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Speaker 1: That was our goal when we started to just give

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Speaker 1: twenty five kids that maybe were in need or had

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Speaker 1: a hard time a birthday. And we just celebrated our

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Speaker 1: five year anniversary and have served a little over six thousand.

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Speaker 2: Now welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney.

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Speaker 2: I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, a father, an entrepreneur,

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Speaker 2: and I've been a football coach in inner City Memphis.

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Speaker 2: And that last part it somehow led to an oscar

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Speaker 2: for the film about our team. That movie is called Undefeated. Y'all.

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Speaker 2: I believe our country's problems will never be solved by

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Speaker 2: a bunch of fancy people in nice suits using big

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Speaker 2: words that nobody ever uses on CNN and Fox, but

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Speaker 2: rather by an army of normal folks, US just you

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Speaker 2: and me deciding, Hey, maybe I can help. That's what

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Speaker 2: Belinda Lato the voice we just heard is done. Belinda

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Speaker 2: never dreamt of starting at birthday charity and tool. She

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Speaker 2: was challenged with the opportunity to provide one for a

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Speaker 2: boy who wouldn't otherwise have had one, and five years later,

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Speaker 2: celebrate birthdays and their own army of normal folks have

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Speaker 2: helped to provide birthday celebrations to over six thousand kids.

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Speaker 2: I cannot wait for you to meet Belinda right after

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Speaker 2: these brief messages from our general sponsors, Belinda Lato, welcome

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Speaker 2: to Memphis.

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Speaker 3: Thank you so much.

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Speaker 2: You know, Alex usually flies all of our guests in

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Speaker 2: and you're from Tampa.

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Speaker 3: I am, and he made you drive. It didn't make

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Speaker 3: me weak.

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Speaker 2: He made you drive. Are we running low on funds?

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Speaker 2: Listen to all listeners. We need more support because apparently

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Speaker 2: we're having guests drive to Memphis from Dampa. Yah, why'd

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Speaker 2: you decide to drive?

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Speaker 1: You know, when we started this charity five years ago,

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Speaker 1: it was a little bit difficult. It started right before COVID,

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Speaker 1: and then I had my dad ill with me. He

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Speaker 1: wound up passing away a few years ago. So we

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Speaker 1: truly haven't been on a vacation or gotten out of

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Speaker 1: our place for five years, and so I felt like

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Speaker 1: I just needed a break.

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Speaker 2: So this was an excuse to an excuse to get so.

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Speaker 2: And so you also brought this dude over here with you, Michael, Yes,

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Speaker 2: Michael Russell. Michael Russell, what's a story on Michael Russell?

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Speaker 2: This guy, this guy sitting behind you over there, who

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Speaker 2: apparently drove with you from Dampa.

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Speaker 1: He did an he helped, We took turns. But he's

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Speaker 1: been an amazing guy to me. A quick story. We

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Speaker 1: actually dated when we were seventeen years old and we

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Speaker 1: were CNA's at the time, before we both went into

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Speaker 1: the medical.

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Speaker 3: Career, and so we kind of lost touch with each other.

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Speaker 1: He moved his way, he had to leave and go

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Speaker 1: down to watch jul and I stayed in Tampa. And

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Speaker 1: it was the craziest thing because we both got remarried,

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Speaker 1: we both had you know, children, and wound up I

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Speaker 1: guess getting back together again about thirty years twenty some

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Speaker 1: years later. And so yeah, now we're together. It's been

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Speaker 1: about five years. We're engaged, and yeah, it's amazing.

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Speaker 2: He must be a good one to get in a

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Speaker 2: car and drop from Tampa to Memphis with you.

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Speaker 3: He's a good one period.

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Speaker 2: Yes, all right, Michael, I get you give me twenty

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Speaker 2: bucks after the show for you know, plugging you. Okay,

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Speaker 2: Venmo's good, all right? And so actually, you guys, Drew

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Speaker 2: drove past Memphis, you went to Branson.

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Speaker 3: We did. We did a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Was like, oh my gosh, amazing. You know, they have

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Speaker 1: those glow bugs that light up. We don't get that

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Speaker 1: in Florida. So I was so in awe of just

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Speaker 1: the peace and the nature of Branson. It was amazing.

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Speaker 1: And Memphis has been wonderful, too.

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Speaker 2: Good for you. So you used an opportunity to appear

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Speaker 2: here with us. Is just a little road trip, good

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Speaker 2: for you. So in hindsight, Alex wasn't being.

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Speaker 3: Cheap, not at all. He's a great guy.

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Speaker 2: Well, let's not go too far. He just wasn't being cheap, Okay,

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Speaker 2: all right? So what's your birthday?

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Speaker 3: September nineteenth?

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Speaker 2: Really?

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Speaker 1: Yes? Why is it close to yours?

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Speaker 2: I have a let's see Lisa's September eighteenth, my wife, Oh,

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Speaker 2: my son is the seventeenth, and my father in law

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Speaker 2: is the nineteenth.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we're all virgos.

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Speaker 2: All of you virgos. And I'm May thirty one, so

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Speaker 2: I'm a virgo too, got it? All right? So September nineteenth, Michael,

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Speaker 2: what's your birthday? Eleven nine? Alex? What's your birthday? Seventeen?

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Speaker 2: But January seventeen one? Seventeenth? Cassius January twenty fourth, I'm

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Speaker 2: eight twenty four. What is your favorite recollection of a birthday?

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Speaker 1: Yours mine personally, I have so many, most of them.

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Speaker 2: Your favorite one, top one?

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Speaker 3: Gosh, that's so hard.

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Speaker 2: Okay, give me one of the top ones.

