June 20, 2024 • 26 mins
In this enlightening episode of the “Mi San Antonio Podcast”, host Pedro Al Aire welcomes a very special guest, Eric Cooper, the CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank. They delve into an engaging discussion about the upcoming “Summer Snacks for Kids” program, a noble initiative aimed at ensuring no child goes hungry during the summer break.The conversation takes a turn towards the big donation drive scheduled for June 25th 2024, highlighting the importance of community participation in making a difference. Eric shares insightful details about the drive, encouraging listeners to contribute and help make a significant impact.Furthermore, Pedro and Eric explore the extensive work done by the San Antonio Food Bank, shedding light on their relentless efforts to combat hunger and provide for those in need. This episode is not just a conversation, but a call to action for everyone to join hands and support the cause.Tune in to this episode of the “Mi San Antonio Podcast” for an inspiring conversation that truly embodies the spirit of community and giving. Listen now!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
One, O, four or fiveLatino hits is putting the spotlight on you,
San Antonio and proudly serving our community. This is the Me san Antonio
Community Voices podcast on iHeartRadio San Antonio, representando that two ten baby Sianoo Latino
here coming to feedera. Light itback with another episode of Me San Antonio,
(00:29):
the podcast dedicated to the San Antoniocommunity, where we invite guests who
provide a plethora uh using a bigword today, plethora of information and services
geared towards helping our community Aidandoestrajente Akiand San Antonio. I have the honor
of the pleasure of having once againon the podcast. Really good friend of
(00:49):
mine. He is the president andCEO of the San Antonio Food Bank Senoras.
Welcome back, mister Eric Cooper Ello. It's great to be back.
I mean, it is such anincredible privilege to serve this amazing city,
San Antonio. And they've been givingme lots of love. Having pen the
Grand Marshal of the Battle of FlowersParade. Yes, being with community where
(01:12):
lots of uh congratulations shout outs around. Food is love, right, Food
is this incredible gift. It's aprivilege it brings familia to the table and
you enjoy nourishment of body and soul. And so I'm so excited to talk
a little bit about this promotion andopportunities for people to give, but always
(01:34):
want to make sure if anyone islistening that might be struggling right now,
reach out to us at the SanAntonio Food Bank. It's so easy.
Go to our website sayfoodbank dot org, or you can call us on our
helpline that's two one oh four,three one eight three two six two one
oh four, three one eight threetwo six. If you need help,
(01:56):
know that we love you, wewant to help. Just reach out.
I think we're that's it. Amen. Amen, No, you gave me
everything already. That was great,though. I love that We're going to
jump into a bigger conversation here,which is the yearly event that we get
involved with along with San Antonio FoodBank with which is Summer Snacks for Kids,
an event which I've come to reallylove because of the mission behind it,
(02:21):
right and it's providing nutritious meals tokids all around San Antonio. One
of the saddest things we could eversee. And I'm sure folks you know
when folks are in bed doom.Scrolling on social media, we see those
videos pop up of kids not justeither here in our community or here in
this country, but around the world, kids who don't have food readily available
(02:46):
and kids who are malnourished and sufferingby not having food available to them.
But we'll jump into summer snacks forkids here in a second. You mentioned
something that I wanted to bring upbecause I saw you this year recently at
Fiesta at the Battle of Flowers Parade. How cool was that to be on
a float this year and be theGrand Marshall o Buro San Antonio Food Bank.
(03:09):
I'm telling you, man, itwas like the most humbling, cool,
flattering opportunity to have my team,our staff recognized and then to kind
of lead that way. You know, three hundred and fifty thousand people.
(03:29):
Battle of Flowers is where Fiesta beganone hundred and thirty three years ago,
and you know, to be onthat float to represent you know the nature
of the food bank, which isfood and community. The Battle of Flowers
Association raised a lot of food,which was wonderful. But Man, I
(03:50):
was out at pre k sites,I was out at senior centers, the
pre K kids. I got pummeledwith cascarones. Man. I mean they
were like they're like can we AndI'm like, you can take my sash?
Wear it like you are the future. But anyways, thanks to everybody
that made that possible. And youknow, it's time to get to work
(04:11):
now. And so we are busyat the Food Bank. You know,
you brought out the reality that kids, right they're nourished when school is in
session and the recent you know,summer break creates an environment where kids that
were fed through the National School Lunchand Breakfast program are now home and they're
hungry. And so the San AntonioFood Bank, in partnership with Broadway Bank,
(04:36):
this strategy of trying to gather foodto make sure no kid goes hungry.
There's nothing more great that we coulddo than make sure that a child
doesn't go hungry. And so that'swhat this summer promotion is all about.
And couldn't be any more excited tobe a part of it. We're super
excited about being a part of thisagain this year. This was my first
(04:59):
one. Last year actually, whenI first got here to San Antonio and
got to uh work here with theone of four to five Latin you know,
HiT's on iHeartRadio, and it wasit was cool. It was super
interesting just to see this massive setupI believe we were set up at It
was a Broadway bank was the mainoffice off of four ten, right out
in the parking lot, all thestation vehicles set up San Antonio Food Bank
(05:23):
tents popped up iHeartMedia tents, andall the volunteer I think they were all
volunteers, right, all the volunteersthere just waiting for folks to drive through
and drop off their donations. Thatthat was super cool. And then the
fun part is for me is seeingour audience, our listeners coming to what's
the world don't looking here? Itcoming to the rescue, right, Meaning
we did our call ins on theair, We put the information out there.
