Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Happy holidays,
Speaker 1: Whips Marties. As we get toward the end of this year,
Speaker 1: I've really been thinking about this community that we all share,
Speaker 1: in the stories we get to share, and I really
Speaker 1: cherish you all, and I think I wanted to end
Speaker 1: the year with a conversation that felt worry I guess
Speaker 1: of a year ending and inspiring. And that's why I'm
Speaker 1: so thrilled today to be joined by two women I
Speaker 1: admire so so much, the incredible Karen Pittman and Claire
Speaker 1: Babineau Fontanelle. You probably know Karen Pittman because she is
Speaker 1: a wildly accomplished actress in television, film, and theater. She
Speaker 1: stars as Mia Jordan on Apple's award winning The Morning Show.
Speaker 1: She also plays doctor Niah Wallace on Max's And just
Speaker 1: like that, Pittman's resume is so long. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to read the whole thing to you, but my god,
Speaker 1: I just look up to her so much as an actor,
Speaker 1: as a producer, she is truly incredible, And today she
Speaker 1: brings a friend and another woman that I look up to,
Speaker 1: Claire Babino Fontino. She is the chief executive officer of
Speaker 1: Feeding America, America's largest organization combating food insecurity. They run
Speaker 1: a network of local food banks, statewide food bank associations,
Speaker 1: food pantries, meal programs, and they happen to be the
Speaker 1: largest charity in the United States. Since twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: under her incredible guidance, the organization has reached new milestones
Speaker 1: in addressing domestic food insecurity. And as you'll hear from
Speaker 1: Claire today, there is not a community in this country,
Speaker 1: suburban or rural, that does not have folks facing food
Speaker 1: and security. It is a truly nonpartisan issue. It affects
Speaker 1: each and every one of us, and if it hasn't
Speaker 1: affected you yet, it definitely affects someone that you know.
Speaker 1: And the work that she does to serve communities is
Speaker 1: so exemplary and so impressive to me, and also exemplary
Speaker 1: and impressive to Karen, because Karen has been an ambassador
Speaker 1: for Feeding America for quite some time and also has
Speaker 1: a personal connection to Feeding America as an organization that
Speaker 1: I think will move you in the way it moved me.
Speaker 1: So let's dive in and be inspired about what it
Speaker 1: means to build community and show up for each other
Speaker 1: with Karen and Claire. Karen, Claire, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for coming on Work in Progress today. I just need
Speaker 1: to I'm going to put I'm going to take off
Speaker 1: my interviewer hat and like allow my fangirl freak flag
Speaker 1: to fly for a beat, and then she'll go away
Speaker 1: and I'll put my interviewer hat back on. But Karen Pittman,
Speaker 1: I am obsessed with you. I'm assessed with everything you do.
Speaker 1: You are just so unbelievable. I am the Morning Show's
Speaker 1: biggest fan. And then I could run obviously the laundry
Speaker 1: list of your entire resume, but I will save that
Speaker 1: for the intro to this episode. Uh and Claire, my god,
Speaker 1: the work that you do at Feeding America, you your
Speaker 1: whole organization, the way that you better the country, the
Speaker 1: way that you help people think about bettering the world
Speaker 1: around them. You are a rock star to me. So
Speaker 1: to be here with a literal rock star of activism
Speaker 1: and an actor who I just am like weaken the
Speaker 1: knees to chat with. I'm the fact that you too
Speaker 1: are here also to talk about doing good. I'm like,
Speaker 1: of course, you are, of course you perfect people. So okay,
Speaker 1: I've told you that I adore you both, and now
Speaker 1: I will button it up and we can talk.
Speaker 2: Let's not keep it buttoned up for God's sake, Okay? Agree?
Speaker 2: And oh, by the way, we might have to compete
Speaker 2: over who, in fact is the biggest fan for Karen.
Speaker 2: I'd like to just focus on the things we can
Speaker 2: agree on.
Speaker 1: How about the world needs more of that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so?
Speaker 1: So Yes, great, I think so. We are the co
Speaker 1: chairs of the Karen Pittman Fan Club. Welcome to our
Speaker 1: weekly meeting.
Speaker 2: I like how you did that? Thank you God you guys.
Speaker 3: We're talking about the American incredible work they're doing, so
Speaker 3: I can't wait to jump in and talk about that
Speaker 3: and Claire and all of her work.
Speaker 1: Likewise, so normally, what I love to do with folks,
Speaker 1: and in me, if you will on doing this together,
Speaker 1: is generally when I sit down with people, it's because
Speaker 1: they are doing such incredible things in the world at present,
Speaker 1: as both of you women are. And I'm always really
Speaker 1: curious how these incredible humans became the incredible humans they
Speaker 1: are today. And I wonder if you each were able
Speaker 1: to meet your nine or ten year old self, if
Speaker 1: you would see the woman you are today in her
Speaker 1: What was that little girl into Karen? Was she a storyteller? Claire?
Speaker 1: Were you passionate about issues in the neighborhood? Like do
Speaker 1: you see the women you are today in the little
Speaker 1: girls you used to be?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, if I had to tell you the kind of
Speaker 2: work I would wind up doing what I was nine,
Speaker 2: I would think I'd be doing this kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: And in fact, even the fact that I became a
Speaker 2: lawyer was something that I remember asking telling my dad
Speaker 2: when I grew up. I was around that age. I
Speaker 2: was a little bit older when I went to my
Speaker 2: dad and said, when I grew up, I'm going to
Speaker 2: be a lawyer, And he said, of course you will,
Speaker 2: little girl. You argue all the time. That way, I
Speaker 2: will pay you to do it. So, so imagine me
Speaker 2: as a blonde, frizzy haired ball of fire. That's what
Speaker 2: I was. I was. I was an activist. In fact,
Speaker 2: I think I sometimes created issues so that I can
Speaker 2: help resolve them because I was so bent on being
Speaker 2: a part of these positive solutions. And then the final
Speaker 2: thing I'd say is in my family, which is unique
Speaker 2: and huge, there were all kinds of talents in my
Speaker 2: family that I did not have, so I. However, I
Speaker 2: was the best namer in our whole family. So I
Speaker 2: would name stuff for us. So as an example, if
Speaker 2: I Big Crew played basketball, I would come up with
Speaker 2: the name for the basketball game. We're playing baseball, come
Speaker 2: up with the name for the baseball game. In retrospect,
Speaker 2: the names weren't great, but to me, I thought they
Speaker 2: were absolutely extraordinary. So the Babano Kids World Championship to
Speaker 2: end all championships southside versus north side baseball tournament. Bam,
Speaker 2: there you go. That was my that was my strength.
Speaker 1: You were like, somebody get this kid, a screenprinting kid.
Speaker 1: She needs to make merch. She wants a bumper sticker,
Speaker 1: she wants a fridge magnet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the name was so long nobody could ever
Speaker 2: remember the whole name, right, And so you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know how effective I was, but I was very passionate.
Speaker 2: I was very I was so committed. I was committed.
Speaker 1: I agree amazing, And Karen, what about for you?
Speaker 3: You know, I think my nine or ten year old
Speaker 3: self black Claire, I was raised in the South.
Speaker 2: Uh, she's Louisiana native. I'm Mississippi native. Am I right
Speaker 2: about that?
Speaker 3: Claire?
Speaker 1: You got that right?
Speaker 2: We are greats. Girls raised in the South, you got
Speaker 2: that girls and girls raised this.
Speaker 3: And uh, you know, my youngest self was like Claire
Speaker 3: in that there was this there's a great bit of
Speaker 3: activism right in my in my raising and my growing up,
Speaker 3: the sense of you know, integrity, moral integrity, and what's
Speaker 3: right and what's wrong. But my real way into it
Speaker 3: was through this really strong thread of empathy, you know,
Speaker 3: and really seeing myself and other people's struggles. So for
Speaker 3: me it translated into being an actor, do you know,
Speaker 3: Because it's actors.
Speaker 2: We must have this great.
Speaker 3: Uh well of empathy and sympathy for humanity and in human.
Speaker 2: Plight to put ourselves in there.
