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Speaker 1: You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth. Hi, everyone,

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Speaker 1: welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about

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Speaker 1: the choices we make and where they lead us. The

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Speaker 1: holidays are upon us. It's very easy sometimes I know

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Speaker 1: I've fallen victim to this, to get caught up in

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Speaker 1: the gifts and the parties and the food, but sometimes

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Speaker 1: losing sight of what's really important. My guest today is

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Speaker 1: the CEO of an organization that's near and dear to

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Speaker 1: my heart and is helping so many people all year long.

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Speaker 1: Please welcome Claire Babineau Fontaneau, the CEO of Feeding America,

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Speaker 1: to the podcast.

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Speaker 2: Hi.

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Speaker 1: How are you.

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Speaker 3: I'm excellent. I'm really excited about this opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I'm so happy that you're here today. I have

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Speaker 1: been a part of Feeding America, working with Feeding America

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Speaker 1: for a long long time now. I did a PSA

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Speaker 1: for them many moons ago that is still running. I

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Speaker 1: still catch it here and there, which I am so

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Speaker 1: proud of. And yeah, I've done a lot of like

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Speaker 1: you know, going to feed the homeless at the food

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Speaker 1: banks and passing out oranges and fruits and just really

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Speaker 1: enjoy working with you all.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 3: Well, if you ever hear me interviewed and I say

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Speaker 3: thank you to the Freedom American Network, then no, I'm

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Speaker 3: talking about you too.

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Speaker 1: Then a perfect.

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Speaker 3: It includes all the volunteers, it includes every minute, So

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Speaker 3: thank you for.

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Speaker 1: That so many people. Before we dive in to the

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Speaker 1: amazing work you're doing, I want to just kind of

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Speaker 1: start at the beginning because your life is so fascinating.

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Speaker 1: It's almost like giving back and helping others was your destiny.

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Speaker 1: Your parents cared for am I right on this one

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Speaker 1: hundred and eight children?

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Speaker 2: You are correct?

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Speaker 3: Good one hundred and eight And if my mother were

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Speaker 3: doing this interview, she would tell you. My mom had

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Speaker 3: one hundred and eight children. She was mother to all

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Speaker 3: of us, in each of us in extraordinary ways. Her

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Speaker 3: beginnings were so humble, but what she understood was how

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Speaker 3: powerful one person can be as a force for good

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Speaker 3: in the world. She provided a remarkable example for all

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Speaker 3: of us. And I'd like to think that I'm finally

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Speaker 3: in a role where I get to live into the

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Speaker 3: example that she provided.

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Speaker 1: Oh that must feel so good. It does. I know

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Speaker 1: it's a combination, so everybody's clear. It was a combination

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Speaker 1: of birth, adoption, and fostering. She was a mother to

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Speaker 1: one hundred and eight, but you know, yes, exactly, exactly

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Speaker 1: even think that's possible.

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Speaker 3: She did not give birth to one hundred night, thank God.

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Speaker 2: Yes, exactly.

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Speaker 1: Tell me what it was like growing up in a

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Speaker 1: house with so many, so many people.

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Speaker 3: It's all I ever have known, by the way, so

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Speaker 3: I don't have anything to contrast it with.

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Speaker 2: But it was. It was crazy, It was.

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Speaker 3: Loud, It was at moments so unified and beautiful. One

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Speaker 3: of the special talents that my mother in particular had

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Speaker 3: in my father had as well, was a way to

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Speaker 3: resonate with each of us in our in our uniqueness. Right,

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Speaker 3: So I didn't ever feel like I was part of

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Speaker 3: anything that was homogeneous, but I don't think that any

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Speaker 3: of us did. The standards that were set for us

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Speaker 3: were unique to our talents and our capabilities. We were all,

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Speaker 3: every single one of us expected to find ways to

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Speaker 3: deploy those talents and to give back to the world.

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Speaker 2: It was. It was fascinating.

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Speaker 3: So I have friends who are only children who'd come

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Speaker 3: to visit me just for the spectacle of it. I

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Speaker 3: think in most cases they felt better about their home

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Speaker 3: lives when they left because of the chaos that was

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Speaker 3: our household. So imagine there were usually about sixteen of

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Speaker 3: us at home at a time. Imagine if we ever

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Speaker 3: tried to sit at one table, it would be like

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Speaker 3: that Walton table, you know, the long, long table with

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Speaker 3: benches on the sides, if we were ever going to

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Speaker 3: all get around a table, and lots of laughter, lots

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Speaker 3: of dancing, lots of singing, though most of us sang badly,

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Speaker 3: and I still sing badly, but it was a joyful,

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Speaker 3: chaotic home.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, growing up in a large family like that.