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Speaker 1: I'll give you one of the top ones. I am

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Speaker 1: a huge fan and don't touch me of Chuck E Cheese.

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Speaker 1: I love Chuck E Cheese. I think it's like the

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Speaker 1: best thing ever. And so I remember a Chuck E

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Speaker 1: Cheese party that I had and I went with.

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Speaker 2: How were you? Oh gosh, I must have been thirty three,

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Speaker 2: I'm kidding.

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Speaker 3: No, you ask him. Yeah, I like to go there

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Speaker 3: for my birthday.

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Speaker 1: And I actually did a tradition with my son when

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Speaker 1: he was one year old. Every day every year on

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Speaker 1: his birthday, no matter what day it was, we would

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Speaker 1: go to Chuck E Cheese and celebrate. So I have

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Speaker 1: all the little photos from the photo booth from one

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Speaker 1: to eighteen with Chucky.

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Speaker 3: It was so amazing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is starting to come completely together. Why you

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Speaker 2: would take a road trip to Branson? But go ahead, So, Jackie,

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Speaker 2: what's your howld were you? What's your favorite Chucky Cheese?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Obviously in Tampa, Florida, I got to the one on

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Speaker 1: North till Mabory Highway.

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Speaker 3: But really, seriously.

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Speaker 1: I think that's one of my favorite places to go,

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Speaker 1: and I remember having a birthday there.

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Speaker 2: So I was thinking about it preparing to talk to you, Belinda,

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Speaker 2: And my favorite birthday I remember. I remember in Memphis

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Speaker 2: used to be a summer twin drive in, which was

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Speaker 2: a drive in. You know, we drove in. I don't

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Speaker 2: even think there are drive ins anymore, which is a

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Speaker 2: shame for my age kids. But we loaded up a

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Speaker 2: car of six of my friends and mom. Back when

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Speaker 2: grocery bags were paper, she cooked popcorn so much that

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Speaker 2: we filled up two huge grocery bags popcorn, and we

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Speaker 2: went to the drive in. And the drive in always

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Speaker 2: had two movies, and we packed cokes and popcorn and stuff,

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Speaker 2: and the five me and four my buddies and my

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Speaker 2: mom and we piled in a car and ate popcorn

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Speaker 2: and watch movies. And I just remember being a blast.

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Speaker 2: And I mean, that's really insignificant, except that I celebrated

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Speaker 2: my birthday and it was fun, and I get it.

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Speaker 2: And it's funny to see you light up talk about

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Speaker 2: check e cheese. You loved it.

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Speaker 3: I did, I do, right?

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Speaker 2: And it is sad that there are kids in the

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Speaker 2: world who their birthday comes and goes, and I don't

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Speaker 2: even hear so much as happy birthday.

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Speaker 1: You know, I've lived in Tampa floor in my whole life,

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Speaker 1: and I never knew that it was happening in my

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Speaker 1: own backyard. Like I just never knew it. I would

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Speaker 1: have done something sooner if I had, so. I think

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Speaker 1: I was shocked more than anything when I found out

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Speaker 1: that there were kids that hadn't celebrated. Now we've seen plenty,

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Speaker 1: but yes, very sad, and it's something that I feel

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Speaker 1: like should never ever happen.

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Speaker 2: So spoiler alert. Belinda Letto is the co founder of

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Speaker 2: a thing called Celebrate Birthdays, which is why we're talking

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Speaker 2: about birthdays. And I hope all of our listeners The

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Speaker 2: whole reason I did what I just did was, you know,

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Speaker 2: I hope all of our listeners are also recollecting about

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Speaker 2: their birthday times, and you know how special it is,

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Speaker 2: especially as a kid coming up. I don't know, I'm

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Speaker 2: fifty five now. I pretty much run from birthdays because

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Speaker 2: they're just one more tick closer to death. I think,

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Speaker 2: if that's not too ridiculous, but it's still a day

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Speaker 2: we all get together and celebrate somebody, and so they're good.

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Speaker 2: So let's go back because we'll talk about what you do.

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Speaker 2: But how'd you grow up? Tell me where you came from.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I had a wonderful life growing up. Honestly, I

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Speaker 1: couldn't have asked for a better life as a child.

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Speaker 1: My parents were amazing. My mom and my dad were

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Speaker 1: together for many years to celebrate their twenty fifth wedding anniversary,

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Speaker 1: and my dad decided that he didn't want to be

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Speaker 1: married anymore. The coolest thing though about that, and I

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Speaker 1: didn't do well with it. I didn't speak to my

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Speaker 1: dad for almost a year, but my mom and my

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Speaker 1: dad stayed friends after and so every Christmas, every holiday,

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Speaker 1: I was able to have both my mom and my

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Speaker 1: dad together. And it was the most mature and the

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Speaker 1: most responsible thing that my parents could have done for

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Speaker 1: me as a child growing up. And so I was

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Speaker 1: sixteen when they divorced. But I really had a wonderful upbringing.

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Speaker 1: I never had to ask for much. I was actually

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Speaker 1: going the quite contrary, probably spoiled a little bit and

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Speaker 1: had more than I ever needed, to be truthful with you,

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Speaker 1: and so now I feel like that's why it's so

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Speaker 1: important to give back. I wish I would have seen

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Speaker 1: that sooner, learned that sooner, and been able to do

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Speaker 1: more sooner. And I wish the same for me showing

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Speaker 1: my children that. But we're doing it now and I'll

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Speaker 1: always stop doing it for the rest of my life.

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Speaker 3: I feel like I found my purpose.

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Speaker 2: So you grow up, you end up becoming a nurse, right, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: so what kind of nurse.

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Speaker 1: I'm a regular nurse or registered nurse. I started school

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Speaker 1: when I was young. When I was twenty years old,

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Speaker 1: didn't quite know what I wanted to do. At that time.