(05:45):
We asked our listeners to come byhelp our community and make a donation,
and they answered the call and thatmakes me so happy. So this
is year two for me. Butthis is now year how many how many
years have we done Summer Seconds.This is the second year for this partnership,
and I you know, I thinkit's got some incredible momentum behind it.
Like you said, I mean,it's funny because you're you know,
(06:06):
like, I think people need toknow that I am a listener of one
oh four Latino hits Man. So, Mike, we just had a massive
discussion about bezil Plum out rolling hisankle. That's crazy. Yeah, yeah,
well and you know, I meanif you saw me in Fiesta,
you you know you heard my battlecrist and Mark Anthony man, but you
know we can talk. I heardAnthony. This guy's legit like, hey
(06:32):
again, San Antonio, we loveyou. But you know, I I
just think that our city has thisgreat tradition of giving and serving. There's
a phrase, a quote that saysthat those that have the least oftentimes give
the most. And in this kindof humble, hard working, you know,
(06:54):
majority Hispanic, I don't have alot, but what I have I
want to help. I can share, right, And and that's like this
cool, like you know, ethicflavor of our city that it blows me
away. And I see it inthis, in this effort to make sure
(07:15):
no kid goes hungry, that thatyour listeners show up and they want to
share. They know, hey,no child should go hungry. And whatever
I've got as yours, you know, there is This phrase in the Hispanic
community is a Spanish phrase that thatthat we live by. And it goes
(07:36):
a little deeper than this as towhy the Hispanic community is so giving even
when we may not have a lotright for ourselves. Uh And and the
phrase is so today for you becausetomorrow I might need the help. Right,
(07:58):
That's pretty much. That's the therough translation there, right, And
it's I don't know if it's it'syeah, it is a cultural thing.
It's like values just instilled in ourcommunity over generations, many generations, and
it's it's at the end of theday, you know, it's just the
right thing to do, right,if you have a little bit and you
(08:20):
have or you have a lot,but you know you can help. It
goes a long way. And thenwe also believe in the whole you know,
you do good, you get goodback, right, And I think
that's what drives us is everyone wantssomething good to happen to them, and
it feels good when you give.Whether it's the San Antonio Food Bank,
(08:41):
whether it's that church, right,or whether it's helping your next door your
elderly next door neighbor. You dogood, you get good. Yeah.
Oh, that's such a powerful principle. And I tell you you know,
the good news is is that whenyou give, the Food Bank can multiply
it, and so for a dollar, we can put out seven meals,
(09:03):
or one dollar equals ten pounds orone dollar now equals about thirteen dollars worth
of food. Inflation's kind of impactingthat, but you know, it's an
efficient operation. We want to bethe most efficient nonprofit in the world,
and we're committed to what we callsqueeze the buffalo off the nickel. That
is making sure that we take whatwe've been given stewardship of. And that's
(09:28):
people's gift, right. I thinkof it as the widow's mites, like
they they gave their substance, andwe want to try to leverage that into
our mission to make sure no onegoes hungry. And that transformative act that
you're talking about, right, philanthropyservice when you are being less selfish and
(09:52):
becoming more self less, it's transformativefor the person involved, right. I
mean, how often do you cometo volunteer thinking I want to help someone
in need, but you walk awayfeeling better than maybe the person you came
to help, Right, And inthis time of kind of mental health stress
and you know, fatigue and somuch going on in the world. Service
(10:16):
can heal, it can start tofix what's broken in all of us.
And so I think that's what thiseffort is about. It's about bringing the
community together those that might be ableto give those that are in need of
receiving. And there's magic in thatunity, and I think that's what we
want for our city. I wantedto repeat that number real quick that you
(10:37):
just mentioned for a dollar, onedollar equals seven meals for us at the
San Antonio Food Bank. I know. It is the incredible. It's the
efficiency that we've run our business on. Always people ask, right, look,
Eric, of this dollar, howmuch actually gets to those in need?
(10:58):
Being skeptical and nonproperits right, there'sa lot of shady words out there,
and so there's a lot of thirdparty watch goot dog groups that that's
all they do is they kind ofmonitor and what they call it is administrative
overhead. How much of this dollargoes to administrative overhead for us two percent,
so two pennies out of a dollar. There's not another nonprofit that can
(11:20):
do that. That ninety eight senseis what we use to kind of do
mission impact and our ability to procurefood and whether it's a meal or a
pound of food groceries, that leveragingeffect one dollar equals seven meals is something
that our board holds us accountable for. And so I'm excited because it's why
(11:43):
people want to donate to us.It's a good thing. Kids shouldn't go
hungry and we're efficient. There's nobetter charity to donate to. Speaking of
kids, let's talk about summer snacksfor kids. It's happening right now.