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Speaker 1: It's clear to see that your mom had such a

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Speaker 1: beautiful impact on you. But what kind of lessons do

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Speaker 1: you think you learned subconsciously?

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Speaker 3: Mmm? You know, that's an interesting one. I hope that

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Speaker 3: this doesn't.

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Speaker 2: Bring the mood down.

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Speaker 3: But it was rad or common for me to go

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Speaker 3: to school with a certain number siblings and to come

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Speaker 3: home and to have a new person join our family.

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Speaker 3: And growing up in that household taught me things about

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Speaker 3: how different people need different things emotionally, so that for

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Speaker 3: some of my new little brothers or sisters, or sometimes

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Speaker 3: my siblings came and triplicate and even among three who

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Speaker 3: had biological connections a hug might help or a hug

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Speaker 3: might hurt. So we learned as a collective family sensitivity

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Speaker 3: around things like that. Another really powerful thing that we

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Speaker 3: learned was how beautiful diversity can be, how it can

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Speaker 3: in fact be a superpower. Is something I try to

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Speaker 3: bring to everything that I do. Is that that realization

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Speaker 3: I've I've leveraged those learnings in the for profit world

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Speaker 3: when I was executive vice president and of finance and

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Speaker 3: treasurer at Walmart. As a lawyer, I leveraged it, and

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Speaker 3: I certainly leveraged it today at Feeding America. Diverse teams

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Speaker 3: win more, no matter how you define winning, Diverse teams

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Speaker 3: win more. And we as a family were a diverse team.

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Speaker 3: So nobody could beat us at some of the backyard

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Speaker 3: basketball games or softball games or yeah, we we were

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Speaker 3: a force. We were of course those babinots.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Oh it's so good though. So you sort

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Speaker 1: of I'm wondering, you know, you went into law school

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Speaker 1: I did. Was that you sort of trying to figure

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Speaker 1: out what it is that was your unique talent to

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Speaker 1: give to the world.

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely. Now, our grandparents on both sides were sharecroppers and

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Speaker 3: didn't have any formal education, and English was not a

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Speaker 3: first language for any of them. Folk that French patois creole.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 3: Neither of my parents graduated high school, and the collective

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Speaker 3: of all six of those people were absolutely brilliant, and

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Speaker 3: it was so obvious. But I got the chance to

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Speaker 3: graduate high school and then to go to college. But

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Speaker 3: when I was a little girl, I remember so vividly

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Speaker 3: talking to my father and telling him in a defiant tone,

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Speaker 3: as if I expected him to challenge it, that when

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Speaker 3: I grew up, I was going to be a lawyer.

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Speaker 3: And I recall that he said, with no hesitation, of

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Speaker 3: course you will. Now he did follow it up with

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Speaker 3: you argue all the time. At least that way somebody

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Speaker 3: will pay you to do it, which I also did

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Speaker 3: not forget. But I felt destined to advocate on behalf

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Speaker 3: of other people, to use my loud mouth, my big mouth,

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Speaker 3: in service of others. I thought I was going to

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Speaker 3: be a children's rights advocate, because so many of us

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Speaker 3: the normal path to joining our family was because something

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Speaker 3: was desperately broken and the one you were born to

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Speaker 3: so visible. And I wanted to be a force for

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Speaker 3: good for children like us, like my siblings, and me.

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Speaker 3: So that's the kind of lawyer I was planning to be.

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Speaker 3: That's not exactly the kind of lawyer I became.

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Speaker 2: What happened It was the plan.

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Speaker 3: I don't even you know, I've been trying to figure

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Speaker 3: out what happened. But I always had a head for math,

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Speaker 3: and i'd like to believe a heart for people. So

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Speaker 3: I went on to law school. And then I was

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Speaker 3: sitting in the lobby of my law school, Southern University

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Speaker 3: Law Center.

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Speaker 2: Go jags out and sitting with.

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Speaker 3: My my study partners, and I looked around and you know,

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Speaker 3: anybody who's graduated from from Southern who's a tax lawyer?

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Speaker 3: Because I kind of liked that area, and nobody could

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Speaker 3: think of anybody says, Oh, I think that's what I'll do.

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Speaker 3: It was the most random thing, and I'm not right,

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Speaker 3: I am not random.

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Speaker 2: I don't know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, taxes is not something people are like volunteering to

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Speaker 1: exact will.

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Speaker 3: So I went to I worked, I graduated law school.