Speaker 3: But it also makes a lot of sense that I
Speaker 3: would be involved with organizations like Feeding America, who you know,
Speaker 3: they walk the talk, they actually put action behind this
Speaker 3: empathic this desire not just to embody empathy, but also
Speaker 3: to do something positive in the world. I think my
Speaker 3: nine or ten year old self would be more impressed
Speaker 3: that I was sitting here with you and Claire and
Speaker 3: amplifying on my platform any supporting families and their their needs,
Speaker 3: and she would be that we had gotten some accolades
Speaker 3: or acknowledgments because really, in my family, and I think
Speaker 3: this is true for Claire's family, to helping people was
Speaker 3: really the way that you needed to be in in
Speaker 3: the world. You need to be of service. So I
Speaker 3: think she'd be pretty freaking impressed.
Speaker 1: Actually love that.
Speaker 2: And may I quickly say something about what Karen was
Speaker 2: saying about Karen? Right, so she's talking about platforms. I am,
Speaker 2: I'm impressed by this. I appreciate that you would use
Speaker 2: sure platform, you'd share a platform with me right now, Karen,
Speaker 2: But we have volunteered together. You know how to pack
Speaker 2: some food. Girls, I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of
Speaker 2: hard work, willing to roll up the sleeves. And I've
Speaker 2: been around let's call it talent that maybe that's not
Speaker 2: their finest attribute, right, but the way you just jump
Speaker 2: in and and ask, so where can I help, and
Speaker 2: then just do it. I'm so, so so inspired and
Speaker 2: impressed by that.
Speaker 3: Well, we started out the conversation, Sophia talking about common
Speaker 3: ground and where we can come together. And a part
Speaker 3: of my whole nition as an actor is to demonstrate
Speaker 3: authentically where we are all the same. This area of
Speaker 3: reaching out and supporting each other is important. I'm not
Speaker 3: one of those actors that wants to just write a check. Although, listen,
Speaker 3: write a check to check.
Speaker 2: Please write a check.
Speaker 3: But I also think what's more important is for you
Speaker 3: to show up as possible. That we all can make
Speaker 3: a difference by just really showing up and volunteering our time, which,
Speaker 3: by the way, simply as valuable as writing a check,
Speaker 3: maybe even more so.
Speaker 2: Depending upon the level of visibility you have in the world.
Speaker 3: So I try to use both of those things as
Speaker 3: service to the organizations that I think are are worthy
Speaker 3: and valuable, and that certainly Feeding America and what Claire
Speaker 3: is doing there.
Speaker 1: I love that. And you know, I have to say,
Speaker 1: I love what you pointed out that that your younger
Speaker 1: self would probably be the most excited about this. It's
Speaker 1: not necessarily the you know, the award show that gets televised.
Speaker 1: The awards are lovely, but you know, when that happens
Speaker 1: to you, that's that's for you. That's for your artistry. Yes,
Speaker 1: you carry your whole crew on stage and your writers
Speaker 1: on stage and all these folks. But I think what
Speaker 1: I've begun to learn in my communities of storytellers like
Speaker 1: us is there are folks who love to be artists
Speaker 1: because it is their greatest personal passion. And I think
Speaker 1: there's a yes there, and there's also a yes and
Speaker 1: because for me, what I like the best about it
Speaker 1: is the community. It is the gathering, It is the
Speaker 1: people on the set. It is going to live in
Speaker 1: a new place I've never been. You know, y'all said
Speaker 1: you were Grits girls, and I was like, listen, I
Speaker 1: got lucky enough to work in North Carolina for ten years,
Speaker 1: so I may not have been born there, but same.
Speaker 1: It is still the food I miss the most when
Speaker 1: I'm on the West Coast. But the community aspect, I
Speaker 1: think when you're empathy to represent people's stories is partnered
Speaker 1: with the love of the community around you. It's only
Speaker 1: natural that so many storytellers become activists advocates. I actually
Speaker 1: think we've probably always been both. And as you were
Speaker 1: saying earlier, Claire, the idea that someone would spend their
Speaker 1: time both volunteering and using their platform. I think in
Speaker 1: whatever way anybody like me or Karen has a platform,
Speaker 1: it's a privilege and you get to spend it. And
Speaker 1: so what I want to dive into with you both
Speaker 1: is your partnership Karen, the way you use your platform
Speaker 1: for this incredible organization that Claire runs. It's the holidays,
Speaker 1: as you said, you know, yes, everybody, I'll echo the sentiment.
Speaker 1: Please write a check to Feeding America and both and
Speaker 1: volunteering your time assisting with meal packing, assisting with delivery.
Speaker 1: That can change success rates for organizations. So please know
Speaker 1: that at whatever tax bracket you fall under, your time
Speaker 1: truly is the most valuable. But I would love for
Speaker 1: you guys to talk to us, tell us the story
Speaker 1: you know with all the listeners at home, about how
Speaker 1: you connected Karen, why Feeding America stood out to you
Speaker 1: and clear how the organization does what it does, and
Speaker 1: if you can give us any of the stats. Y'all
Speaker 1: know I love a little bit of data, So well,
Speaker 1: we'll let people know how big you're, how big and
Speaker 1: magnificent really your reaches.
Speaker 2: Let me give some context then, for how big the
Speaker 2: reaches Feeding America is. Where hunger is there is not
Speaker 2: one county or my last name is bab A, no
Speaker 2: font no, so I will have to say Parish as
Speaker 2: well because of the great state of Louisiana, but no
Speaker 2: county in the whole United States, and what did it go,
Speaker 2: whether or not people experiencing hunger, so we are where
Speaker 2: they are. That means we have that kind of breath,
Speaker 2: including Alaska. So to give you a sense of scale,
Speaker 2: last year our network provided right at six billion meals
Speaker 2: to nearly around fifty million people, and that's not the
Speaker 2: most we've ever done. At the peak of the pandemic.
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty fiscal we provided six point seven billion
Speaker 2: meals to nearly sixty million. Sixty million human beings in
Speaker 2: the United States Food and Security Rates which the USDA
Speaker 2: measures food insecurity, and for a lot of people, they're like,
Speaker 2: what its food insecurity? It really is about whether or
Speaker 2: not you have confidence all throughout the year that you
Speaker 2: will be able to access the nutrition that you need
Speaker 2: for yourself in your family. And if you don't consistently
Speaker 2: have that confidence, then you are food insecure. And there
Speaker 2: are lots of people who are experiencing food insecurity who
Speaker 2: don't even realize that they are a part of that number.
Speaker 2: Of course, food insecurity is a spectrum, so there are
Speaker 2: some people who experience food insecurity only incidentally are right
Speaker 2: after a major issue happens, a significant medical challenge that
Speaker 2: causes a family to real and then they can't make
Speaker 2: ends meet. Are a lot of the people that turn
Speaker 2: to us are part of a generational pattern of food
Speaker 2: and security. So the Feeding American network includes hundreds of
Speaker 2: food banks all across the country, over sixty thousand agencies
Speaker 2: and meal programs, pantries from huge, highly sophisticated pantries to little,
Speaker 2: small church basement pantries, from the biggest urban sectors to
Speaker 2: the farthest reaches of America. As I said, we try
Speaker 2: to be where hunger is and we wish that it
Speaker 2: we're not as ubiquitous as it is, but that means
Speaker 2: we have to be too.
Speaker 1: We'll be back in just a minute. But here's a
Speaker 1: word from our sponsors. When you talk about, you know,
Speaker 1: how folks who don't have experience with food and security
Speaker 1: can wrap their heads around it, there's that stat which
Speaker 1: you know may have changed over the years, but when
Speaker 1: we were first pushing to get the ACA passed so
Speaker 1: that folks would have access to healthcare, I will never
Speaker 1: forget it burned into my brain that there is a
Speaker 1: huge percentage of Americans that are just one four hundred
Speaker 1: dollars unexpected medical bill away from bankruptcy. Absolutely and to
Speaker 1: realize that a surprise four hundred dollars could I mean,
Speaker 1: it could torpedo your whole life. I think you also
Speaker 1: realize how close to being food and secure so many
Speaker 1: folks are, because I mean, hats off to you, my god,
Speaker 1: six billion meals. Six billion is a hard number to comprehend,
Speaker 1: but everybody knows what four hundred dollars means. And so
Speaker 1: I think when when we can start to consider that
Speaker 1: we could be walking through our day, walking through our office,
Speaker 1: walking through our neighborhood and have no idea how many
Speaker 1: people we pass on the street not hello to see,
Speaker 1: you know, walking into or out of a coffee shop,
Speaker 1: or standing on the corner waiting across the street. We
Speaker 1: have no idea how many of those people are scared
Speaker 1: that they don't know where dinner is going to come from.