You can make a donation at thisvery much. At any Broadway Bank location
in Bear County, right, youcan pick up a little I guess I
(12:05):
give you like a little box rightwhen you go to the bank there,
pick it up. It gives youinstructions on what healthy snacks to provide within
that box. You go load itup and then take it right back to
either that Broadway Bank location you wentto, or straight too, yeah,
the San Antonio Food Bank. Andyou know it is done just as we've
been talking. Right, So thecool thing about this box is when you
(12:26):
stop by Broadway Bank, you pickup the box, then you can run
over to HB. You can getyour kids involved. Right, you run
down the shopping aisles and you canfill that box with the items listed on
the box. And once the boxis full, you seal it up.
You drop it off either back atBroadway or at the San Antonio Food Bank,
and we're going to get those boxesand snacks out to kids. It's
(12:48):
designed to go from your family toanother familia, right, like this is
our gift to you. Sometimes Ithink everyone knows our iconic red barrels,
the donation bin where you can dropoff a non perishable can good. This
effort is about family to family,right, Familia too familiar. You can
(13:09):
you can experience the filling of thebox, teach that service while you're filling
it in the grocery store, loveHGB and then drop off at Broadway or
the food bank, and that's goingto go to a family. Again.
It's what it's about, you know. And I love that message and that
takeaway for young kids, young parentswith young kids who you know, maybe
(13:33):
your kids, all they've known isjust sitting in front of a and I'm
not knocking anybody, but all they'veknown is sitting in front of a phone
or a tablet. What a greatopportunity to teach them one there's life away
from those devices, absolutely, andtwo a great lesson in helping others because
along the way, kids will belike, Mom, why are we doing
this? And that conversation alone isinvaluable. Right, We're doing this because
(13:58):
other kids don't have this like youdo. Why not? Well, this,
that and the other. Right,And then imagine just seeing your child
get motivated to run up and downan aisle and point out to you mom
or dad, can we give themthis? Can we give them that?
And then watch them put it ina box and then you guys take that
(14:20):
box together and go drop it offlike that to me is beautiful. Oh
you, I mean you captured theessence of the experience, right when when
your child loves an item and wantsto give it to a child that maybe
have not had the privilege of experiencingit, and that they then are pondering,
wait a minute, why we coulddo something about that? And the
(14:45):
reality is oftentimes right. You know, I'm a father of five kids,
and you know, my kids wereblessed and maybe they felt disadvantaged because they
didn't have the most current iPhone,right, that was their biggest struggle.
But when they're talking to a kidor giving in an environment where someone doesn't
(15:05):
have food, you know, yourtroubles seem rather small, and it kind
of calibrates you to appreciate those maybefirst world problems or you know, just
you know, just it is acool thing about this work. Right when
(15:26):
you're able to help someone in need, you just think differently. That helps
you. And obviously that snack,that meal, that dollar, it goes
to help someone else that didn't haveit and they feel good too. Now,
Summer Snacks for Kids is happening nowand I believe through the end of
July. Correct, correct, Butour big push is coming up July twenty
(15:48):
fifth, as iHeartRadio and iHeartMedia teamsup with San Antonio Food Bank at a
Broadway Bank location. I have theaddress here right in front of me.
There is at the Broadway Bank location, Leon Springs location. Actually it's off
of I ten. The exact addressis twenty four one five I ten.
(16:12):
We're going to be there as ofnine am to four pm accepting your donations.
So you have, like I mentioned, until the end of the month
to make a donation at any BroadwayBank location or on the twenty fifth,
we can see you there and thankyou in person for your donation to Summer
Snacks for Kids. And so ifyou're listening right now, what you need
(16:33):
to do is head to a Broadwaybank and get a box. Then engage
your family, go shop, getthat box filled, fill a couple of
boxes, and then come see uson that day, drop off the box
there at the event we'll celebrate together. It's just an amazing gift of love
and to see it all happen,like you said, it's a good time,
(16:56):
and just to be a part ofsomething much bigger than ourselves and knowing
that it's helping to feed kids duringthis most critical time when summer starts.
Man, those kids, they missthose meals. It's a time when school
meals. Yeah, yes, yeah, it's breakfast and lunch at school all
school year long. And man,with a family of two to three kids,
(17:19):
that's a great support that now islost. Mom now is going to
work trying to figure out how tomanage childcare during the summer. The summer
heat's been crazy, and so utilitybills are a little higher and she's struggling
to keep up. And so it'sinitiatives like this that help put food on
the table for her and her familyand those kids. So please help us
(17:44):
out. That's Broadway Bank, LeonSprings location, June twenty fifth, nine
am. We'll see you there,summer snacks for kids. Come by,
make a donation, make a differencein a child's life right here in San
Antonio, in Bear County. Now, you just mentioned something I think we
should have prefaced it from the verybeginning with this. Parents, families that
rely on school meals and kids goon break those meals are gone. Now
(18:08):
mom has to worry about making mealsat home, or buying extra groceries and
stretching that those few bucks out alittle bit more. And yes, bills
are higher this year. It's reallyhot. It gets tricky. It's very
tricky, and so nobody in ourcommunity, nobody in Bear County, no
child in Bear County should ever haveto wake up in the morning. And
(18:32):
you know, ask that question,what's for breakfast? Mom, dad?