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Speaker 3: I hadn't taken any tax classes. By the way, this

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Speaker 3: is at the end of law school that I'm thinking

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Speaker 3: about this, and I have this epiphany. So I worked

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Speaker 3: for Revenue for about nine months and it solidified in

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Speaker 3: my mind that it was something that I really enjoyed.

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Speaker 3: So then I went back and got another ludgery from

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Speaker 3: Southern Methodist University. Southern has to be in every name

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Speaker 3: of every school I go to, apparently over in Dallas,

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Speaker 3: and I have an lemit taxation.

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Speaker 2: And then I.

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Speaker 3: Got all of these chances to do all kinds of

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Speaker 3: wonderful things. And I knew no one in my family,

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Speaker 3: no one that I grew up with, who had the

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Speaker 3: kinds of chances that I had, and I kept saying yes.

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Speaker 2: To all of them. So I became a tax lawyer.

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Speaker 3: I worked in government, I worked in Big four accounting,

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Speaker 3: I worked in a major law firm. Walmart was my client.

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Speaker 3: They kind of like the way I handled things. They

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Speaker 3: asked me to come in house. I said yes to

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Speaker 3: that too, So I wound up having this career in law,

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Speaker 3: but in commercial litigation, but mostly mostly in tax. And

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Speaker 3: then went into Walmart, where I did tax, but I

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Speaker 3: did finance, and then became the treasurer there. So none

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Speaker 3: of that was part of the grand plan. And I

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Speaker 3: was quite the planner.

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Speaker 2: As a kid.

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Speaker 3: I had a whole plan for what I was going

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Speaker 3: to do, and I did not do those things, but

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Speaker 3: what I did get to do was was pretty extraordinary.

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Speaker 3: And what I get to do now, oh my goodness.

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Speaker 3: It actually makes me want to cry every time I

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Speaker 3: think about the privilege that it is to get to

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Speaker 3: do what I do today.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about that in a second. But

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Speaker 1: first of all, you said you have a head for

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Speaker 1: math and a heart for people. I love that so much.

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Speaker 1: Those are words that I would never say, at least

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Speaker 1: the head for math part, but definitely, yes, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: have to come up with something for my head. But

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Speaker 1: you said you were working at Walmart. You were there

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Speaker 1: for a while, like over ten.

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Speaker 3: Years, right, that's right, closer to thirteen.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, And then again, life took a turn that

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Speaker 1: you were into expecting. You were diagnosed with cancer in

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, and your life changed as it does. Yes,

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Speaker 1: can you kind of walk us through what? How do

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Speaker 1: you get through? What do you do in those moments?

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Speaker 3: Wow? Well, first off, what a beautifully aptly titled podcast

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Speaker 3: you have here, Because I definitely chose me. I had

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Speaker 3: up until the moment of being diagnosed with cancer, I

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Speaker 3: was doing things mostly because I thought, well, I can't

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Speaker 3: miss this chance. It was less about I want this chance,

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Speaker 3: but more about, well, I can't let this chance go.

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Speaker 3: I'm going to have to say yes to that. Wow,

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Speaker 3: are they asking me to do that? Oh, I'm going

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Speaker 3: to have to say yes to that. The first time

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Speaker 3: as an actual professional that I set with my thoughts

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Speaker 3: and my heart and said, but what do you want

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Speaker 3: to do? Not just what's available to you, but what

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Speaker 3: do you want to do? And oh, by the way,

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Speaker 3: you don't get always to answer this question. One of

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Speaker 3: the greatest gifts in the ugliest package of my whole

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Speaker 3: life was that cancer, because it was the thing that

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Speaker 3: woke me up to the fact that I needed to

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Speaker 3: make a me choice there. And the choice I made

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Speaker 3: was to leave a very comfortable situation that I had

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Speaker 3: in a company that had shown me a lot of grace.

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Speaker 3: I'd gotten so many opportunities to grow while I was there.

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Speaker 3: I'd been able to achieve financial heightst I never even

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Speaker 3: imagined for myself, although I was a big dreamer. It

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Speaker 3: provided security not only for myself but also for other

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Speaker 3: family members that I was able to lift up and

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Speaker 3: send to school and all those things. And that cancer

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Speaker 3: said it's time for you.

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Speaker 2: To go and I'm like, where am I going? I

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Speaker 2: don't even know where I'm going.

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Speaker 3: I had been gainfully employed every day of my life

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Speaker 3: from my first job I worked. I was gainfully employed

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Speaker 3: throughout college, throughout law school, throughout law school. Again, I

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Speaker 3: had never had any window of time from the time

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Speaker 3: I got my first job that I was not gainful employed.