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Speaker 1: I was a single mom with a child, and so

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Speaker 1: I just had to make a decision to do a trade.

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Speaker 1: I always knew I like to help people, and so

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Speaker 1: I became a nurse, and once I did, I loved

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Speaker 1: becoming a nurse. And it's yeah, I've done it for

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Speaker 1: twenty two years now.

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Speaker 2: You like a kid nurse or an er nurse.

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Speaker 1: No, I'm a home health nurse. So we go out

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Speaker 1: to people's homes, we go out to facilities and just

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Speaker 1: treat them there so they can stay as independent as

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Speaker 1: we can possibly keep them.

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Speaker 2: Is home health nursing? Does that serve all manner of people?

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Speaker 2: Or is it more ended? I mean what is what

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Speaker 2: is a home health nurse day?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it can serve there's different types. We are Medicare

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Speaker 1: home health so predominantly what we serve as a lot

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Speaker 1: of our geriatric community, but we also have children in

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Speaker 1: home health that they're at home, they have traits, what

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Speaker 1: have your parents are trying to care for them, and

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Speaker 1: home health goes in and helps them to maintain that

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Speaker 1: level of staying at home. So it encompasses a wide

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Speaker 1: variety of patients and ages.

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Speaker 2: Honestly, all right, So you grew up in a loving family.

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Speaker 3: I did.

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Speaker 2: Even when it broke, it was still loving. Yes, you

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Speaker 2: go on, you become a nurse, You've got your sons,

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Speaker 2: and I mean, honestly, you're living a good life. But

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Speaker 2: largely really and I don't mean this wrong, but unremarkable.

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Speaker 2: You're just doing your thing.

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Speaker 1: That's it.

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Speaker 2: And then one day you and your buddy Selena Saunders,

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Speaker 2: I think because.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I met her in nursing school, believe it or not.

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Speaker 1: I was in the front of the class and I

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Speaker 1: was super excitable. They said, find a partner you can

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Speaker 1: kind of do this project with, and Selena was like

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Speaker 1: way in the back in the corner, and I.

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Speaker 3: Was like, oh, I'll go talk to her.

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Speaker 1: And so I got up and I mosied on over

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Speaker 1: and I was like, do you want to be my partner?

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Speaker 1: And she was like okay, And so that's kind of

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Speaker 1: how we started, and we've been friends ever since.

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Speaker 2: I've known you all of about fifteen minutes. But I

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Speaker 2: don't think I would be at all surprise that you

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Speaker 2: just went across the room and said hello to somebody. Michael.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't seem like she has heart time making friends. Yeah, clearly. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: if everybody could see this, it's just this bright, big,

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Speaker 2: sweet grin humble into his face, and it's been there

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Speaker 2: since I walked in. And I don't think it has

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Speaker 2: anything to do with me. I think it's just your

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Speaker 2: normal affect.

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Speaker 3: You're pretty cool too, So.

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Speaker 2: Tell me what happened and what called you to action

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Speaker 2: and why.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So we were doing a project called Angel Tree

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Speaker 1: through our local church, and you go out at the

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Speaker 1: holiday time and you just serve people who have either

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Speaker 1: a daughter or an an and a father somebody in jail,

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Speaker 1: and on behalf of that incarcerated person, you give presents

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Speaker 1: at Christmas time to their children.

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Speaker 2: Hold it. That's cool. Yeah, that's not what you do,

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Speaker 2: but hold it. So you're saying, if somebody's in jail

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Speaker 2: and they have loved ones outside of jail, you go

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Speaker 2: visit the family of the incarcerated person outside of jail

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Speaker 2: on their behalfs Well, how do you find the people

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Speaker 2: in the jail, Well.

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Speaker 1: We go through the church, and so the church has

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Speaker 1: these names and who they are and kind of what

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Speaker 1: they need and what the kid wrote to the parent

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Speaker 1: that they would like. And then I'm not sure the

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Speaker 1: relationship between the jail and the Angel Tree people. They're

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Speaker 1: another amazing charity, but that's how I went out and

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Speaker 1: did this project through my church, and so yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: just an amazing.

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Speaker 2: So like you're bringing gifts to children.

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Speaker 3: Of an incorucerated person.

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Speaker 2: And the adults are trying to let their children know

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Speaker 2: even though I'm stuck here, I'm thinking about you. That's

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Speaker 2: kind of beautiful in and of itself.

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Speaker 1: That's really neat.

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Speaker 2: And now a few messages from our general sponsors. But first,

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Speaker 2: the Army currently has thirty four premium members and we're

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Speaker 2: hoping to grow it to one hundred, and we hope

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Speaker 2: you'd be open to becoming one. By becoming one for

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00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:11,679
Speaker 2: ten bucks a month or one thousand dollars a year,

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00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,920
Speaker 2: you can get access to cool benefits like bonus episodes,

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Speaker 2: a yearly group call, and even a one on one

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Speaker 2: call with me. You're so lucky. But frankly, guys, premium

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Speaker 2: memberships really are about helping us to grow this army

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Speaker 2: that we believe our country desperately needs right now. So

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Speaker 2: I hope you'll think about it. We'll be right back.

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Speaker 1: So we went out and we visited several people on

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Speaker 1: a Sunday, and Selena was with me, and the last

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Speaker 1: stop that we went to was a seventy three year

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Speaker 1: old grandmother. Her daughter had been incarcerated and she was

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Speaker 1: in charge of three grandchildren.

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Speaker 3: Wow, they were all under the age of eight.

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Speaker 1: And I'll just be very transparent with everyone.

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Speaker 3: They had no shoes on, they had bookies, they had.