And the response is crickets because momand dad don't know what they're going to
do. So that's why we lookto you, San Antonio. We ask
you, we implore you just takea second, takes you know, maybe
(18:53):
an hour out of your day tostop by a Broadway Bank, pick up
the box, follow that little listthat's on there and fill it up with
nutritious snacks and then send it rightback to the Broadway Bank location you pick
it up from, or go straightto the San Antonio Food Bank. It
makes a world of a difference.So that one family, that's why you're
(19:14):
going through a hard time. It'shuge. Now if you can't get out
and about or you don't have time, you can always donate on our website
at sayfoodbank dot org. Just clickon the donate button make the contribution.
You can put summer snacks for kids. It's super easy to make that donation
there. But I promise you ifyou take the time to pick up the
(19:36):
box, fill it, drop itoff, that can be transformative. It's
such a good experience to help others. It will help a family in need.
And man, we have hammered thispoint home that kids during the summer
miss those school meals and this isthe way we bridge the gap. Late
August early September, kids are allback in school, they get that nourishment.
(20:02):
Our line at the food bank shrinksa little bit because the demand goes
down. The busiest time for usis the summer and it is directly related
to the fact that kids don't gettheir school meals and we're going to do
everything we can to feed them,but we can't do it alone. We
need San Antonio's help. So please, if you're able to donate and we
(20:25):
will make a difference for a childin need. Just add a little bit
more info there for those listening abouthow many families San Antonio Food Bank gets
to help with summer snacks for kids. More than two hundred more than two
hundred thousand students are living in lowincome households in Barr County right, and
(20:47):
they're at risk of food insecurity.So with your donation, you're helping this
huge amount of kids of students twohundred thousand are in risk of not having
something to eat at the at thedinner table. Yeah, that is mind
blowing, as in a city asbig as San Antonio. Yeah, it's
(21:07):
basically one out of four kids inour community with food insecure. And when
you think about the incredible work schoolsdo man to educate but also provide nourishment.
Once once school stops, the kidsmiss that nourishment and so that's that's
what we're trying to do is makesure that the kids, you know,
(21:27):
they're they're they're thinking about summer,and they can enjoy summer for the outdoors,
for the for the public pools,for the you know, riding bikes.
Kids shouldn't be worried about what amI going to have for lunch?
What am I going to have fordinner? The stress of a parent right
for for parents that are listening,man, we know what a privilege it
(21:48):
is to provide for our kids.And my heart breaks when I think of
that dad that that you know,Saturday morning, yeah, doesn't know what
to do because there aren't the ingredientsto prepare a meal to feed the kids.
And kids are you know, anxious, they're hungry, they're they're they're
(22:10):
hey, what's for breakfast? Youknow? And and so we want to
make sure families are successful. Wewant to make sure kids are nourished.
And this is one way I tellyou, if you've got time to volunteer
and want to come out to thefood bank, we're going to be working
away in our kitchens making meals.We're going to be packing boxes in the
warehouse. You can help on thefrontlines helping to distribute these boxes and the
(22:33):
food that we distributed throughout South Texas. So if you do have time during
the summer and want to make adifference that way again, go to the
website sayfoodbank dot or sign up fora volunteer shift and man, we'll serve
together. Let's quickly also a touchon because last year I learned a lot
about San Antonio Food Bank and allthe other services you guys provide, and
(22:56):
I believe there was like educational coursesand job training. You guys do it
all and it is amazing. Well, it's a great city. And I
tell you we're amazing because we haveso much support from amazing people and companies
and churches and foundations. Everybody pitchesin, but we really believe that we
(23:17):
want to meet people's emergency need todaywith physical food, whether groceries or meals.
Right, that's the giving of thefish. But you also want to
be able to teach how to fish. And so there's some stabilization that if
a family needs access to public benefitslike SNAP or WICK, or maybe they
lack health insurance, we can helpfamilies apply for those public benefits, which
(23:40):
can actually bring a lot of resourcesto the household and then workforce development.
Maybe they're unemployed or underemployed and justneed a meaningful job. We can help
with that. We've got lots ofgreat companies looking for employees. We've got
training programs and partnership with Essay Readyto Work that we can get you in,
(24:02):
get you some skills to get youa better paying job. And it's
about that movement forward. It's aboutthat movement in an upward trajectory. We
want a San Antonio where everyone thrivesright, where people's needs are met,
and we've got a lot of struggle. This is about meeting that basic need
food, but we want to usethat food to be catalytic and actually help
(24:27):
to transform that individual, that family, that household in a way that,
yeah, it truly makes a difference. I love it. I love everything
the San Antoni Food Bank is doinghere in the city. Summer Snacks for
Kids is happening now through the endof July and our big push, our
big event is happening June twenty fifthat the Broadway Bank, Leon Springs location
(24:51):
off of Iten, kicking off atnine am. I'm going to be out
there our sister station's kJ ninety sevenQ one oh one, seven to sixty
the ticket Wai la preciosa? Whoam I missing? Ninety six to one.