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Speaker 3: And I'm saying, I'm about to take a leap, and

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Speaker 3: I don't even know where I'm going. But if I

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Speaker 3: stayed at Walmart, if I waited until the right opportunity came,

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Speaker 3: I was not going to leave. And I knew that

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Speaker 3: I needed to leave.

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Speaker 2: So I leaped.

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Speaker 3: And I feel so privileged that I could make such

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Speaker 3: a choice. Most people don't get to make choices like

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Speaker 3: that without concern over whether or not their children are

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Speaker 3: going to be able to go to school, or what

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Speaker 3: kind of lives they're going to have. I knew that

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Speaker 3: I had the security where I could do that and

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Speaker 3: jump into the insecurity of what the future was going

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Speaker 3: to hold.

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Speaker 2: So I did. So I leaked, And.

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Speaker 1: You left just for the sole purpose of leaping.

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Speaker 3: I left because I knew in my bones that I

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Speaker 3: had the ability to be of greater service I'd asked

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Speaker 3: myself in the doctor's office when the doctor when the

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Speaker 3: pathology report came in, I remember, I'll never forget, of course,

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Speaker 3: when the doctor actually used those words and told me

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Speaker 3: that I had cancer, I remember that. In a split second,

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Speaker 3: I asked myself, what if the best thing I might

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Speaker 3: possibly do professionally were the best thing I could possibly

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Speaker 3: do at Walmart? Would that be okay? And my answer

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Speaker 3: was no? And that's why I leaked. Is I leapt

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Speaker 3: towards something in the nonprofit space. I didn't know where

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Speaker 3: I was going, but I knew it would be nonprofit.

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Speaker 2: That part I knew.

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Speaker 3: I knew that I was going to dedicate the rest

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Speaker 3: of me to service. I knew that it was going

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Speaker 3: to be somewhere in the nonprofit space. I knew that

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Speaker 3: I had certain passions, but I didn't know exactly where

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Speaker 3: it was going to go. I didn't have a job

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Speaker 3: offer or even job prospects. But I also, as I said,

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Speaker 3: I knew that if I didn't if I didn't leave,

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Speaker 3: I wouldn't leave. I find a way to justify staying.

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Speaker 3: So I needed to just go ahead and go, and

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Speaker 3: I did.

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Speaker 1: It's fascinating that you say that cancer was the best

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Speaker 1: gift you ever received in the ugliest package, but it

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Speaker 1: seemed to catapult you into this next incredible phase of

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Speaker 1: your life. Yes, and what a reward. Ultimately, absolutely, it

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Speaker 1: was kind of inevitable when you go through something like that,

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Speaker 1: it has such a massive impact on your life. It

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Speaker 1: changes how you approach life from that point on. I

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Speaker 1: mean today, what choices do you make to stay grounded

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Speaker 1: or present in your current life and not just to go, go,

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Speaker 1: go and do do do all the time?

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Speaker 2: Well, I go go, go a lot, and I do

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Speaker 2: do do a lot.

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Speaker 3: So I don't know if I'm actually the best person

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Speaker 3: to answer that question.

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Speaker 1: But what kind of self care do you do?

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Speaker 3: Well, what I can tell you I'll talk about self

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Speaker 3: care and then I'll tell you about the stuff that

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Speaker 3: energizes me. Right, But in terms of self care, there

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Speaker 3: been a number of moments when I have felt that

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Speaker 3: I needed to keep moving and my body has told me, no,

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Speaker 3: you don't, It's time to pause, and to know my

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Speaker 3: body well enough to know when it is time. And

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Speaker 3: the risk of disappointing people experiencing hunger, the risk of

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Speaker 3: not showing up for a partner who's out there on

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Speaker 3: the front lines trying to help. That's a hard thing

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Speaker 3: for me to say no too. But throughout the pandemic especially,

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Speaker 3: there were multiple moments when I had to say yes

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Speaker 3: to me, and in order to say yes to me

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Speaker 3: so that I could actually sleep that night rather than

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Speaker 3: get on another plane, I had to say not yet

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Speaker 3: to somebody else. So I love to read, I love

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Speaker 3: to walk, I love to dance. I love to sing.

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Speaker 3: I mentioned before, I'm not a great singer, but that

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Speaker 3: doesn't mean I don't try to sing.

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Speaker 1: That's so great. I love it that you don't think

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Speaker 1: you're very good, but you still love it.

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Speaker 3: Oh, I love it absolutely. The people around me don't

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Speaker 3: love it.

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Speaker 2: But I, on the other hand, I absolutely love it.