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Speaker 2: They had no shoes on them, what like boogies.

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Speaker 1: Coming down out of their nose. They had diapers like

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Speaker 1: they just you know, no clothes like.

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Speaker 3: They were really struggling.

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Speaker 1: And it was my first side, but I had never

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Speaker 1: really been privy to that, and so my heart was

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Speaker 1: already just full just from seeing this grandma trying and

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Speaker 1: take care of these three grandchildren and knowing that she

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Speaker 1: was struggling, and so they were so thankful. I got

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Speaker 1: on the floor, I played with the kids and they

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Speaker 1: It was just such a wonderful moment in itself. And

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Speaker 1: when we got ready to leave, that grandmother said to us, listen,

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Speaker 1: you guys have done so much and I'm so grateful.

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Speaker 1: But Jonathan is going to be eight in January. Do

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Speaker 1: you guys know anybody that can maybe help them with

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Speaker 1: my help me give him a birthday. We're not going

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Speaker 1: to have money to buy a cake or to do anything.

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Speaker 1: And I remember looking at Selena, and Selena looked at

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Speaker 1: me and I said, you know what, I don't, but

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Speaker 1: I'll get back with you and we'll see what we

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Speaker 1: can find. And so, in quite honesty, that's the way

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Speaker 1: it kind of started. I made some phone calls on

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Speaker 1: the Monday to our social services in our county and

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Speaker 1: just trying to see if there was a service that

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Speaker 1: could help with his grandma's birthday, and I realized that

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Speaker 1: there wasn't anything. I called the county. The county told

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Speaker 1: me to call the city called the city. City told

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Speaker 1: me to call a nonprofit. I had no idea what

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Speaker 1: nonprofit to call. And so that's really where I feel

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Speaker 1: like the Lord laid this on my heart because I

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Speaker 1: knew that this kid was not going to be able

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Speaker 1: to have a birthday probably, and I was just like, gosh,

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Speaker 1: I wonder does this happen to other kids? Like I

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Speaker 1: literally just felt like God placed this on my heart,

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Speaker 1: and from there I started to just kind of look

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Speaker 1: around more and research. I remember calling a foster care

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Speaker 1: group home out of the blue, literally and just asking, Hey,

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Speaker 1: what do you do for your foster kids for birthdays?

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Speaker 3: Do you guys sell break them?

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Speaker 1: And I remember them saying, well, we don't really have

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Speaker 1: a budget for birthdays. We do the best that we

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Speaker 1: can do with what we have, but we don't really

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Speaker 1: have a budget. And by this time I was really

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Speaker 1: feeling like, oh gosh, I need to do something. But

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Speaker 1: then I was arguing with the Lord as well. I

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Speaker 1: remember I remember saying, you've chosen the wrong person. I'm

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Speaker 1: a mom, I'm a nurse, I'm busy, my dad is sick.

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Speaker 1: Like this isn't like you've chosen the wrong person. And

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Speaker 1: I just remember going back and forth in my head

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Speaker 1: like I have to do something, like what if there's

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Speaker 1: more kids and the more and more I started looking

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Speaker 1: the more and more I realized, oh my gosh, like,

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Speaker 1: there's lots of kids. And so I remember sitting around

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Speaker 1: with some friends and family at a table and just saying, like, guys,

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Speaker 1: we need to do something like should we create a

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Speaker 1: little team, maybe we can bless twenty five children. And

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Speaker 1: so that was our goal when we started to just

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Speaker 1: give twenty five kids that maybe were in need or

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Speaker 1: had a hard time a birthday. And I'll know you'll

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Speaker 1: go in order, probably, but I'll just fast forward. We

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Speaker 1: just celebrated our five year anniversary and have served a

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Speaker 1: little over six thousand now, and so wow, what an

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Speaker 1: amazing and incredible experience and journey I have been on.

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Speaker 2: Why do you care?

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Speaker 1: Why wouldn't you care? I mean, these kids light up

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Speaker 1: with joy, they're happy. They're not your kids, it doesn't matter.

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Speaker 1: They're children, They're God's children, They're all of our children. Really,

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Speaker 1: isn't that what community's about? Well, so yeah, I get

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Speaker 1: emotional because it's just something that means so very much

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Speaker 1: to me, and I feel like it's my purpose here

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Speaker 1: to make sure that every child has this experience, that

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Speaker 1: they have this joy, that they know that they're loved,

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Speaker 1: and even if their situation at home is bad, even

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Speaker 1: if they're abused, if they're neglected, if they go through trauma.

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Speaker 3: They still deserve to be loved.

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Speaker 1: And so if we can bring them that joy and

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Speaker 1: that happiness, even if for just a day, then I've.

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Speaker 2: Done my job. So one of the one of the

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Speaker 2: things I've said that I'm being redundant for regular listeners.

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Speaker 2: But I think the I think the I think the

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Speaker 2: magic happens when normal people and when I mean normal people,

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Speaker 2: average folks, not somebody who's been tabbed or not somebody

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Speaker 2: who's doing something for points within their corporation to do

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Speaker 2: their philanthropic duty so that they got that check mark

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Speaker 2: on the next time they're up for a promotion. But

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Speaker 2: I'm just talking to a normal person. Seize an opportunity

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Speaker 2: in need and their passion and their discipline meet with opportunity.

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Speaker 2: And what I mean by that the discipline meaning an ability. Right,

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Speaker 2: So when somebody's passion ability collide with opportunity is when

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Speaker 2: amazing things can happen. So the first question of why

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Speaker 2: is the passion and again why there's so you're emotional

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Speaker 2: about it when you talk about it, and your mom

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Speaker 2: with two kids, a divorced bomb with two kids. Who's

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Speaker 2: a nurse. You got to put food on the table,

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Speaker 2: take you your own kids, and you have a father

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Speaker 2: who's dying, who's living with you. You're placeful. So again,

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Speaker 2: why passionate about some kid that you don't even know

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Speaker 2: down the block?