Speaker 1: And it's why I'm so immensely grateful for the work
Speaker 1: that you do. And you know, even to know that
Speaker 1: there's two hundred food banks and the Feeding America Network.
Speaker 2: Actually over two hundred food banks in locating America Network
Speaker 2: and over sixty thousand agency partner and meal programs all
Speaker 2: across the country. But the point that you made before
Speaker 2: and Karen brought it up before as well. She's talking
Speaker 2: about empathy and when when I had conversations having when
Speaker 2: I first joined Feeding America, there was somebody on the
Speaker 2: Feeding American National Office team who made a statement and
Speaker 2: they were just saying it very casually, but it burned
Speaker 2: in me, you know, which was well, you understand, empathy
Speaker 2: is the acting emotion. And I'm like, what you know,
Speaker 2: sympathy people people go awe. But when people can see
Speaker 2: themselves in a situation, they're far more likely to try
Speaker 2: to do something about it. So I'm glad that you
Speaker 2: spoke to that particular thing, and I'll share as an example.
Speaker 2: During COVID we saw the the largest public support we've
Speaker 2: ever seen in our history during COVID Wow. And we
Speaker 2: believe that was true for two reasons. One people, because
Speaker 2: we were trapped at home for a lot of that time,
Speaker 2: we saw those long lines of cards and went, oh, wait, really,
Speaker 2: because we didn't even conceive that that was happening in
Speaker 2: the United States. But the other thing is there's a
Speaker 2: shame that comes along with the status of being food
Speaker 2: and security insure are being living in poverty in this country,
Speaker 2: and those who do not live in poverty often look
Speaker 2: at those who do and say, well, you know it's
Speaker 2: because you did something wrong. Now, if you were like me,
Speaker 2: you would have put your money away, you would have etcetera, etcetera, etc.
Speaker 2: During COVID, I think people saw and start belief. They're like, wait,
Speaker 2: what would we do if I worked at a hotel,
Speaker 2: I met my partner at the same hotel, and then
Speaker 2: the hotel shut down. Yes, and that's where we got
Speaker 2: to income from. That happens every day in the lives
Speaker 2: of people sitting. They suddenly lose access to income. Sometimes
Speaker 2: a two income family gets reduced to one. Sometimes a
Speaker 2: two income family gets reduced to zero. So making sure
Speaker 2: that we're contemplating, as you already said, that statistic hasn't
Speaker 2: gotten any better. I think it's the US Bureau of
Speaker 2: Labor Statistics that publishes that we are one financial crisis
Speaker 2: as a country away from being in one of those lines.
Speaker 2: And so many people who have volunteered in the lines.
Speaker 2: During COVID, especially, I'd be out, I was traveling across
Speaker 2: the country, and I would meet people and they were
Speaker 2: so sad, as they would say, you know, I used
Speaker 2: to volunteer here. I never imagine I be the person
Speaker 2: who needed food. But I can tell you this, I'm
Speaker 2: going to get back on my community, and when I do,
Speaker 2: I'm going to return to the other side of this line.
Speaker 2: I'm going to make sure I'm about positive change. And
Speaker 2: my hope and my belief is that all of those people
Speaker 2: who experienced it in that way and when they rejoin
Speaker 2: that other line, and hopefully they all have, they do
Speaker 2: so with more empathy than they did when they were
Speaker 2: serving that line.
Speaker 1: Mmm, that's beautiful, Karen. What was it? What was it
Speaker 1: about the mission of Feeding America that activated that that
Speaker 1: action sends in you, that empathy in you. How did
Speaker 1: you pick this cause?
Speaker 3: Well, that was one of those trucks about Claire. So
Speaker 3: important that you brought this setups going to bring this
Speaker 3: up talking about the stigma that goes along with being
Speaker 3: in a family who is food and secure. The majority
Speaker 3: of African American homes are single parent homes in this country.
Speaker 3: That is, if it's a single parent home, it's run
Speaker 3: by someone who looks like me in one and right.
Speaker 3: And so I was one of those women in two
Speaker 3: thousand and twelve, twenty thirteen that was dealing with food
Speaker 3: and security. I wasn't not all the time, but intermittently
Speaker 3: enough where I was concerned about being able to feed
Speaker 3: myself and my children. And I came upon one of
Speaker 3: Feeding America's partners in Brooklyn, New York, where I lived
Speaker 3: in Fort Grade, and the shame that I had as
Speaker 3: a graduate of Northwestern University and NYU Graduate program, I
Speaker 3: shouldn't be in a position where I was food and secure,
Speaker 3: and yet I was because I had come upon one
Speaker 3: of those situations that Claire talks about where I had
Speaker 3: stepped into financially into a precarious position right, and I
Speaker 3: needed some support, and the organization was there for me
Speaker 3: through a church that I would go to in Fort Green.
Speaker 3: I walked past it and one day and I thought,
Speaker 3: what is that like? I don't you know, I was
Speaker 3: thinking about it, and I saw that there was fresh
Speaker 3: fruit and vegetables as opposed to canned or you know,
Speaker 3: powdered or whatever. And I thought, you know, I actually
Speaker 3: need to get over myself and get in that line.
Speaker 3: And it was it was truly difficult, staggering not to
Speaker 3: feel like I maybe I should call my mom, or
Speaker 3: maybe I should call my friends or my sister borrow
Speaker 3: some money but the truth of the matter was that
Speaker 3: I had to figure it out for myself, and I
Speaker 3: had such shame around it, much shame around this experience.
Speaker 3: So obviously, fast forward to ten twelve years later, and
Speaker 3: I have the opportunity through one of the outreach programs
Speaker 3: to volunteer and to talk with uh not just the
Speaker 3: folks of being in America, but also at City Harvest
Speaker 3: in New York and be a part of the program.
Speaker 3: I felt like it was important not just to use
Speaker 3: my platform or just to you know, be a part
Speaker 3: of the organization, the volunteer organization, but to tell my
Speaker 3: story because I think people might look at me and
Speaker 3: the characters that I portray, these strong women and you know,
Speaker 3: who are out in the world and self actualizing and
Speaker 3: realizing and ambitious and et cetera, et cetera, But in fact,
Speaker 3: I've gone through really, really tough times and my own
Speaker 3: personal story is one of having gone through adversity in
Speaker 3: this way, I also think it's a universal story. I
Speaker 3: don't care what you know, political party you're a part of,
Speaker 3: or what side of the aisle that you you live on,
Speaker 3: the idea of supporting a children and families who don't
Speaker 3: have enough food to eat.
Speaker 2: Is it's so.
Speaker 3: Important it goes beyond any idea of political party, or
Speaker 3: religion or any of that. Right, So instead of just
Speaker 3: sitting back and holding back on what my personal story
Speaker 3: was because of my own sense of guilt or shame
Speaker 3: or whenever, I decided, let me not just step into
Speaker 3: this role but also share my own personal experience of it.
Speaker 2: And I think that's where we.
Speaker 3: Make the biggest impact, is to put not just to
Speaker 3: you know, talk to other people about what they're doing,
Speaker 3: but to literally put our story alongside theirs and say
Speaker 3: this is why it's important, you know. So that's part
Speaker 3: of how I got involved with it, and the other
Speaker 3: part of it was through my publicity team, who just
Speaker 3: brings me important things to align myself with if I
Speaker 3: if I so choose. So that was really how I
Speaker 3: became a part of it. I can travel a lot
Speaker 3: as an actor, as you well known. So I found
Speaker 3: that I could support Feeding America, not just in New York,
Speaker 3: where I was living at the time, but also I
Speaker 3: can go to Los Angeles and support I can if
Speaker 3: I'm filming in Martha's Vineyard, I can find some place
Speaker 3: in Massachusetts to go, you know, there's lots of different
Speaker 3: places to ground myself and what I know is the
Speaker 3: most important part of being an actor, which is the
Speaker 3: activism part actor and go out into the communities and
Speaker 3: volunteer very quietly, like no one has to know.
Speaker 2: Nobody.
Speaker 3: I love that you getting the word out for us
Speaker 3: right here by the way. But for me, it's important
Speaker 3: just to do it, you know, for myself, or that
Speaker 3: my children often will go with me when I I volunteer.