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Speaker 3: I love life. I love new people, new things. I

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Speaker 3: love to travel. So there's so many outlets that I

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Speaker 3: have that are restorative for me. And sometimes the only

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Speaker 3: one that I really need is a bath. Sometimes I

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Speaker 3: just need to stop, grab a candle mm hmm, and

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Speaker 3: go take a bath. Oh hot bath, bubbles.

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Speaker 2: Good and salts, salts and bubbles.

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Speaker 3: If I feel I've really earned it, these are the things.

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Speaker 2: These are the things.

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Speaker 1: Oh, I love all those ideas for people tell me,

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Speaker 1: how did you come to working with Feeding America.

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Speaker 3: Wow, So I'm going to go back to Walmart for

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Speaker 3: just a flash, right, So, and well, I'll go back

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Speaker 3: one step farther than that. I've always known about Feeding

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Speaker 3: America since it started. My parents, as you might imagine,

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00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,679
Speaker 3: were community leaders. As a consequence, Feeding America works inside

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Speaker 3: of local communities all across the country. My parents knew

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Speaker 3: where the needs were in the little hometown of mine

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Speaker 3: of Aplusis, Louisiana, and Feeding America, the Feeding America food

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Speaker 3: bank that serves a Kadiana, which is where Appolusis is,

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Speaker 3: would actually partner with my parents to do distributions from

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Speaker 3: our house.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I never imagined that. Fast forward.

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Speaker 3: They were called America's Second Harvest at the time, I

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00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,520
Speaker 3: never imagined that I'd be doing this. So I always

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Speaker 3: knew about Being America. When I was at Walmart, I

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Speaker 3: was on the foundation board. While on the Foundation Board,

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Speaker 3: I got to know Feeding America more intimately because we

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Speaker 3: were a major investor in Feeding America's work. We provided

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Speaker 3: a lot of food and as well as funds. So

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Speaker 3: I got to know it that way there and I

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Speaker 3: had a conversation with a lady by the name of

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Speaker 3: Kathleen McLaughlin, and she had just joined Walmart. And I

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Speaker 3: had a practice whenever a new member of the team

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Speaker 3: when women joined the officer group at Feeding America, I

357
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 3: always reached out and took them out to breakfast or

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Speaker 3: to lunch or something. So here we are having lunch

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Speaker 3: and she's brand new, and she said she talked about

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Speaker 3: what she's doing. By now, I do not have any

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Speaker 3: idea that I'm going to have cancer, but I'm having

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Speaker 3: this conversation with her, and she's talking about what she

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Speaker 3: was going to do. And I said, you know, the

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Speaker 3: fascinating thing is if I had to guess what I

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00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,919
Speaker 3: would do with my career, it would be more like

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Speaker 3: what you're doing than what I'm doing. And she said, really,

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Speaker 3: told about my family history, told about what I thought

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Speaker 3: I was going to do with my life, etc.

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Speaker 2: Etc.

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Speaker 3: I thought that conversation was in the past. That's whyried

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00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,879
Speaker 3: I leave Walmart. Years later and I got a phone

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Speaker 3: call from a recruiter and the recruiter said, we are

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Speaker 3: hiring for the CEO of Feeding America. And there's a

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Speaker 3: lady from Walmart. Her name is Kathleen McLoughlin and she

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Speaker 3: told us that we should really find you and talk

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Speaker 3: to you about this opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Wow, like what look at your breakfast? Your outreach to

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Speaker 1: the new employee paid off.

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Speaker 2: We paid off.

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Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, did to pay off. And I consistently

381
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Speaker 3: tell her anytime something powerful and wonderful happens with Feeding America,

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Speaker 3: I consistently say a little prayer for Kathleen, and I

383
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Speaker 3: send her a text messages saying, I'm really feeling grateful

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Speaker 3: to you today. I'm really feeling grateful because she just

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Speaker 3: she remembered what I said and she felt it, and

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Speaker 3: then she was in a room that I was not in,

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Speaker 3: and she lent her credibility to me in that moment,

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Speaker 3: and the rest is kind of history.

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Speaker 2: Now here I am.

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Speaker 3: I've been here for over six years, and what started

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00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:56,159
Speaker 3: with that casual breaking of bread with a new person

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00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 3: has translated into the greatest opportunity for service I've ever

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Speaker 3: had in my life.

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Speaker 1: That is incredible. How many people in the US are

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Speaker 1: suffering from food insecurity.

396
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Speaker 3: At close to fifty million people.

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Speaker 1: That's hard to even wrap your mind around.