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Speaker 3: Because if not me, then who That's how I look at.

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Speaker 2: What about the government?

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Speaker 3: What about the government.

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Speaker 1: Unfortunately we have a little bit of a broken system

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Speaker 1: in some spaces, But obviously if the government was taking

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Speaker 1: care of it, I wouldn't have served over six thousands.

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Speaker 1: There wouldn't be such a need.

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Speaker 2: What about these systems?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, systems, Like I said, they're broken. There's lots of

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Speaker 1: flaws and cracks, and I wish we could fix our

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Speaker 1: systems better. And maybe in time we can work to

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Speaker 1: word it's that, But for right now, it's just something

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Speaker 1: that I feel that I've been called to do. The

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Speaker 1: joy and the thanks that the kids have given me

401
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,800
Speaker 1: have been far more than anything I could have given

402
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Speaker 1: to them. Just the gratefulness and the love that they've

403
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Speaker 1: given back to me, Like it's all my reward just

404
00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:23,159
Speaker 1: to see them and to know that I've helped to

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Speaker 1: make this day possible.

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Speaker 2: So I got to imagine most of these places you

407
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Speaker 2: go or in poverty stricken areas or dilapidated underserved communities,

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Speaker 2: which is a buzzword a lot of people use, and

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Speaker 2: you're going in their.

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Speaker 1: Homes, right, Yeah, Well, we go into motels, I've gone

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Speaker 1: to a vehicle. We go to wherever the children are,

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Speaker 1: no matter where.

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Speaker 2: Is that scary?

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Speaker 1: Yes? Sometimes it's not in the best neighborhoods, you know.

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Speaker 2: I mean I can only imagine your bright eyed, bushy

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Speaker 2: tailed self popping out of what I would imagine is

417
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Speaker 2: a decent car that you're driving with ballooms and cake

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Speaker 2: and gifts and stuff, and a neighborhood that that is

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Speaker 2: quite uncommon. Don't you become a mark immediately?

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Speaker 1: Possibly? I mean I have a really great bodyguard that

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Speaker 1: helps me if I need a I mean your.

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Speaker 2: Driver from Tampa that brought you to Branson before Memphis,

423
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Speaker 2: this Michael Russell driver guy. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Maybe, but I've never really had any problems, you know,

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Speaker 1: And I don't think about it like that, Like I

426
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Speaker 1: really don't care where they are. I just want to

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Speaker 1: make sure that they know that they matter. That's it.

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Speaker 3: Like, it's really a very simple mission.

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Speaker 2: So five years ago, you go to this grandmother's house

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Speaker 2: with these kids with what you call them boogies. That's

431
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Speaker 2: pretty funny, boogies in their face. I get it. Children

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Speaker 2: are a grandmother that was really didn't have any money,

433
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Speaker 2: was doing the best you could to watch after incarcerated

434
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Speaker 2: daughter's children and through this age. Oh what's it called?

435
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Speaker 1: Tree?

436
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,399
Speaker 2: Angel? Tree? And you find out, well, this kid's not

437
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Speaker 2: going to have a birthday? So was he the first?

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Speaker 1: He was technically the first?

439
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 2: Yes, so would you do?

440
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,080
Speaker 1: I went back out and we served the grandma with

441
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 1: a cake and just a few little birthday gifts.

442
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 3: It was nothing major back then.

443
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,400
Speaker 1: It was just very humble, like we just literally went

444
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: and got a cake, said here you go, and I

445
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: returned it to her.

446
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:23,919
Speaker 2: Did you stay?

447
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 3: No, I didn't stay.

448
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: I just gave it to her, so the grandma so

449
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: that she could do that with the kids. And then

450
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: our next stop was a foster care group home where

451
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 1: we threw our very first birthday party back at the

452
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 1: beginning of twenty nineteen, which.

453
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 2: You stayed, which you actually stayed and did a whole birthday.

454
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 1: I did.

455
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,520
Speaker 2: So that first kid was he sprossed.

456
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:49,199
Speaker 3: I didn't get to see that.

457
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,159
Speaker 2: No, no, no, the first kid out and the foster.

458
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: Yes, they smiled and they were teen boys, and so

459
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I don't know how this is

460
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: going to go. You know, I had a teen boy

461
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 1: and sometimes you know, you get little eye rolls, especially

462
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: somebody like me, and so didn't know quite how it

463
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,960
Speaker 1: was going to go. But they were so thankful and

464
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 1: they were grateful, and it was just a wonderful time,

465
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 1: and I thought, oh, this is like, this is It

466
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: enriched my life just from that one time. And the

467
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 1: funny thing about the birthday parties is you get to

468
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,240
Speaker 1: keep going every month to a lot of the places,

469
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 1: so you get to know all the children that live

470
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,280
Speaker 1: in the different foster care group homes or in the

471
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 1: organizations that you serve, and so it becomes like a

472
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 1: big extended family in a way.

473
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,000
Speaker 3: As you're serving them, they see you.

474
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: Oh, miss Belinda, this happened. That happened, And then you

475
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 1: not only get to celebrate their birthdays, but you get to.

476
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 3: Almost mentor them in a way.

477
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: I have a kid named Jeff that I met at

478
00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:45,879
Speaker 1: a foster care group home, teen boy, and he is

479
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:47,440
Speaker 1: now at twenty and he.

480
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,879
Speaker 3: Calls me mom and he's just a great kid.