Speaker 3: But to reach back to.
Speaker 2: Sorry, sorry, sorry to reach back for.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Okay, we're all crying now.
Speaker 3: Sorry, Sorry to reach back for that Karen. I'm talking
Speaker 3: about reaching back for that nine ten year old telf.
Speaker 3: To reach back for that Karen who brought her grocery
Speaker 3: cart to that church instead of what a courageous, what
Speaker 3: an important, courageous thing she was doing for her family,
Speaker 3: And to reach back for her and to hold her
Speaker 3: close to me is what I do every time I
Speaker 3: go to a facility and stand in line and pack food.
Speaker 3: It's really selfish in a lot of ways because it
Speaker 3: reminds me and reinforces in me that the courage that
Speaker 3: I displayed in those moments was not just for.
Speaker 2: Me, but for my children for everyone, but they needed
Speaker 2: me in that moment.
Speaker 3: And this is a these are these are the moments
Speaker 3: where you know, the rubber meets the road.
Speaker 1: I think for and it's why I think that a
Speaker 1: storyteller that is as brilliant as you are on screen,
Speaker 1: that does walk through the world today as this woman
Speaker 1: with accolades, can particularly be such an incredible advocate because
Speaker 1: you bring your full empathy to the conversation. And I
Speaker 1: when you just told that story, like I see my
Speaker 1: mother and you, I see a girl who ate butter
Speaker 1: sandwiches for a lot of her childhood because there was
Speaker 1: nothing else to eat in her house. I know how
Speaker 1: I felt the first time a woman in our industry
Speaker 1: shared her story with me, and it led all of
Speaker 1: us to share our stories in me too. I know
Speaker 1: whatever we have carried shame or fear about the truth
Speaker 1: is that shame doesn't grow in the light. And you
Speaker 1: bringing to light your personal story alongside you know, it's
Speaker 1: your iteration of each of us knowing what four hundred
Speaker 1: dollars means in our house. It's the personalization of six
Speaker 1: billion meals.
Speaker 3: Right, it's very much, it's exactly, but it makes it
Speaker 3: the most individual.
Speaker 1: Yes, and the number of women I imagine who've heard
Speaker 1: your story and then say, I don't need to feel
Speaker 1: shame here. I can actually take this feeling of fear
Speaker 1: and go to an organization like this, one like Claire's
Speaker 1: and feel health. Howard, No, it's going to be okay.
Speaker 1: We know that there's people looking out for me. It's
Speaker 1: it's an enormous national organization and it's also the most
Speaker 1: one to one personal thing that people can do for
Speaker 1: each other. So I just anyway, now I'm going to cry.
Speaker 1: I so cherish what you ladies are doing.
Speaker 2: I think I'm the only one who's in between tears
Speaker 2: at this moment. But I've got to tell you how
Speaker 2: profound this conversation has been for me. And I want
Speaker 2: to stand up and give a standing ovation to all
Speaker 2: three Karens and to the Karen that you're going to be,
Speaker 2: that you're becoming, because you're not even done right, and
Speaker 2: then as well to talk about your mom and the
Speaker 2: way you did it. Remember, I had an opportunity.
Speaker 3: In my role.
Speaker 2: We were talking about doing some kind of OpEd and
Speaker 2: talking to some people on the Feeding America team about
Speaker 2: what that could look like and feel like. But I
Speaker 2: remember having this moment, and it was with a different
Speaker 2: remarkable supporter and star who works with Feeding America, Scarlett Johansson,
Speaker 2: and Scarlett has our own story, and I remember having
Speaker 2: an epiphany that I think I know what I want
Speaker 2: this to be. And I was so grateful that that
Speaker 2: Scarlett could see it and that we could both embrace it.
Speaker 2: And it was this idea of a love letter. So
Speaker 2: we did this open letter in the USA today and
Speaker 2: it was a love letter to parents who live with
Speaker 2: food and skills, and it was to celebrate who they
Speaker 2: are and their resiliency and their courage and their bravery
Speaker 2: the way that they, as hard as me, make it
Speaker 2: in our society to be in the status of being
Speaker 2: while on the one hand, we love to think of
Speaker 2: ourselves as the rags to richest culture, you know kind
Speaker 2: of place, but we actually don't want to talk about
Speaker 2: the rags.
Speaker 1: We just like the richest part, which.
Speaker 3: Don't give me the richest, honey, don't tell there came
Speaker 3: the riches, right, But but there's always a process for
Speaker 3: getting there, and we do get the chance, many of
Speaker 3: us uh to get there, and all of us who
Speaker 3: are participating right now got that chance.
Speaker 2: So I just want to say that as you were talking,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking a salute to the Karen taking the salute
Speaker 2: to your mom. What's your mom's name. I don't know
Speaker 2: your mom's name. Oh, my mom's Willie, Willie Ray, she's passed.
Speaker 2: And what about your mom making butter sandwiches, Maureen Mareene, Well,
Speaker 2: salute to marine. Listen. I've had a butter sandwich. That's
Speaker 2: that's not a bad sandwich.
Speaker 3: Let me tell you it's not.
Speaker 2: But it's not. But but you don't want to have
Speaker 2: it every day?
Speaker 1: Not every day.
Speaker 2: But I will tell you on that subject that we
Speaker 2: were talking about processed foods earlier and and and we
Speaker 2: have had a movement to uh, there's a there's a
Speaker 2: stereotype related to the kinds of foods that people get
Speaker 2: in the Feeding American network. And some of those foods
Speaker 2: are in fact shelf stable and sometimes are in cans,
Speaker 2: for instance. And sometimes that's true because many of our
Speaker 2: partners don't have access to refrigeration. So what we do
Speaker 2: as a national organization is we find ways to get funding,
Speaker 2: and then we pass that funding down into local communities
Speaker 2: and make certain that that little teeny weeny uh church
Speaker 2: basement pantry gets refrigeration so they can then share nutrition,
Speaker 2: lead and foods. But over time, now over seventy percent
Speaker 2: of the foods that we provide us a network our
Speaker 2: Foods to Encourage. So I'm proud of that. We're getting better, better,
Speaker 2: We're getting better and better at it.
Speaker 1: We'll be back in just a minute after a few
Speaker 1: words from our favorite sponsors, Claire, Can I ask you,
Speaker 1: can you can you explain for folks at home that
Speaker 1: are like, wait, what does that mean? Foods to encourage?
Speaker 1: How how does an organization that, yes, is doing the
Speaker 1: incredible community based service work of food, how do you
Speaker 1: also look at the science of food, the data of food,
Speaker 1: because that's that's got to be a big important part
Speaker 1: of your mission.
Speaker 2: It's a huge important part of our mission. We care
Speaker 2: what we what we provide, and people experiencing hunger care
Speaker 2: what they get. Yeah, and they ought to have some
Speaker 2: agency in what they get, by the way, so we
Speaker 2: do focus in on how can we make certain that
Speaker 2: there is significant nutritional density and the food that we provide.
Speaker 2: So someone else came up with the definition of foods encouraged,
Speaker 2: like somebody else came up with the definition of food
Speaker 2: and security. But essentially it would be foods that have
Speaker 2: nutritional density that would be important to a thriving body, right,
Speaker 2: And seventy percent of our foods, over seventy percent meet
Speaker 2: that measure. So I'm proud of that fact. And there's
Speaker 2: more work to be done there. Although I will say,
Speaker 2: it's so interesting how I had found in my own
Speaker 2: life it's inside of struggle that I usually have had.
Speaker 2: Some of my best bonding has happened in struggle. And
Speaker 2: then there's this common language that you get and common
Speaker 2: experiences that you have inside of struggle. And you were
Speaker 2: talking about sandwiches to this day, and I know that
Speaker 2: it is not nutritionally done. So for anyone who's gonna
Speaker 2: watch or listen, understand that.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: If you're like, please don't come for me in the comments.
Speaker 2: This is not this is not a food to encourage.
Speaker 2: This is not a food to encourage. But government cheese.
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. I had yet to meet a person
Speaker 2: who whose family access the federal commodities who does not
Speaker 2: have stories about government cheese. And it's a binding story,
Speaker 2: you know, it's oh, how did you do it? Like
Speaker 2: where I'm from in Appolusa's Louisiana, South central Louisiana. We
Speaker 2: had a lot of fig trees, so and my mom
Speaker 2: had to be skilled in canning foods, so she can figs. Right.