Now we're all gonna be out therewaiting for you, san Antonio,
to answer the call. Make yourdonation to summer snacks for kids and ensure
(25:14):
kids have their snacks. Yeah,there you go, Eric, Thank you
so much. Always a pleasure andhonor to have you in the studio and
to have some fun also as wealso relate this important information. Yeah well,
thank you for being our voice forchampion this work. And again San
Antonio, which discusses this was anotherme. San Antonio Community Voices podcast from
(25:37):
one O four to five Latino Hits. Don't forget to share this podcast with
a friend. iHeartRadio and one ohfour or five Latino hits probably serve our
San Antonio community
One, O, four or fiveLatino hits is putting the spotlight on you,
San Antonio and proudly serving our community. This is the Me san Antonio
Community Voices podcast on iHeartRadio San Antonio, representando that two ten baby Sianoo Latino
here coming to feedera. Light itback with another episode of Me San Antonio,
(00:29):
the podcast dedicated to the San Antoniocommunity, where we invite guests who
provide a plethora uh using a bigword today, plethora of information and services
geared towards helping our community Aidandoestrajente Akiand San Antonio. I have the honor
of the pleasure of having once againon the podcast. Really good friend of
(00:49):
mine. He is the president andCEO of the San Antonio Food Bank Senoras.
Welcome back, mister Eric Cooper Ello. It's great to be back.
I mean, it is such anincredible privilege to serve this amazing city,
San Antonio. And they've been givingme lots of love. Having pen the
Grand Marshal of the Battle of FlowersParade. Yes, being with community where
(01:12):
lots of uh congratulations shout outs around. Food is love, right, Food
is this incredible gift. It's aprivilege it brings familia to the table and
you enjoy nourishment of body and soul. And so I'm so excited to talk
a little bit about this promotion andopportunities for people to give, but always
(01:34):
want to make sure if anyone islistening that might be struggling right now,
reach out to us at the SanAntonio Food Bank. It's so easy.
Go to our website sayfoodbank dot org, or you can call us on our
helpline that's two one oh four,three one eight three two six two one
oh four, three one eight threetwo six. If you need help,
(01:56):
know that we love you, wewant to help. Just reach out.
I think we're that's it. Amen. Amen, No, you gave me
everything already. That was great,though. I love that We're going to
jump into a bigger conversation here,which is the yearly event that we get
involved with along with San Antonio FoodBank with which is Summer Snacks for Kids,
an event which I've come to reallylove because of the mission behind it,
(02:21):
right and it's providing nutritious meals tokids all around San Antonio. One
of the saddest things we could eversee. And I'm sure folks you know
when folks are in bed doom.Scrolling on social media, we see those
videos pop up of kids not justeither here in our community or here in
this country, but around the world, kids who don't have food readily available
(02:46):
and kids who are malnourished and sufferingby not having food available to them.
But we'll jump into summer snacks forkids here in a second. You mentioned
something that I wanted to bring upbecause I saw you this year recently at
Fiesta at the Battle of Flowers Parade. How cool was that to be on
a float this year and be theGrand Marshall o Buro San Antonio Food Bank.
(03:09):
I'm telling you, man, itwas like the most humbling, cool,
flattering opportunity to have my team,our staff recognized and then to kind
of lead that way. You know, three hundred and fifty thousand people.
(03:29):
Battle of Flowers is where Fiesta beganone hundred and thirty three years ago,
and you know, to be onthat float to represent you know the nature
of the food bank, which isfood and community. The Battle of Flowers
Association raised a lot of food,which was wonderful. But Man, I
(03:50):
was out at pre k sites,I was out at senior centers, the
pre K kids. I got pummeledwith cascarones. Man. I mean they
were like they're like can we AndI'm like, you can take my sash?
Wear it like you are the future. But anyways, thanks to everybody
that made that possible. And youknow, it's time to get to work
(04:11):
now. And so we are busyat the Food Bank. You know,
you brought out the reality that kids, right they're nourished when school is in
session and the recent you know,summer break creates an environment where kids that
were fed through the National School Lunchand Breakfast program are now home and they're
hungry. And so the San AntonioFood Bank, in partnership with Broadway Bank,
(04:36):
this strategy of trying to gather foodto make sure no kid goes hungry.
There's nothing more great that we coulddo than make sure that a child
doesn't go hungry. And so that'swhat this summer promotion is all about.
And couldn't be any more excited tobe a part of it. We're super
excited about being a part of thisagain this year. This was my first
(04:59):
one. Last year actually, whenI first got here to San Antonio and
got to uh work here with theone of four to five Latin you know,
HiT's on iHeartRadio, and it wasit was cool. It was super
interesting just to see this massive setupI believe we were set up at It
was a Broadway bank was the mainoffice off of four ten, right out
in the parking lot, all thestation vehicles set up San Antonio Food Bank
(05:23):
tents popped up iHeartMedia tents, andall the volunteer I think they were all
volunteers, right, all the volunteersthere just waiting for folks to drive through
and drop off their donations. Thatthat was super cool. And then the
fun part is for me is seeingour audience, our listeners coming to what's
the world don't looking here? Itcoming to the rescue, right, Meaning
we did our call ins on theair, We put the information out there.