481
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 1: I helped him get his license, I helped him get

482
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,360
Speaker 1: his first job at a theme park in Tampa, took him,

483
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,600
Speaker 1: you know, places, and did things that he didn't really

484
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,680
Speaker 1: have anyone there to help do. So as you get

485
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,040
Speaker 1: to know some of the children, you're able to invest

486
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,160
Speaker 1: in their lives and it's just such a rewarding thing.

487
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 2: We'll be right back. I want to read you something, please.

488
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,040
Speaker 2: The way we find out about you is Johnny Griffin.

489
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 2: Do you know Johnny Griffin.

490
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 3: Johnny Griffin is an amazing lady.

491
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,479
Speaker 2: Yes, okay, well this is what she wrote on May seventh.

492
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 2: So Johnny, I hope you're listening, because we're shouting out

493
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,719
Speaker 2: to you. Hey, Bill, I love your army of normal folks,

494
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,920
Speaker 2: and I like to think we are onward Christian soldiers.

495
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 2: I learned about Celebrate Birthdays over a year ago. I'm

496
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,440
Speaker 2: now a volunteer and I love it. Started by two friends.

497
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,439
Speaker 2: Belinda Alito, who's now the executive director. Her service to

498
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,040
Speaker 2: inspire her service to others inspires me. It's a five

499
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:07,680
Speaker 2: OHO one see three nonprofit now serving foster children, group homes,

500
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 2: and other underprivileged children in the type of Bay Area

501
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 2: of Florida by celebrating their birthdays. Check them out. It's

502
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 2: a great story of serving others.

503
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,680
Speaker 1: What do you feel when you hear that gratitude? If

504
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: you know, Johnny, she's really the one that should be

505
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 1: here being interviewed. She has a selfless heart, She gives

506
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 1: without questions. She just drove I don't even know how

507
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: many miles the other day for me from different counties

508
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,360
Speaker 1: to help make sure that these kids got their birthday

509
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:38,119
Speaker 1: boxes and got them delivered in time. And she's just

510
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 1: a great person that loves others. But it makes me

511
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,040
Speaker 1: feel good to know that, Johnny. I always say they

512
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: become part of our family because this isn't me, right,

513
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 1: it's not me doing this. This is a community, it's

514
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: a group, and so I always welcome them to our

515
00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,280
Speaker 1: celebrate family. And Johnny's a pretty amazing member of it,

516
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: all right.

517
00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 2: So crazy, So you're just a volunteer, you do the

518
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 2: Christmas thing, you find out this need. Now you find

519
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 2: out there's these kids all over the place that are

520
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:13,560
Speaker 2: not getting their birthday celebrated, and how do you begin.

521
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:20,119
Speaker 2: I mean people listening to us, there's people we interview,

522
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 2: people that do stuff from all walks of life, all

523
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,919
Speaker 2: kinds of different outreaches, right, But a lot of people

524
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 2: I think have a giving, wanting heart and they just

525
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:35,520
Speaker 2: don't know where to start. Walk us through how this

526
00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 2: became that kid's birthday with a grandmother, and then you

527
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 2: went to the foster home and you were awakened to

528
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:47,439
Speaker 2: this uncomfortable truth that there's underserved children all over our

529
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 2: communities who don't have a birthday. That broke your heart

530
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:52,719
Speaker 2: and you want to do something, But how do you

531
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 2: how do you say, Okay, we're going to reach all

532
00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:59,400
Speaker 2: these kids that don't have birthdays.

533
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 3: I never intended to reach this many kids.

534
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 2: I say that it's this is twenty nineteen, We're talking

535
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,120
Speaker 2: five years ago, and you're just awakened to this issue.

536
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 2: So unfold, unfold the growth.

537
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,240
Speaker 1: Right. Well, I'll tell you that it's not an easy

538
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 1: thing to start a charity, and I don't want to

539
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,520
Speaker 1: disgruntle everybody, but there were many times that I cried

540
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,680
Speaker 1: and just being very transparent, I thought, I'm not a leader.

541
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 1: How am I supposed to do this. I never was

542
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,959
Speaker 1: a corporate person. I'm a nurse, and so it was

543
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,480
Speaker 1: a difficult thing for me to try and even figure out.

544
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,600
Speaker 3: We sat down with paper, but a thing about me.

545
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:40,960
Speaker 1: If I want something, I'm going to I'm going to

546
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 1: try my best to get it. And I wanted this

547
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,320
Speaker 1: for these children, and so it was always that fuel

548
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,280
Speaker 1: that kind of drove me to do it. So, you know,

549
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,200
Speaker 1: going through all the paperwork of starting this charity, you know,

550
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,600
Speaker 1: and sitting down and kind of saying, Okay, we've got

551
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,920
Speaker 1: to make a group, We've got to you know, do this.

552
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 3: It was a lot. It was a lot.

553
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,400
Speaker 1: But looking back, I don't ever regret any of the

554
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 1: things that I did, and those times where I was

555
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: weak and those times where I.

556
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 3: You know, was just still.

557
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 1: I feel like those are the times that God moved

558
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: the most in my life, you know, where I kind

559
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,400
Speaker 1: of didn't know what my next step was, how am

560
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 1: I supposed to do this? And really it was a

561
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: journey all into itself. And I had amazing friends, amazing family.