Speaker 2: So we had like a fig preserve, which by the way,
Speaker 2: is very expensive in regular stores, was not expensive at
Speaker 2: all to can, right, So we had can can figs
Speaker 2: and we would take our We take two slices of bread,
Speaker 2: we put some government cheese, thick slice of government cheese
Speaker 2: on top, put it inside of the oven, let it
Speaker 2: start bubbling, and then put some big pursers on top
Speaker 2: of it and eat it as a sandwich. I did
Speaker 2: not feel I was settling when I was eating delicious.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Yeah, I would like a well open
Speaker 1: face right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I've been in New York and in l a
Speaker 2: and I've been at restaurants and they come out with
Speaker 2: brushett or whatever, and I'm like, this is looking like
Speaker 2: my government cheese sandwich because that was breaking in. They'll
Speaker 2: sprinkle in a few walnuts, right yeah, and then and
Speaker 2: some apples and now you're.
Speaker 1: Set and and poof, then it's a Christine cross exactly.
Speaker 2: There you go, it's a Christini exactly. So but I
Speaker 2: want to I want to mention that because it's true.
Speaker 2: But the other thing is why it would be that
Speaker 2: I would I would want to participate in celebrating people
Speaker 2: experiencing the most innovative, creative, make a way out of
Speaker 2: no way, resilient human beings I've ever been in my life,
Speaker 2: hard working, dedicated, full human beings I've ever met in
Speaker 2: my life are people living in poverty, people experiencing food
Speaker 2: and security. And that is so emblematic in my mind
Speaker 2: of how you take something that by itself probably doesn't
Speaker 2: feel like the best thing, but then you put everything
Speaker 2: you got into making it something that tastes great. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's amazing, right, And you don't have to pay nearly
Speaker 2: as much to get those government cheese sandwiches with preserves
Speaker 2: as you would in some of these fancy restaurants. But
Speaker 2: it's so emblematic, as I said, and I'm proud of
Speaker 2: the work that we do. Something else that your conversation
Speaker 2: caused me to think about that I thought maybe I
Speaker 2: jump in with as well, is how well. Two other
Speaker 2: things that came up. One of them is I think
Speaker 2: it was Karen who talked about this transcends politics, no
Speaker 2: matter who you are, no matter where you are are,
Speaker 2: on the spectrum, whether you self describe as a conservative
Speaker 2: or self described as a progressive, or somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 2: Over the course of the last several years, that will
Speaker 2: have been moments that will have caused you to question
Speaker 2: the goodness of this country. And I'm so grateful and
Speaker 2: I feel so privileged that that's something I don't question
Speaker 2: because I have Karen out there on both coasts. But
Speaker 2: I've been to all fifty states and Puerto Rico, and
Speaker 2: no matter what state I went to, even in the
Speaker 2: middle of a global health pandemic, when you do remember
Speaker 2: there was a time when you turn on the television
Speaker 2: and it was actually a scroll that would identify how
Speaker 2: many people died of coping. Even in the midst of that,
Speaker 2: there were people who left their homes volunteered to make
Speaker 2: sure that neighbors have the food that they need. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it happened everywhere, every single state across the whole
Speaker 2: United States. I have no doubt that we have good
Speaker 2: inside of us. I have no doubt that we do good.
Speaker 2: And this is one of those kinds of causes. Well,
Speaker 2: no matter what it is that you care about, you
Speaker 2: should probably also care about hunger because people probably can't
Speaker 2: get whatever that thing is without it. So you care
Speaker 2: about education, people can't without nutrition, you know, et cetera,
Speaker 2: et cetera.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and ladies as partners for good. Yes, Well, first
Speaker 1: I should respond to say, of course this is a
Speaker 1: transcendent issue, and I would be remiss to not acknowledge
Speaker 1: that I am very scared for food and secure folks.
Speaker 1: With the incoming administration that you know, ended the child
Speaker 1: tax credits, you know in the House that took fifty
Speaker 1: percent of American children living in poverty out, and then
Speaker 1: they decided they didn't want one side to have that win,
Speaker 1: so they ended it. And now we've got you know,
Speaker 1: billionaires talking about cutting chips and cutting food security programs
Speaker 1: and you know, cutting the sorts of resources that are
Speaker 1: supposed to be our social safety net that do create
Speaker 1: those bonding conversations for adults who get to say, oh,
Speaker 1: how did you do it when that was your family
Speaker 1: with you know, that package that came. How how do you,
Speaker 1: as you know, both the head of our largest food
Speaker 1: organization and Karen, how do you as a spokesperson who
Speaker 1: I would imagine is on an awful lot of these
Speaker 1: you know, big board and organizing calls. How are you
Speaker 1: preparing folks who need assistance for I won't say the guarantee,
Speaker 1: but the you know, the threat that the programs will
Speaker 1: be further cut. How do you begin to prepare to
Speaker 1: respond and tell people out there who are probably terrified, Hey,
Speaker 1: we got you, Hey we have a plan. How do
Speaker 1: how do how does an organization of this size prepare
Speaker 1: to be nimble in the face of political change? Because
Speaker 1: it should be and is an a political issue, but
Speaker 1: we know it won't be treated as such necessarily. I'm
Speaker 1: curious how you make sense of that.
Speaker 2: It's actually remarkable that this is one of the very
Speaker 2: few issues that we have consistently gotten bipartisan support for. Okay, right, So,
Speaker 2: in the in the last Trump administration, when the trade
Speaker 2: mitigation foods were out there with the tariffs, remember that
Speaker 2: that had a significant impact on American farmers, burst producers,
Speaker 2: the beneficiaries of all of that extra food or people
Speaker 2: experiencing hunger. I mean they ended up distributing. We as
Speaker 2: a network, in fact, were the principal ones who got
Speaker 2: that food out to people, some beautifully nutritionally dense food, protein, dairy,
Speaker 2: fresh vegetables. Those things happened and now there. And then
Speaker 2: the other thing we talked about the child tax credit.
Speaker 2: I heard the President elects say that he plans to
Speaker 2: restore the child tax credit. I heard the Vice president
Speaker 2: say that she planned to restore the child tax credit.
Speaker 2: When you have a tool that reduces child poverty by
Speaker 2: nearly you have over forty percent really going to use
Speaker 2: that tool. So we're not giving up? Is so answered
Speaker 2: the question first, we are so far from dn it.
Speaker 2: We are going to go wow, advocate through the things
Speaker 2: that people experiencing hunger say that they need to thrive.
Speaker 2: We're going to make arguments that we consider compelling around
Speaker 2: law everybody, why everybody should want this, no matter what
Speaker 2: their politics. So as an example, we were talking about
Speaker 2: what effectively talking about what hunger looks like in America.
Speaker 2: It looks like you, and it looks like me. Bi plurality.
Speaker 2: The largest number of people who experience hunger in this
Speaker 2: country are white. Inordinately black and brown people experiences experience hunger,
Speaker 2: But there is no group of people. It's not it's
Speaker 2: just an urban issue. It is not just an urbane
Speaker 2: and it is an urban issue, and it's a suburban issue,
Speaker 2: and it's a rural issue. As well. So we're hopeful
Speaker 2: and planful. Hope is not a plan. Hope is not
Speaker 2: a plan, but you need hope to be planful, I think.
Speaker 2: So we're hopeful and planful around how it is that
Speaker 2: we're going to address these things. And then when I
Speaker 2: get a chance like this one, and I'm in the
Speaker 2: company people like the two of you, my desire is
Speaker 2: for people to come to us so they can go
Speaker 2: to Feeding America dot org and and if they there's
Speaker 2: a food bank locator on that website, and all I
Speaker 2: have to do is type in there, there's zip code,
Speaker 2: and what will pop up is the local organization that
Speaker 2: is there, committed and dedicated to serving their needs. And
Speaker 2: we will go up with them and for them. We
Speaker 2: always have since our inception, and we always will. Yeah,
Speaker 2: there's a little thing I say, if you don't mind,
Speaker 2: I talk about the difference between how we stand. So
Speaker 2: some organizations are bipartisan, we are not bipartisan. A bipartisan organization,
Speaker 2: I think, often finds self reduced to the lowest common
Speaker 2: denominator on things. We are non partisan. We touch tens
Speaker 2: of millions of people every year. We have an opportunity
Speaker 2: to ask them, who are you what would be helpful?