(05:45):
We asked our listeners to come byhelp our community and make a donation,
and they answered the call and thatmakes me so happy. So this
is year two for me. Butthis is now year how many how many
years have we done Summer Seconds.This is the second year for this partnership,
and I you know, I thinkit's got some incredible momentum behind it.
Like you said, I mean,it's funny because you're you know,
(06:06):
like, I think people need toknow that I am a listener of one
oh four Latino hits Man. So, Mike, we just had a massive
discussion about bezil Plum out rolling hisankle. That's crazy. Yeah, yeah,
well and you know, I meanif you saw me in Fiesta,
you you know you heard my battlecrist and Mark Anthony man, but you
know we can talk. I heardAnthony. This guy's legit like, hey
(06:32):
again, San Antonio, we loveyou. But you know, I I
just think that our city has thisgreat tradition of giving and serving. There's
a phrase, a quote that saysthat those that have the least oftentimes give
the most. And in this kindof humble, hard working, you know,
(06:54):
majority Hispanic, I don't have alot, but what I have I
want to help. I can share, right, And and that's like this
cool, like you know, ethicflavor of our city that it blows me
away. And I see it inthis, in this effort to make sure
(07:15):
no kid goes hungry, that thatyour listeners show up and they want to
share. They know, hey,no child should go hungry. And whatever
I've got as yours, you know, there is This phrase in the Hispanic
community is a Spanish phrase that thatthat we live by. And it goes
(07:36):
a little deeper than this as towhy the Hispanic community is so giving even
when we may not have a lotright for ourselves. Uh And and the
phrase is so today for you becausetomorrow I might need the help. Right,
(07:58):
That's pretty much. That's the therough translation there, right, And
it's I don't know if it's it'syeah, it is a cultural thing.
It's like values just instilled in ourcommunity over generations, many generations, and
it's it's at the end of theday, you know, it's just the
right thing to do, right,if you have a little bit and you
(08:20):
have or you have a lot,but you know you can help. It
goes a long way. And thenwe also believe in the whole you know,
you do good, you get goodback, right, And I think
that's what drives us is everyone wantssomething good to happen to them, and
it feels good when you give.Whether it's the San Antonio Food Bank,
(08:41):
whether it's that church, right,or whether it's helping your next door your
elderly next door neighbor. You dogood, you get good. Yeah.
Oh, that's such a powerful principle. And I tell you you know,
the good news is is that whenyou give, the Food Bank can multiply
it, and so for a dollar, we can put out seven meals,
(09:03):
or one dollar equals ten pounds orone dollar now equals about thirteen dollars worth
of food. Inflation's kind of impactingthat, but you know, it's an
efficient operation. We want to bethe most efficient nonprofit in the world,
and we're committed to what we callsqueeze the buffalo off the nickel. That
is making sure that we take whatwe've been given stewardship of. And that's
(09:28):
people's gift, right. I thinkof it as the widow's mites, like
they they gave their substance, andwe want to try to leverage that into
our mission to make sure no onegoes hungry. And that transformative act that
you're talking about, right, philanthropyservice when you are being less selfish and
(09:52):
becoming more self less, it's transformativefor the person involved, right. I
mean, how often do you cometo volunteer thinking I want to help someone
in need, but you walk awayfeeling better than maybe the person you came
to help, Right, And inthis time of kind of mental health stress
and you know, fatigue and somuch going on in the world. Service
(10:16):
can heal, it can start tofix what's broken in all of us.
And so I think that's what thiseffort is about. It's about bringing the
community together those that might be ableto give those that are in need of
receiving. And there's magic in thatunity, and I think that's what we
want for our city. I wantedto repeat that number real quick that you
(10:37):
just mentioned for a dollar, onedollar equals seven meals for us at the
San Antonio Food Bank. I know. It is the incredible. It's the
efficiency that we've run our business on. Always people ask, right, look,
Eric, of this dollar, howmuch actually gets to those in need?
(10:58):
Being skeptical and nonproperits right, there'sa lot of shady words out there,
and so there's a lot of thirdparty watch goot dog groups that that's
all they do is they kind ofmonitor and what they call it is administrative
overhead. How much of this dollargoes to administrative overhead for us two percent,
so two pennies out of a dollar. There's not another nonprofit that can
(11:20):
do that. That ninety eight senseis what we use to kind of do
mission impact and our ability to procurefood and whether it's a meal or a
pound of food groceries, that leveragingeffect one dollar equals seven meals is something
that our board holds us accountable for. And so I'm excited because it's why
(11:43):
people want to donate to us.It's a good thing. Kids shouldn't go
hungry and we're efficient. There's nobetter charity to donate to. Speaking of
kids, let's talk about summer snacksfor kids. It's happening right now.
You can make a donation at thisvery much. At any Broadway Bank location
in Bear County, right, youcan pick up a little I guess I
(12:05):
give you like a little box rightwhen you go to the bank there,
pick it up. It gives youinstructions on what healthy snacks to provide within
that box. You go load itup and then take it right back to
either that Broadway Bank location you wentto, or straight too, yeah,
the San Antonio Food Bank. Andyou know it is done just as we've
been talking. Right, So thecool thing about this box is when you
(12:26):
stop by Broadway Bank, you pickup the box, then you can run
over to HB. You can getyour kids involved. Right, you run
down the shopping aisles and you canfill that box with the items listed on
the box. And once the boxis full, you seal it up.