562
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: Now I call it the Celebrate family because there's hundreds

563
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 1: of people and you know, volunteers that I don't know

564
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 1: that have helped me to make this happen. I can't

565
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 1: go visit every child, I can't go deliver every birthday

566
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: in a box in the beginning, I did, and I

567
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 1: sure try to now and I like to put faces

568
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:40,360
Speaker 1: with names and know all the people. But the community

569
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,560
Speaker 1: has really helped and stood aside. We're a very grassroots charity,

570
00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 1: and so I like to involve as many people as

571
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,959
Speaker 1: I can in this opportunity to celebrate these children and

572
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 1: to give them their wishes, especially ones that are dying

573
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: from a terminal honess in their own hospice and this

574
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,000
Speaker 1: may be their very last birthday by cracky, their parents

575
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 1: are going through it. They serve to have the most

576
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 1: amazing birthday that they could possibly have, and if we

577
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 1: can help with that, the then great.

578
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 3: So I feel like growth was steady.

579
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,520
Speaker 1: Sometimes even though we've been around five years, I feel

580
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 1: like it's only two and a half because those times

581
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 1: I get that, yeah, those times well and COVID, I mean,

582
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 1: I was working full time this whole entire time. I

583
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: just recently went as the executive director of Celebrate Birthdays.

584
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 1: So we were all just volunteers, continuously trying to do

585
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 1: our best, trying to work a full time job, do

586
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,040
Speaker 1: this full time, take care of my daddy and my

587
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,320
Speaker 1: house who was passing. It was just really difficult and

588
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,240
Speaker 1: as a nurse COVID was scary times for people, and

589
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 1: that was the beginning of our time as the charity

590
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 1: for the first two years. So I feel like growth

591
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 1: just unfolded naturally, and it was how it was supposed

592
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 1: to happen, step by step, and how did.

593
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 2: You find volunteers and how did word get out about

594
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,320
Speaker 2: I gotta believe that we're started getting around that, hey

595
00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,360
Speaker 2: there's this crazy nurse out of here giving people part

596
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 2: type gifts. I want the kids in our home, or

597
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 2: I want the kids in our hospital, or I want

598
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,840
Speaker 2: the kids and our poverty stricken area to get I mean,

599
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:10,440
Speaker 2: tell me how that worked.

600
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like it was word of mouth.

601
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,120
Speaker 1: I feel like if somebody came to a party to

602
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: volunteer a friend or a family member, then they told

603
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 1: somebody else. And then we created a social media account,

604
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: and then we were able to post, you know, some

605
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: of the photos of the kids, because depending on what

606
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 1: they've gone through, you can't post every child, you know.

607
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 1: But then people got to start seeing it and then

608
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 1: they would interact more. And then we created a website

609
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: and so it was, you know, a step by step

610
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 1: process of just involving our community. And then groups would

611
00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,680
Speaker 1: hear about it, like the Junior League, and I think

612
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: it was in twenty twenty one we got our first

613
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: grant and it was a small one at the time.

614
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: I think it was like five hundred dollars, but for us,

615
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,480
Speaker 1: it was like, oh, this is big, and so we

616
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,239
Speaker 1: just kind of kept advancing step by step, and the

617
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 1: more people start it helping, the more I feel like

618
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: it started to grow. And then students at high school

619
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,840
Speaker 1: started to kind of hear about it and they wanted

620
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:08,920
Speaker 1: to help, not only for community service hours, but just

621
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 1: to do something good. And so we have a lot

622
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: of teens helping our teens, and it's just it's just

623
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,240
Speaker 1: such an amazing thing how it organically just kind of grew.

624
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 2: I love that you said since then, you've served over

625
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:26,239
Speaker 2: six thousand kids for their birthdays. I'm more interested. How

626
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 2: many volunteers do you have.

627
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,400
Speaker 1: Well, we have about two hundred and seventy on the books,

628
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 1: but if you ask me how many active, I'm probably

629
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:34,440
Speaker 1: going to tell you about fifty.

630
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:41,240
Speaker 2: That's still phenomenal. So from this little you you've got

631
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 2: fifty people in the Tampa area going out on weekly

632
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 2: basis two hundred and something that have done it. But

633
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,480
Speaker 2: fifty active people on a weekly basis going out to

634
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 2: group homes, hospitals with children who are dying. I mean

635
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 2: I say that, but that's what it is. And disadvantage

636
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 2: can communities making sure children have their birthday.

637
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,280
Speaker 3: Celebrated, right, Yeah, we do it a couple different ways.

638
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: We do birthday parties every month and that's one pillar

639
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:12,560
Speaker 1: of our program. We then created a mobile Birthday in

640
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:13,800
Speaker 1: a Box and that originated the.

641
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,360
Speaker 2: Global Birthday in a Box. Explain that that's our earlier

642
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 2: You said birthday in a box and I didn't want

643
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 2: to want to interrupt you, but what the heck is

644
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 2: Birthday in a box?

645
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,520
Speaker 1: Yeah? It actually originated from COVID because they told us

646
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:26,320
Speaker 1: that we couldn't go out to the birthday parties, which

647
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:28,600
Speaker 1: is how we started, and so we decided, well, we

648
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: still want to bring the birthday to the children, like

649
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,600
Speaker 1: that's why we're here. So we put sixteen different items

650
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,160
Speaker 1: inside a ten by ten box and we deliver it

651
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,960
Speaker 1: out to them wherever they're at in our community. That's

652
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 1: where we see some of the motels, the vehicles, you know,

653
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:44,600
Speaker 1: the not so great areas, and we go and we

654
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 1: serve these children. We do probably anywhere from I don't know,

655
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 1: eighty to one hundred and ten a month, just really

656
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 1: depending on the birthday and the boxes. And then we

657
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,640
Speaker 1: do thirteen different birthday parties at different organizations every month.

658
00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 1: And then we have our classroom birthday program we're in

659
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,400
Speaker 1: our Title one low income transformation schools. We take in

660
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 1: a bin for the teachers and they have a birthday sticker,

661
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: a birthday crown, a pencil, a notebook, a teacher certificate,

662
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 1: and that way the child can get called up to

663
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,200
Speaker 1: the front of their class and in front of their peers.