398
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Speaker 3: Nearly fourteen million children.

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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, that's one in five children.

400
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Speaker 3: Yes, it's that I mean and both The most tragic

401
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,080
Speaker 3: part about it, the thing that breaks my heart about

402
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 3: it and that also gives me hopes, gives me hope,

403
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,320
Speaker 3: is the same thing, which is we could solve it.

404
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,680
Speaker 3: It's actually not one of those things that you'll never

405
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 3: be able to wrap your arms or you'll never be

406
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,440
Speaker 3: able to solve. No, no, no, no, we can solve this.

407
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:56,160
Speaker 3: This country has more than enough food to feed every

408
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Speaker 3: single person. We waste so much food, We throw away

409
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 3: so much food. Being America is actually the largest food

410
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 3: waste recovery organization in the whole United States of America,

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Speaker 3: and we're only recovering about a little over four billion pounds.

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Speaker 3: Now that's a lot of food, right it is. Where

413
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 3: do you recover it from? Oh, we recover it from

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00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,040
Speaker 3: the relationships that we have with all kinds of great organizations.

415
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,159
Speaker 3: So every major retailer in the United States has a

416
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Speaker 3: relationship with Feeding America, through which rather than throw away

417
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,560
Speaker 3: perfectly edible food, they donate that food to us. Every

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00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:45,960
Speaker 3: major food manufacturer in the United States has a relationship

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Speaker 3: with Feeding America. So if you can imagine, let's say

420
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Speaker 3: you're General Mills, who happens to be one of a

421
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 3: great supporter of ours in many ways. Let's say your

422
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 3: General Mills and you go to a town and the

423
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:03,479
Speaker 3: cheerio boxes are bent right perfectly at able ceios. We

424
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,920
Speaker 3: actually have an app that the driver of that that

425
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,399
Speaker 3: of that truck can use to say, to find a

426
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 3: food bank that's close to them that they can deliver

427
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 3: that food too rather than get going to waste. So

428
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,400
Speaker 3: that's the way that we do. We have these beautiful

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Speaker 3: relationships all across the country with partners who are also

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00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 3: committed both to resolving issues around waste and making certain

431
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,880
Speaker 3: people in communities get access to food. So that's one

432
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,359
Speaker 3: of the ways that we that we engage with people.

433
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 3: That's one of the things that we do that I

434
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 3: find so so powerful is when you're solving for food

435
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 3: and security, it's an interesting thing in a really powerful

436
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,840
Speaker 3: and beautiful way. There are so many things that you

437
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:53,879
Speaker 3: solve for when you solve for food and security. Right,

438
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,359
Speaker 3: so you can solve for climate by participating in the

439
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,159
Speaker 3: work that we do, because you can make certain that

440
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 3: food doesn't go to landfills, but instead the way that

441
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,200
Speaker 3: we're talking about it. We even have a challenge going

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00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,879
Speaker 3: on right now, which is the food rescue challenge, and

443
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,359
Speaker 3: the way that we're phrasing it is from access to

444
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,520
Speaker 3: access right and you get to participate in something I

445
00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,440
Speaker 3: get to be a part of that that does that.

446
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,439
Speaker 3: But we also get donated foods directly, We buy a

447
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 3: lot of food. We participate a lot in federal commodities

448
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 3: programs where farmers, growers, and producers in the United States

449
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,400
Speaker 3: make certain that people here get access to the food

450
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,639
Speaker 3: that they need to thrive. So lots of different outlets

451
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 3: for and outreach. That helps to support the network that

452
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 3: I'm a part of.

453
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:40,920
Speaker 2: And we need more.

454
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:46,719
Speaker 3: The lines, unfortunately, have continued to grow. That usually is

455
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:52,880
Speaker 3: shocking to people. Most people think that the highest rate

456
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 3: of food and security in this country over the last

457
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,120
Speaker 3: several years would have been during the peak of the pandemic.

458
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,480
Speaker 3: But that's not true. During the pandemic, we as a

459
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 3: nation had an awareness of food and security because those

460
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 3: lines were so long on the outsides of buildings. Now

461
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 3: the lines have gone back to the insides of buildings,

462
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 3: and people they think they've gone away. The food and

463
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 3: security rates have gone up because we've actually lowered the

464
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 3: amount of resources that are available. So it's been it's

465
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 3: been a real challenge, and yet I see resiliency everywhere

466
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 3: I go. I see my goodness. I'm so inspired by,

467
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:34,400
Speaker 3: especially by people experiencing hunger with the heroes that they are.

