Joyce,
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  Speaker 1: we appreciate your visit. We thank you so very much
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  Speaker 1: for joining us. Good luck with the upcoming seminars that
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  Speaker 1: you will be personally attending. And I hope that the
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  Speaker 1: many food marks continue to flourish. It looks like they
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  Speaker 1: are with the addition of one more in twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 1: at least one more in twenty twenty six. So we
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  Speaker 1: thank you so very much for the good news talk
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  Speaker 1: line today here at Wixon. Thanks for joining us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Steve, and thanks for getting this
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: information out. We couldn't do it without you and the
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: people in the community.
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  Speaker 1: Always always ready to deliver the goods, especially for a
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: good organization like the Old County Health Department. Joyce, have
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: a good day. We'll see you down the line.
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  Speaker 2: All right, sounds good.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Joyce Lewis is our grants coordinator with the Ogle County
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Health de palmat our guest today on the Monday morning
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: talk line here at Wixen News. First is next. Here's
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Charlene Bilama. I'm Charlene Bilama and this is Your Shaw
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: local news update. Dolly Parton's Imagination Live