664
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 1: They can be recognized and feel special on their birthday.

665
00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 2: That is unbelievable.

666
00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:22,600
Speaker 3: Thanks.

667
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 2: So tell me about a birthday in a car?

668
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to.

669
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:31,600
Speaker 1: If I may tell you about a birthday in a

670
00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:33,279
Speaker 1: foster home first and then I'll tell you a car.

671
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,279
Speaker 2: I want to hear them both, So you do them

672
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:35,840
Speaker 2: how you want to.

673
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 1: One of my favorite memories, really, I'll never forget it.

674
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 1: And you may have seen it other places, but truly, truly,

675
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,319
Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. Her name was Jasline and she

676
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,439
Speaker 1: was turning seventeen, and she was in a foster care

677
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 1: group home for girls that had been human trafficked, and

678
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,680
Speaker 1: so we put three different cakes down in front of

679
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,440
Speaker 1: three different girls that were there at this community, and

680
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,319
Speaker 1: we're saying Happy Birthday. So the other two girls, at

681
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,800
Speaker 1: the end of the Happy Birthday song blew out their candle,

682
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:07,720
Speaker 1: but Jaslin didn't. And I remember just looking at Jason

683
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 1: and we were kind of like, Okay, what's going on.

684
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,520
Speaker 1: She just sat there and we were like, Jasn, gotta

685
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:15,120
Speaker 1: make a wish and blow out your candle. All of

686
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 1: a sudden, Jazlyn lifts up her glasses and she literally

687
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 1: began to sob, like I'm not kidding you, like sob,

688
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,560
Speaker 1: And I remember thinking, like, what's wrong? Why is she

689
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 1: not blowing out her candle? And I went behind her

690
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,320
Speaker 1: and I rubbed her back, and she said, this is

691
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,200
Speaker 1: the first time that anybody's ever celebrated me, and I'm

692
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:37,080
Speaker 1: just so happy in this moment, she finally blew her candle,

693
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,200
Speaker 1: and the whole place literally honestly was in tears just

694
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,800
Speaker 1: watching Jazzlin have this experience. I'll never forget that moment

695
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: for how it made Jaslin feel and how special it

696
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: was for her. I'll fast forward. I came back to

697
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:53,560
Speaker 1: that same facility every month because it was a birthday party.

698
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 1: So when Joslyn turned eighteen and she was aging out,

699
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:58,839
Speaker 1: she came up to me and I remember her saying,

700
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,120
Speaker 1: Miss Belinda, you know what, And I said, what, Jasline.

701
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,600
Speaker 1: So I'm getting ready to leave, but I want you

702
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 1: to know that I have my candle with all my

703
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,240
Speaker 1: special things, and I'll always keep it. So I wanted

704
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 1: to thank you for what you did for me. It's

705
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,960
Speaker 1: moments and memories like that, like Jaslin, That's why I

706
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:19,279
Speaker 1: do it. That's what I'll never ever forget it.

707
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,359
Speaker 2: Do you think she didn't want to blow candles out

708
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,440
Speaker 2: because she felt like when the candles was out, the

709
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,480
Speaker 2: celebration was over and she just wanted to save her

710
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:26,439
Speaker 2: every second of it.

711
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:28,560
Speaker 1: It could be or I think maybe she just didn't

712
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,400
Speaker 1: even know. I think she was so overwhelmed with emotion

713
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:33,799
Speaker 1: that this moment was about her that she didn't even

714
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:34,880
Speaker 1: know how to take it all in.

715
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:36,800
Speaker 3: Maybe what does.

716
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:42,880
Speaker 2: It say about a human beings life that, at seventeen

717
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 2: years old, a stranger putting a cake in front of

718
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:51,040
Speaker 2: them is maybe the highlight of the seventeen years they've loved.

719
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:54,120
Speaker 1: Should never be these children that we serve they've been

720
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,760
Speaker 1: through so much more than I've been in my forty

721
00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,239
Speaker 1: something years of life. They've been through so much. The

722
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,720
Speaker 1: least they deserve is just a little joint. It doesn't

723
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,800
Speaker 1: matter if they've made mistakes or if they've done wrong things.

724
00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:07,799
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, right, they're human and

725
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 1: they just deserve to feel the love and kindness that

726
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:13,680
Speaker 1: we all should feel. And so that's that's what it's about.

727
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 3: Really.

728
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:16,319
Speaker 2: Do you know where she is now?

729
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:20,239
Speaker 1: Yes, she aged out and she lives in an extended

730
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,400
Speaker 1: foster care group home that's not real far from the

731
00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:24,920
Speaker 1: facility that we served her in.

732
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,840
Speaker 2: Is there hope for her to normalize into society.

733
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, she's working a job. She does a fast food

734
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:34,279
Speaker 3: job now.

735
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 1: And you know, there's so many statistics I could probably

736
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 1: share about foster care, and I'm sure you know a

737
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 1: lot of them, but no, we've gone.

738
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 2: Our beauty bunch and it is devastating. Yeah, and there's

739
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 2: a lot of really good people working.

740
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,440
Speaker 1: To make it matter for that one thousand percent one

741
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,840
Speaker 1: thousand percent, so you know a lot of them go

742
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,840
Speaker 1: on to have not so great lives. But she's really

743
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 1: really trying to make a better life for herself.

744
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,799
Speaker 2: And that concludes are one of my conversation with the

745
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 2: Linda Lato and you don't want to miss part two

746
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,439
Speaker 2: that's now available to listen to. Together, guys, we can

747
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:12,560
Speaker 2: change the country and it starts with you. I'll see

748
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:13,200
Speaker 2: in part two