Speaker 2: Why are you in the line? In that line, and
Speaker 2: then we respond to that with our policies, the policies
Speaker 2: that we remove, and the way I often say it is,
Speaker 2: I I don't care what you call yourself. If you
Speaker 2: are inclined to be helpful to people experiencing hunger, as
Speaker 2: they have expressed what help looks like, then come and
Speaker 2: join us, because we don't plan to move. We're going
Speaker 2: to stand right next to them, right and I don't
Speaker 2: again say you're a Republican. Wonderful Come on, if you
Speaker 2: are willing to want to be a part of this
Speaker 2: thing that they say that they need in order to thrive,
Speaker 2: or if you're progressive or anything in between. We don't
Speaker 2: plan to move away from from people experiencing hunger in
Speaker 2: any administration, and with that as our true north, we
Speaker 2: will find it to make certain that they get what
Speaker 2: they need always.
Speaker 3: I also think that there's this this idea. I think
Speaker 3: every time we experience something like as much political and
Speaker 3: social unrest as we have, that is the idea that
Speaker 3: it's the first time we've ever experienced it. But the
Speaker 3: truth of the matter is that Feeding America has been
Speaker 3: around for decades like this is not the first.
Speaker 2: Time in America that we have thought, how are we
Speaker 2: going to make it through this?
Speaker 3: Because it feels like our political that we are so
Speaker 3: disparate politically as a group of citizens. How do we
Speaker 3: make this thing work? And for me, I, you know,
Speaker 3: I harken back to this thing my former mother in
Speaker 3: law would say about has said, which is the cabalistic
Speaker 3: or Jewish idea of benevolence, of leaning.
Speaker 2: Into each other and leaning into the.
Speaker 3: Glue between us as as human beings that keeps us together.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: And so for me, I Leen, as a human being
Speaker 3: and as an actor and as an activist, I lean
Speaker 3: into the I lean into the areas again that common ground,
Speaker 3: but also the glue that hold together, which the Jewish
Speaker 3: religion refers to as has said, and we don't do
Speaker 3: enough of that. I think that's where benevolence is, That's
Speaker 3: where generosity is. That's where that thing that Claire talks
Speaker 3: about hope is.
Speaker 2: We're optimism. It's leaning into.
Speaker 3: Those spaces with our our our fellow citizens.
Speaker 2: And also into organizations like Feeding America. I mean again,
Speaker 2: it not doesn't matter the administration that is in office.
Speaker 3: Feeding America is there has been there doesn't It really
Speaker 3: doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: It has been needed. And so what I hope is
Speaker 2: that that.
Speaker 3: You know, by leaning into these organizations that are here
Speaker 3: for us as Americans feeding America, that will we'll find
Speaker 3: ways we can come together right in what we really
Speaker 3: need to do.
Speaker 1: And now for our sponsors, I so appreciate both of
Speaker 1: your perspectives on that, because you know, we take a
Speaker 1: lot of questions here. You know, at the podcast, we've
Speaker 1: got a great production team that's in touch with our
Speaker 1: listeners a lot, and there is a lot of fear.
Speaker 1: You know, we've been going through everybody's are inboxes and
Speaker 1: it's why I was really excited to ask you to
Speaker 1: that question in particular because I think you know, people
Speaker 1: will see on the news, well, this party torpedoed something
Speaker 1: that was great for kids because they didn't want the
Speaker 1: opposing party to have a win. That's a hard pill
Speaker 1: for the American public to swallow. It's certainly a hard
Speaker 1: pill for me to swallow. And I know for both
Speaker 1: of you, and I think what you've both just shared
Speaker 1: is so important because you've reminded people that no matter
Speaker 1: what fighting people might be having, you know, for their
Speaker 1: political points so they can go on the news and
Speaker 1: say sassy things across the aisle. Y'all are doing the work.
Speaker 1: No matter what the work happens. The work happens in community.
Speaker 1: We have each other, no matter who has a seat
Speaker 1: in Washington. And it's really really important, I think, as
Speaker 1: you said, to remind people of the hope and that
Speaker 1: that hope can be reinforced because you have a plan
Speaker 1: and that plan doesn't change, and that I feel myself
Speaker 1: taking a deep breath, and I can guarantee y'all that
Speaker 1: there are people listening to us right now going oh,
Speaker 1: thank God, like I really needed that. I needed to
Speaker 1: know that, so thank you.
Speaker 2: Well. When my son was little, I remember he came
Speaker 2: to me, it's very little. I have a daughter, his son,
Speaker 2: and my son was explaining how much he admired someone
Speaker 2: and he said, because that person was brave, and there
Speaker 2: may be someone who listens who says, Claire, that was
Speaker 2: the wrong thing to say to your son, but he said,
Speaker 2: And I said, oh my, and I thought that was
Speaker 2: a sophisticated word for him so little. And he said,
Speaker 2: I said, so what's bravery and he said, it's when
Speaker 2: you're not scared. And I thought, really, well, then the
Speaker 2: person you're describing is foolish. And he looks at me
Speaker 2: with his eyes wide open. He says, huh, And I go, well,
Speaker 2: there are things to be afraid of. Bravery is to
Speaker 2: know they're a risk and to do the thing that
Speaker 2: needs to be done anyway. So if your listeners feel
Speaker 2: angst concerned, there's reason to feel mean. But then what
Speaker 2: are you going to do with that? But you're just
Speaker 2: going to sit and some people, well can't get over it,
Speaker 2: and they can't they there's nothing they can do, or
Speaker 2: they feel like there's nothing they can do. I've talked
Speaker 2: to the people on our team at Feeding American Ascent
Speaker 2: well rarefied air we breathe here that in the midst
Speaker 2: of all of this, you don't have to question whether
Speaker 2: you can be helpful. Your job positions you to be helpful. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we get to pull our sleeves up and do the
Speaker 2: things right, and that's that's It's just such. It feels
Speaker 2: like a privilege. It feels like a privilege. Yeah, there's that.
Speaker 3: There's that extraordinary phrase that you mentioned that Claiar, we
Speaker 3: must be honey cousins, because because I've heard this phrase
Speaker 3: throughout my life. That make up that seven workers make away,
Speaker 3: no Way, make away, no way to know, which is
Speaker 3: this sort of it's a mission statement, of course, it's
Speaker 3: a mantra, it's an affirmation that's that we're talking about
Speaker 3: kurage and bravery and what that looks like. But as
Speaker 3: i've which word, I've realized that that that it's of course,
Speaker 3: it's something you a touchtone for us to connect to.
Speaker 3: Certainly as African Americans, we hear about all the time
Speaker 3: in our own.
Speaker 2: Way out of no way.
Speaker 3: Maybe she made a way out of no way to
Speaker 3: you know, But the truth of the matter is that
Speaker 3: that's not that's not really true.
Speaker 2: There there there is a.
Speaker 1: That no way way is.
Speaker 2: Actually Feeding America.
Speaker 3: Right. The other organization that you can connect to actually
Speaker 3: helps that.
Speaker 2: Idea, I think is now I feel like it's almost
Speaker 2: entirely false. It's this way of you.
Speaker 3: Know, trying to create this superhero energy, this black girl,
Speaker 3: this you know, this idea that we are invincible, we can.
Speaker 2: Do it on our own. The truth of the matter
Speaker 2: is that we need each other.
Speaker 3: That yeah, and that no way is actually you know,
Speaker 3: organizations like Feeding America or another organization I support City
Speaker 3: Harvest or another. All the organizations that are here have
Speaker 3: been here for decades of time that fill in the
Speaker 3: gaps for it. It does want my heart that when
Speaker 3: you are on your list, you mentioned Feeding America and
Speaker 3: then you mission City Harvest, which is a Feeding America
Speaker 3: food bank. I'm just saying, but there also are other
Speaker 3: powerful organizations start doing extraordinary things. And in my own
Speaker 3: story around my own food and security, it was a
Speaker 3: Salvation arn't me?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I with my tail between my legs, my
Speaker 2: head down first to graduate. You know, we didn't graduate.