You drop it off either back atBroadway or at the San Antonio Food Bank,
and we're going to get those boxesand snacks out to kids. It's
(12:48):
designed to go from your family toanother familia, right, like this is
our gift to you. Sometimes Ithink everyone knows our iconic red barrels,
the donation bin where you can dropoff a non perishable can good. This
effort is about family to family,right, Familia too familiar. You can
(13:09):
you can experience the filling of thebox, teach that service while you're filling
it in the grocery store, loveHGB and then drop off at Broadway or
the food bank, and that's goingto go to a family. Again.
It's what it's about, you know. And I love that message and that
takeaway for young kids, young parentswith young kids who you know, maybe
(13:33):
your kids, all they've known isjust sitting in front of a and I'm
not knocking anybody, but all they'veknown is sitting in front of a phone
or a tablet. What a greatopportunity to teach them one there's life away
from those devices, absolutely, andtwo a great lesson in helping others because
along the way, kids will belike, Mom, why are we doing
this? And that conversation alone isinvaluable. Right, We're doing this because
(13:58):
other kids don't have this like youdo. Why not? Well, this,
that and the other. Right,And then imagine just seeing your child
get motivated to run up and downan aisle and point out to you mom
or dad, can we give themthis? Can we give them that?
And then watch them put it ina box and then you guys take that
(14:20):
box together and go drop it offlike that to me is beautiful. Oh
you, I mean you captured theessence of the experience, right when when
your child loves an item and wantsto give it to a child that maybe
have not had the privilege of experiencingit, and that they then are pondering,
wait a minute, why we coulddo something about that? And the
(14:45):
reality is oftentimes right. You know, I'm a father of five kids,
and you know, my kids wereblessed and maybe they felt disadvantaged because they
didn't have the most current iPhone,right, that was their biggest struggle.
But when they're talking to a kidor giving in an environment where someone doesn't
(15:05):
have food, you know, yourtroubles seem rather small, and it kind
of calibrates you to appreciate those maybefirst world problems or you know, just
you know, just it is acool thing about this work. Right when
(15:26):
you're able to help someone in need, you just think differently. That helps
you. And obviously that snack,that meal, that dollar, it goes
to help someone else that didn't haveit and they feel good too. Now,
Summer Snacks for Kids is happening nowand I believe through the end of
July. Correct, correct, Butour big push is coming up July twenty
(15:48):
fifth, as iHeartRadio and iHeartMedia teamsup with San Antonio Food Bank at a
Broadway Bank location. I have theaddress here right in front of me.
There is at the Broadway Bank location, Leon Springs location. Actually it's off
of I ten. The exact addressis twenty four one five I ten.
(16:12):
We're going to be there as ofnine am to four pm accepting your donations.
So you have, like I mentioned, until the end of the month
to make a donation at any BroadwayBank location or on the twenty fifth,
we can see you there and thankyou in person for your donation to Summer
Snacks for Kids. And so ifyou're listening right now, what you need
(16:33):
to do is head to a Broadwaybank and get a box. Then engage
your family, go shop, getthat box filled, fill a couple of
boxes, and then come see uson that day, drop off the box
there at the event we'll celebrate together. It's just an amazing gift of love
and to see it all happen,like you said, it's a good time,
(16:56):
and just to be a part ofsomething much bigger than ourselves and knowing
that it's helping to feed kids duringthis most critical time when summer starts.
Man, those kids, they missthose meals. It's a time when school
meals. Yeah, yes, yeah, it's breakfast and lunch at school all
school year long. And man,with a family of two to three kids,
(17:19):
that's a great support that now islost. Mom now is going to
work trying to figure out how tomanage childcare during the summer. The summer
heat's been crazy, and so utilitybills are a little higher and she's struggling
to keep up. And so it'sinitiatives like this that help put food on
the table for her and her familyand those kids. So please help us
(17:44):
out. That's Broadway Bank, LeonSprings location, June twenty fifth, nine
am. We'll see you there,summer snacks for kids. Come by,
make a donation, make a differencein a child's life right here in San
Antonio, in Bear County. Now, you just mentioned something I think we
should have prefaced it from the verybeginning with this. Parents, families that
rely on school meals and kids goon break those meals are gone. Now
(18:08):
mom has to worry about making mealsat home, or buying extra groceries and
stretching that those few bucks out alittle bit more. And yes, bills
are higher this year. It's reallyhot. It gets tricky. It's very
tricky, and so nobody in ourcommunity, nobody in Bear County, no
child in Bear County should ever haveto wake up in the morning. And
(18:32):
you know, ask that question,what's for breakfast? Mom, dad?
And the response is crickets because momand dad don't know what they're going to
do. So that's why we lookto you, San Antonio. We ask
you, we implore you just takea second, takes you know, maybe
(18:53):
an hour out of your day tostop by a Broadway Bank, pick up
the box, follow that little listthat's on there and fill it up with
nutritious snacks and then send it rightback to the Broadway Bank location you pick
it up from, or go straightto the San Antonio Food Bank. It
makes a world of a difference.So that one family, that's why you're
(19:14):
going through a hard time. It'shuge. Now if you can't get out
and about or you don't have time, you can always donate on our website
at sayfoodbank dot org. Just clickon the donate button make the contribution.