468
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 3: The way that these moms making a way out of

469
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:42,640
Speaker 3: no way, the sacrifices they make, how hard they work

470
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,280
Speaker 3: to make certain that their kids get the things that

471
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 3: you and I want for ours, It's really inspirational.

472
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 1: It really is. I mean, with so many people though

473
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 1: needing help. I think you talked about does it ever

474
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:02,280
Speaker 1: become overwhelming for you? Like, do you ever just pan?

475
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,719
Speaker 1: I can say I can't do it all and I

476
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,120
Speaker 1: want to do it all. I mean, I can't imagine

477
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: that that's hard to confront, to deal with.

478
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 3: Oh, of course there are moments, of course there are.

479
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,480
Speaker 3: I in fact, I remember having the good news is

480
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,639
Speaker 3: nobody is expecting me to do it all except me.

481
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 2: Sometimes.

482
00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 3: There's so many people, i'd say hundreds of thousands of

483
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 3: people across the country who step up to do this

484
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,359
Speaker 3: work as a part of the anti funder community. But

485
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,720
Speaker 3: I do remember my father. My mother died eleven years ago,

486
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:44,640
Speaker 3: and my father died two years ago in December, and

487
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:50,919
Speaker 3: his last illness was dementia, and I won't forget that.

488
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 3: This is the guy that I went to defiantly and

489
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,239
Speaker 3: told him at twelve, when I don't think a lot

490
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 3: of people would have bet on my ability to become

491
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 3: a lawyer. When he, without hesitation, said that he knew

492
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 3: I would that guy. I returned to him and he

493
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 3: seemed to be sleeping, and I was really I visited

494
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 3: him every month during the pandemic. I found a way

495
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,919
Speaker 3: to get there to Opelousi's. So I was in his

496
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,240
Speaker 3: room and I thought he was sleeping, and I said, Daddy,

497
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:30,399
Speaker 3: I just don't know what to do. I mean, this

498
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,680
Speaker 3: is a lot, you know, people are counting on me.

499
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 3: How how am I going to step up? Am I

500
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,960
Speaker 3: am I able to do this? And I didn't know

501
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,680
Speaker 3: he was awake, and he opened his eyes, and of

502
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 3: all moments for him to be lucid, it was that moment.

503
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 3: And he looked over at me, and I was sitting

504
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 3: next to his bed, and he said, do you do

505
00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:01,720
Speaker 3: you just just be you clar call me Clarice, just

506
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:08,080
Speaker 3: be so. Yes, those moments come, but after that moment,

507
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,920
Speaker 3: I can hear him say it to me. And remember

508
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 3: I said, he's one of the smartest people I've ever known. Figure,

509
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 3: if he thinks I can do it, there must be

510
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 3: something inside of me that he saw and surely it's

511
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,200
Speaker 3: still there. So I can go do this.

512
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: M believing in yourself. Yeah, it's hard to do sometimes,

513
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 1: but it's the key. It is how can people get involved?

514
00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 3: So one way is to donate, right they can go

515
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 3: to Feeding America dot org and there they can find

516
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 3: ways to donate. They can donate at the national level,

517
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,520
Speaker 3: or they can donate at the local level, or they

518
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 3: can do both. If they only have room for one,

519
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,240
Speaker 3: I would say, donate it the community that means the

520
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:05,040
Speaker 3: most to you. On Feeding America dot org there's actually

521
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 3: a food bank locator and you just punch in the

522
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 3: zip code of the community that you care the most about,

523
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,480
Speaker 3: and up will pop up a food bank that's serving

524
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 3: that community. I know that to be true because Feeding

525
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 3: America this network serves every single county and parish in

526
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 3: the wholy United States of America and Puerto Rico. So

527
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 3: we are there in that community that you care about.

528
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:32,040
Speaker 3: So you can donate, you can advocate, you can use

529
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 3: your voices to say that this matters, that you care

530
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 3: about it. You can make certain that policy makers know

531
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:41,600
Speaker 3: if this is one of the things that you feel

532
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 3: that we ought to be united on, not divided about.

533
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,480
Speaker 3: And you can volunteer. Oh my goodness, you talked about

534
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 3: it earlier. But what feels better than to know for

535
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 3: a fact, especially in moments when so many things feel

536
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 3: like they're outside of our control, that you can roll

537
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,800
Speaker 3: your sleeves up and you can be helpful, you can

538
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 3: be of service, right, and you can. And I have

539
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 3: an expression I use and maybe someone else used it

540
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 3: before me, but the giver receives, and it's true, the

541
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,000
Speaker 3: giver receives. There's a special way that I feel a

542
00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 3: special unity in community that I feel that I only

543
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 3: feel when I've got my sleeves rolled up, and I

544
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 3: only feel when I'm out there volunteering. So you can donate,

545
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 3: you can advocate, and you can volunteer, and you can

546
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 3: find ways to do all three by going to Feeding

547
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 3: America dot orgy dot Orgie.