Speaker 2: My parents didn't graduate high school. My grandparents didn't even
Speaker 2: go to school, formal school. And there I was, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, wait a minute, they're counting on me. I'm
Speaker 2: supposed to be the rock star, right, don't. I don't
Speaker 2: get to not be able to put two pennies together
Speaker 2: to eat what I've got to do. And it's the
Speaker 2: counter to a success story that my I think my
Speaker 2: parents were counting on me being one of the ones
Speaker 2: who would be able to make it on my own,
Speaker 2: and there I was unable, and I my again, head down,
Speaker 2: tail between my legs, went to the Salvation Army on
Speaker 2: Airline Highway and back rouge Louisiana. I was in college
Speaker 2: law school at the time. This lady walks up to me,
Speaker 2: and I sheep sheepishly walk with her over to her cube,
Speaker 2: her desk, and she's she Then she just, baby, you
Speaker 2: need help. I can still hear her. I can hear
Speaker 2: her today. You need help. I remember still heads down saying,
Speaker 2: head down, saying yes, ma'am. She said, well, baby, I'm
Speaker 2: going to help you. And then she proceeded to help me. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And she gave me food stamps and and I went
Speaker 2: and used those food stamps. And I'm grateful that I
Speaker 2: didn't have to go back. But I had no food,
Speaker 2: I had no money, I had no guess I didn't
Speaker 2: make a way out of no way. Karen, thank you
Speaker 2: so much that I made a way and we made
Speaker 2: a way together.
Speaker 3: Because I think, I think also that that thing of
Speaker 3: that sigma, that shame. Oh, I've got an education and
Speaker 3: I'm the first I can do this. I did to
Speaker 3: really understand that, you know, we.
Speaker 2: Need each other.
Speaker 3: Yes, it doesn't matter how much education you have, or
Speaker 3: how much money you have or I up in the.
Speaker 2: Whatever. We need each other.
Speaker 3: Yes, And that is that is uh inherent to the
Speaker 3: human again, no matter your religion or a political party
Speaker 3: or wherever, we're going to meet each other.
Speaker 2: And that's I think.
Speaker 3: The real the real power of places organizations like Feeding
Speaker 3: America where we where we can see reflected very clearly.
Speaker 1: And now a word from our sponsors that I really
Speaker 1: enjoy and I think you will too. And when you
Speaker 1: talk about that, both of you, you know, no way
Speaker 1: is actually the organizations that can pick you up. That
Speaker 1: the imagery I keep having is of you know that
Speaker 1: adage a rising tide lifts all ships. It's in community
Speaker 1: that we become the tide. Right, Everybody at some point
Speaker 1: needs to be picked up, no matter how big their
Speaker 1: boat is, and and organizations like this one are the tide.
Speaker 1: So thank you, I mean truly thank you both so
Speaker 1: much for what you do. Thank you for sharing such
Speaker 1: incredibly personal stories. I hope that everyone at home is
Speaker 1: as moved as I feel. I hope that, as Claire said,
Speaker 1: folks visit Feeding America dot org figure out how to volunteer.
Speaker 1: How how I'm curious about this because I have a
Speaker 1: lot of friends with young kids, a lot of sweet
Speaker 1: little babies in my life. How old can kids be
Speaker 1: to come in and volunteer with their families. Is there
Speaker 1: an age limit or how does that work for you?
Speaker 2: All? It ends upon what the activation is great, and
Speaker 2: what the food bank is or the pantry. But there
Speaker 2: are kinds of activations that little tea, we little ones
Speaker 2: can great. Then and then sometimes you're in a big
Speaker 2: warehouse and they're forklifts moving around, so it would be
Speaker 2: it would feel unsafe. But one of my favorite places
Speaker 2: that I've seen kids volunteers in Orange County, they have
Speaker 2: quite quite a group of child volunteers and they work
Speaker 2: on a farm and they don't do this intense labor
Speaker 2: on the farm, but they participate in the process of
Speaker 2: ensuring that something grows and that the thing that grows
Speaker 2: provides nourishment and it is so beautiful to witness. So
Speaker 2: it really depends. But what I can tell, you've got
Speaker 2: a teenager, We've got we've got some work for that
Speaker 2: teenager in all of these spaces.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know you said you take your kids, and
Speaker 1: I just think, I think to let kids grow up
Speaker 1: in service and grow up understanding the value of community
Speaker 1: is so important. So I'm thrilled to hear that. You know,
Speaker 1: depending on the activity, kids of all ages are welcome.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my kids all volunteered, gave out Halloween candy.
Speaker 3: My kids were at in activation, My daughter and I
Speaker 3: were passing out foods at a project in Queens.
Speaker 2: My son was in Brooklyn the City Harvest and we were.
Speaker 3: You know, passing out food. There is to put it
Speaker 3: in your family, to make public service a part of
Speaker 3: not just civic duty, but a part of how we
Speaker 3: live our lives. I think so so powerful. It really
Speaker 3: puts into perspective that the priority priority in our lives
Speaker 3: is really being in service to each other, from from
Speaker 3: cradle to grave, from cradle to grave. And and that's
Speaker 3: something that we have to teach our children about. We
Speaker 3: have to raise them to understand that they're not just
Speaker 3: living for themselves.
Speaker 2: Right, and the giver will receive right, So they're going
Speaker 2: to get stuff out of it. And often it's one
Speaker 2: of their biggest issues with their parents is that they
Speaker 2: have no agency. Right. They're like, you tell me everything
Speaker 2: to do and how to do it and all those things.
Speaker 2: And there's something so beautiful and powerful about being around
Speaker 2: you when they're volunteering. And and you know, I also
Speaker 2: recommend to people who are going to have their children
Speaker 2: be in service that you not use it as a penalty. Well,
Speaker 2: you don't seem to understand how good you've got it.
Speaker 2: So I'm about to take you with me so you
Speaker 2: can see, and then you're gonna have to it's it's
Speaker 2: a it's a privilege to serve. Yes, So we know
Speaker 2: how to amp things up for kids. We know how
Speaker 2: to say, guess what we get to do today. Oh
Speaker 2: my goodness, we're going to get a chance to get
Speaker 2: our hands dirty because we're going to work in the
Speaker 2: community on the community farm. You're going to get to
Speaker 2: taste carrots and I won't even make you wash them
Speaker 2: as they're organic. You know, you do it. You know
Speaker 2: people how to do hype games, so you don't do it.
Speaker 2: And then there are things that I when my kids
Speaker 2: were getting at a point, and now they're both adults,
Speaker 2: but when they're getting at a point, we're in the
Speaker 2: back of my mind, I was thinking, huh, you're feeling
Speaker 2: a little seeming a little smug to me. Rather than
Speaker 2: tell it to them, I'd say, hey, you know, we'd
Speaker 2: get a chance to go by X place to volunteer.
Speaker 2: I love it. I think you do such a great
Speaker 2: job there. I love it. If you came with me,
Speaker 2: I know you'll make a big impact. And then they
Speaker 2: come and then at least for a little while, at
Speaker 2: least for the ride home, and then not complaining about
Speaker 2: foolishness in my car, right whereas on the way going
Speaker 2: they were complaining about foolishness. So it is a powerful,
Speaker 2: powerful thing to instill in the young people that.
Speaker 3: You're surrounded, or in my case with my children who
Speaker 3: have been deeply emotionally and psychologically affected by the pandemic,
Speaker 3: a way to pull them out of sadness or or
Speaker 3: lack of engagement or apathy about what they're dealing with
Speaker 3: personally is to bring to a volunteer space.
Speaker 2: So the energy almost instantly.
Speaker 3: Changes you, right, Claire, You walk into any facility where
Speaker 3: people are about the business of packing, or you know,
Speaker 3: in the back they're having pour in their cup of
Speaker 3: coffee and about getting ready to do the thing that
Speaker 3: we're all there to do, which is to empower and
Speaker 3: support people. Instantly, the cellular makeup changes and you're not
Speaker 3: so into your.
Speaker 4: Own Immediately you come out of that and my children
Speaker 4: deal with, you know, the changes that happen with them emotionally,
Speaker 4: just as teenagers.
Speaker 3: Is to take them to see that there's more to
Speaker 3: this world than just what they're feeling. What they're going through.
Speaker 3: It's a temporary situation. Uh, let's do something to pull
Speaker 3: ourselves out of it. And uh it does the same
Speaker 3: thing you know for me in my life.