You can put summer snacks for kids. It's super easy to make that donation
there. But I promise you ifyou take the time to pick up the
(19:36):
box, fill it, drop itoff, that can be transformative. It's
such a good experience to help others. It will help a family in need.
And man, we have hammered thispoint home that kids during the summer
miss those school meals and this isthe way we bridge the gap. Late
August early September, kids are allback in school, they get that nourishment.
(20:02):
Our line at the food bank shrinksa little bit because the demand goes
down. The busiest time for usis the summer and it is directly related
to the fact that kids don't gettheir school meals and we're going to do
everything we can to feed them,but we can't do it alone. We
need San Antonio's help. So please, if you're able to donate and we
(20:25):
will make a difference for a childin need. Just add a little bit
more info there for those listening abouthow many families San Antonio Food Bank gets
to help with summer snacks for kids. More than two hundred more than two
hundred thousand students are living in lowincome households in Barr County right, and
(20:47):
they're at risk of food insecurity.So with your donation, you're helping this
huge amount of kids of students twohundred thousand are in risk of not having
something to eat at the at thedinner table. Yeah, that is mind
blowing, as in a city asbig as San Antonio. Yeah, it's
(21:07):
basically one out of four kids inour community with food insecure. And when
you think about the incredible work schoolsdo man to educate but also provide nourishment.
Once once school stops, the kidsmiss that nourishment and so that's that's
what we're trying to do is makesure that the kids, you know,
(21:27):
they're they're they're thinking about summer,and they can enjoy summer for the outdoors,
for the for the public pools,for the you know, riding bikes.
Kids shouldn't be worried about what amI going to have for lunch?
What am I going to have fordinner? The stress of a parent right
for for parents that are listening,man, we know what a privilege it
(21:48):
is to provide for our kids.And my heart breaks when I think of
that dad that that you know,Saturday morning, yeah, doesn't know what
to do because there aren't the ingredientsto prepare a meal to feed the kids.
And kids are you know, anxious, they're hungry, they're they're they're
(22:10):
hey, what's for breakfast? Youknow? And and so we want to
make sure families are successful. Wewant to make sure kids are nourished.
And this is one way I tellyou, if you've got time to volunteer
and want to come out to thefood bank, we're going to be working
away in our kitchens making meals.We're going to be packing boxes in the
warehouse. You can help on thefrontlines helping to distribute these boxes and the
(22:33):
food that we distributed throughout South Texas. So if you do have time during
the summer and want to make adifference that way again, go to the
website sayfoodbank dot or sign up fora volunteer shift and man, we'll serve
together. Let's quickly also a touchon because last year I learned a lot
about San Antonio Food Bank and allthe other services you guys provide, and
(22:56):
I believe there was like educational coursesand job training. You guys do it
all and it is amazing. Well, it's a great city. And I
tell you we're amazing because we haveso much support from amazing people and companies
and churches and foundations. Everybody pitchesin, but we really believe that we
(23:17):
want to meet people's emergency need todaywith physical food, whether groceries or meals.
Right, that's the giving of thefish. But you also want to
be able to teach how to fish. And so there's some stabilization that if
a family needs access to public benefitslike SNAP or WICK, or maybe they
lack health insurance, we can helpfamilies apply for those public benefits, which
(23:40):
can actually bring a lot of resourcesto the household and then workforce development.
Maybe they're unemployed or underemployed and justneed a meaningful job. We can help
with that. We've got lots ofgreat companies looking for employees. We've got
training programs and partnership with Essay Readyto Work that we can get you in,
(24:02):
get you some skills to get youa better paying job. And it's
about that movement forward. It's aboutthat movement in an upward trajectory. We
want a San Antonio where everyone thrivesright, where people's needs are met,
and we've got a lot of struggle. This is about meeting that basic need
food, but we want to usethat food to be catalytic and actually help
(24:27):
to transform that individual, that family, that household in a way that,
yeah, it truly makes a difference. I love it. I love everything
the San Antoni Food Bank is doinghere in the city. Summer Snacks for
Kids is happening now through the endof July and our big push, our
big event is happening June twenty fifthat the Broadway Bank, Leon Springs location
(24:51):
off of Iten, kicking off atnine am. I'm going to be out
there our sister station's kJ ninety sevenQ one oh one, seven to sixty
the ticket Wai la preciosa? Whoam I missing? Ninety six to one.
Now we're all gonna be out therewaiting for you, san Antonio,
to answer the call. Make yourdonation to summer snacks for kids and ensure
(25:14):
kids have their snacks. Yeah,there you go, Eric, Thank you
so much. Always a pleasure andhonor to have you in the studio and
to have some fun also as wealso relate this important information. Yeah well,
thank you for being our voice forchampion this work. And again San
Antonio, which discusses this was anotherme. San Antonio Community Voices podcast from
(25:37):
one O four to five Latino Hits. Don't forget to share this podcast with
a friend. iHeartRadio and one ohfour or five Latino hits probably serve our
San Antonio community
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