548
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 1: That's right. The work you're doing is phenomenal. So grateful

549
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,000
Speaker 1: to know you and be a small tiny part of

550
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 1: helping the cause. Before I let you go, Claire, I

551
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 1: would like to know what was your last I choose

552
00:31:58,280 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 1: me moment.

553
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:07,000
Speaker 4: Oh, you know what, it was probably last night, and

554
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,560
Speaker 4: maybe this isn't a great one, right, but you know,

555
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:12,200
Speaker 4: I had been traveling.

556
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,959
Speaker 3: I just got back from Atlanta, where I had an

557
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,240
Speaker 3: opportunity to go out and thank one of our real

558
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 3: big donors, investors in our work. And I was tired,

559
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 3: and I'd already eaten way more than I should. But

560
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:27,560
Speaker 3: I got home and as I opened the door. I

561
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 3: live in Chicago, that's where we're based, primarily opened the

562
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:36,760
Speaker 3: door and this aroma hit me. It was gumbo in Chicago,

563
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 3: in Chicago, and my husband was in the kitchen cooking it,

564
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 3: and I'm thinking, I'm not even hungry. But you know what,

565
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,600
Speaker 3: choosing me was choosing to eat a bowl of that

566
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 3: gumbo last night. And I did and it was fabulous,

567
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 3: and I thank my husband, Barry Fontno, for preparing it.

568
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,320
Speaker 3: And every now and then, every now and then, I

569
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 3: have found choosing me can be something really big, like

570
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:11,000
Speaker 3: choosing to dedicate my talents to an organization like Feeding America,

571
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 3: or could be something really small like lighting a candle

572
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 3: or listening to music or singing, or on a night

573
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 3: like last night, there was something extra special about choosing

574
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 3: that bowl.

575
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:23,840
Speaker 1: Of gumboats the gumbo.

576
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 2: It was the gumbo. It was the gumbo.

577
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,080
Speaker 1: I really loved our conversation. Thank you. I hope that

578
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 1: everybody listening I feel the same way as I do.

579
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,440
Speaker 1: I feel hopeful, I feel some sort of piece in

580
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 1: knowing that you are leading this charge because you are

581
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:42,000
Speaker 1: truly a gift.

582
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:47,000
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate you and everything

583
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 3: you do, and thank you to your audience and everything

584
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 3: they're already doing, solvable challenges that we can do together.

585
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:54,880
Speaker 3: I'm glad to be a part of it too.

586
00:33:55,200 --> 00:34:01,920
Speaker 1: Thank you, Claire, Thank you. Wow. FACA to Claire is

587
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,760
Speaker 1: so inspiring. I just I love how much passion she

588
00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,840
Speaker 1: has for her life and all the wonderful work that

589
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 1: she's doing with Feeding America, helping so many people. If

590
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,320
Speaker 1: you want to volunteer donate to Feing America, I highly

591
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 1: suggest it. We'll be sure to leave their info in

592
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:22,840
Speaker 1: our show notes. As we continue to choose ourselves each week,

593
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:27,400
Speaker 1: I want to challenge you to making a difference in

594
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,560
Speaker 1: someone else's life this holiday season. There are so many

595
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,880
Speaker 1: incredible organizations out there, and this time of year people

596
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 1: can really use a helping hand. So whether it's volunteering

597
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 1: at a food bank, or collecting canned goods, or even

598
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,359
Speaker 1: just cleaning out your closet and donating some of your

599
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,680
Speaker 1: clothes or blankets that you're no longer using. Let's all

600
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 1: just take some time to think about it this week,

601
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,800
Speaker 1: and let's do something. Let's give back to those around

602
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,160
Speaker 1: us who could use some help, because when we choose

603
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:59,840
Speaker 1: to give back to others, we're also choosing to acknowledge

604
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 1: our our own blessings and practice gratitude. Thanks for listening

605
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 1: to I Choose Me. You can check out all of

606
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,920
Speaker 1: our social links in our show notes. Make sure to

607
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,399
Speaker 1: spread some holiday cheer, and rate us and review us,

608
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,560
Speaker 1: and use the hashtag I Choose Me whenever you feel

609
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,319
Speaker 1: like it. I will be right here next week. I

610
00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 1: hope you'll choose to be here too,