Speaker 2: So yeah, the way to help lift them up is
Speaker 2: to be like, yeah, lift them up to Karen, we
Speaker 2: usually have some good music.
Speaker 3: Yeah, plays up tempo to talk to me about what
Speaker 3: is the vibe here?
Speaker 2: What are we going to be doing a little classic
Speaker 2: rock or motown? And there's there are a couple of
Speaker 2: food banks that inside of the warehouse they have disco balls,
Speaker 2: particular in California, disco ball when when you meet a
Speaker 2: particular milestone at that food bank, like you're you're going
Speaker 2: to try to pack three thousand pounds of onions, you know,
Speaker 2: whatever it might be. When you meet a milestone, they
Speaker 2: turn the lights off, they turn on the disco ball, Yes,
Speaker 2: and they play the music for Why MCA and everybody
Speaker 2: stops and start dancing to Why. Oh it's it's a blast.
Speaker 2: So it's fun too. It's usually high energy, a lot
Speaker 2: of fun.
Speaker 1: I think that's the thing. It's always exciting to tell
Speaker 1: people where you give your time, where you donate your time,
Speaker 1: where you show up for others, it will be the
Speaker 1: best time you've had. As you said, the giver receives.
Speaker 1: And what I also love about you know, talking about
Speaker 1: young people and teenagers volunteering is what it says to
Speaker 1: me is they will learn that it is such a
Speaker 1: gift to help others and that they are also allowed
Speaker 1: to ask for help. These these are the sort of
Speaker 1: symbiotic experiences and relationships that I think are healing for
Speaker 1: people on both ends. Are are teachable times, moments, experiences
Speaker 1: for people on both ends. And that's part of why
Speaker 1: I think that community is so important for us as people.
Speaker 1: I mean, you said it, Karen. It gets you out
Speaker 1: of your your own stuff and reminds you of the
Speaker 1: best parts of being a human. And so from the
Speaker 1: enormous organizational undertaking of you know, six point seven billion
Speaker 1: meals to the disco party when the onions are packed,
Speaker 1: where like you know, you're high five in your neighbors
Speaker 1: from top to bottom, it's such a beautiful organization to
Speaker 1: learn more about. And so I really appreciate both of
Speaker 1: you sharing your stories. It doesn't have to necessarily be
Speaker 1: about the work. It can be. But my favorite question,
Speaker 1: my favorite final question to ask everyone who comes on
Speaker 1: the show is this, which is as you look out
Speaker 1: at the year ahead, maybe even more special because we're
Speaker 1: about to enter an actual new year, what feels like
Speaker 1: your work in progress? And that can be you know,
Speaker 1: for you is women, it can be for feeding America,
Speaker 1: it can be for both.
Speaker 2: I'm from small agricultural town in south central Louisiana, which
Speaker 2: used to be famed as the sweet Potato capital of
Speaker 2: the world. I envision spending a lot more time with
Speaker 2: farmers and on farms. One of the myths out there
Speaker 2: about the work that we do is that somehow farmers
Speaker 2: are on one side and answer how your organizations are
Speaker 2: on another site. We have to work together and it's
Speaker 2: a beautiful thing. So I'm planning to get my hands
Speaker 2: dirty and soil over the course of the next year
Speaker 2: to learn more about also learn more about dairy farming.
Speaker 2: I want to be a much better partner for farmers,
Speaker 2: growers and producers coming into the next year. I think
Speaker 2: that starts with seeing them. So I'm planning to have
Speaker 2: my eyes open a bit wider in that space in
Speaker 2: the year to come. Beautiful, Yeah, I think that it's
Speaker 2: such a good question.
Speaker 3: I think finding uh the most meaningful stories to align
Speaker 3: myself with, and uh being the author of some of
Speaker 3: those stories, not necessarily.
Speaker 2: Having the public.
Speaker 3: Be an audience to it, but my children being do
Speaker 3: a meaningful story amount. Not everything can be monetized, Not
Speaker 3: everything needs to have a dollar sign next to it.
Speaker 2: As far as the work that we do as a
Speaker 2: person as.
Speaker 3: Artists, some of those things need to remain in the
Speaker 3: in the co in the bubble, or in the space
Speaker 3: that is just our family, and those are those are
Speaker 3: some of the most meaningful stories to share.
Speaker 2: But also to find incredible women like Claire and my
Speaker 2: I mean this incredible unique position.
Speaker 3: Being around all these women who are doing so much
Speaker 3: important work not just for the world, but also as women.
Speaker 3: What true power looks like now in this inclusive world
Speaker 3: that we live in, what real diversity, what real equity
Speaker 3: looks like, and examining the systems that we've put in place,
Speaker 3: how we are empowering.
Speaker 2: Each other as women.
Speaker 3: It's great, it's a great joy to be acting alongside
Speaker 3: Jen and Reeese and and to be the Morning Show.
Speaker 3: But there's also a great gift in watching people like
Speaker 3: Claire and jin and reading and you know, me, Me
Speaker 3: and all these women do it because we are We
Speaker 3: are a good distance from the hashtag me to movement,
Speaker 3: and we are a good distance from the incredible political
Speaker 3: unrest of twenty twenty and the death of George Floyd
Speaker 3: and how it affected our organizations and our corporations. And
Speaker 3: you know what, way, when the dust is settled, what
Speaker 3: are we what are we actually doing now? And how
Speaker 3: are we in response and not into reaction to all
Speaker 3: this incredible information that we now know about the world
Speaker 3: that we live in. And so my goal is to
Speaker 3: tell the most meaningful stories in that way, and to
Speaker 3: author some of those stories and and.
Speaker 2: And find partners to.
Speaker 3: Do it with, and to continue my work with Feeding America.
Speaker 2: And that's my work. Those are my works in progress.
Speaker 1: Beautiful.
Speaker 2: What about you? Yeah? Can we turn that fable here?
Speaker 2: We all need to to turn the table, do we? Yes? Yeah?
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: For me, I think similarly to both of you, it's
Speaker 1: lean into community always. It's be the tide to make
Speaker 1: sure that, no matter how filled with strife the world
Speaker 1: seems to be, that we are doing this together. I
Speaker 1: really do believe in the power of the ripple effect.
Speaker 1: You know, if everybody drops a positive stone in the water,
Speaker 1: look what happens to the water. And I'm really I'm
Speaker 1: into the water today for some reason, these are all
Speaker 1: my metaphors. And then I think, much much like you're saying, Karen,
Speaker 1: you know, this is my first year in my career
Speaker 1: that I have not been attached to a show, and
Speaker 1: it's so surreal in the best way, you know, I've
Speaker 1: been able to sign on to films and go out
Speaker 1: and see and in a way, even though I've been
Speaker 1: doing this for twenty years, I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: a brand new actor. And I'm so excited to find
Speaker 1: the next right thing for myself in an environment that
Speaker 1: I hope is much like the one you're referring to
Speaker 1: with Mimi and Jen and Reese and yourself. And I
Speaker 1: want the next things to be in cohort with amazing,
Speaker 1: brilliant women that are so fun to be around at
Speaker 1: work and who I learn from and learn with and
Speaker 1: who want to make the world a better place. Like
Speaker 1: it's groups of women like this that I mostly exclusively
Speaker 1: would like to be in. So that is my request
Speaker 1: to the universe for twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: You're going to get it. You're gonna get it.
Speaker 3: There is a great joy in exploring what a power
Speaker 3: dynamic looks like outside of our internalized experience of the patriarchy.
Speaker 2: Yes, there's a great joy in just.
Speaker 3: Exploring it and experimenting with it and saying that I
Speaker 3: don't have to do it that way. And I think
Speaker 3: the only place I've really been able to take advantage
Speaker 3: of it is in spaces where women run the show.
Speaker 2: Whatever that looks like. I wish that for you too.
Speaker 1: Thank you. May it be so it shall be all
Speaker 1: of it for us, ladies.
Speaker 3: Here we go, Here we go, Come on twenty twenty five,
Speaker 3: and let's do this.
Speaker 2: Come on, let's do it.
Speaker 1: Thank you both so much for joining me today. Thank
Speaker 1: you for the beauty that you put out in the
Speaker 1: world with your work. I really appreciate each of you.
Speaker 2: Great way to end twenty twenty four. Thank you Claire
Speaker 2: for being here.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, I'm always excited. I got it. I
Speaker 2: caught it. Yes,