#46. Nourishing Humboldt: Carly Robbins and David Reed’s Journey with Food for People and Humboldt

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, it's 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friends, Carly Robbins and David Reed.

Carly Robbins: Hello.

Scott Hammond: My old best friend from-

David Reed: Best

Scott Hammond: … Food for, Food for People, right?

David Reed: Yeah, Food for People.

Scott Hammond: Nice. So-

David Reed: But we go back a ways.

Scott Hammond: We do, we do go back, and we will talk about that immediately. No. Please don't. So tell us about, uh, wh- who you are, what do you do. Let's start with Carly.

Carly Robbins: Sure. So my name's Carly Robbins, and I'm the executive director for Food for People. I've been there about a little over nine years now.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: I started off as a development director before, um, transitioning into this role this last year.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So you're the e- ex- executive director.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And what's David's role?

Carly Robbins: David-

Scott Hammond: David?

Carly Robbins: … is a-

David Reed: I took over for Carly. Um, yeah, no, I, I, I am in the shadow of, of, of Carly Robbins. I'm been the development director for about a year at Food for People and have been involved in nonprofit fundraising in Humboldt County for a number that is larger than I feel comfortable saying out loud.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we don't wanna make you uncomfortable on the podcast.

David Reed: But it's two, it's definitely two digits.

Scott Hammond: Two digi- Okay. And you're nine years. I didn't know.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But executive for a year.

Carly Robbins: Executive for a year.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah, we actually just saw yesterday, we got the pop-up-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Carly Robbins: … notification that we started the move into our new building one year ago

Carly Robbins: yesterday.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: And I took over as executive director July 1.

Scott Hammond: Time flies when you are having fun.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's true. So tell us about the, your, your director job. What does, what does that entail day to day?

Carly Robbins: I mean, day to day, I guess for any executive director, it could change vastly from day to day.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: But it's just keeping an eye on the overall operations, making sure we have everything we need to keep moving.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: We got a lot of different, different moving parts at Food for People. Um, we got over 18 programs. We're going all over the county every day.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: So it's keeping an eye on logistics, capacity, infrastructure, funding, anything and everything.

Scott Hammond: So pretend I'm just, like, from another planet.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: In a one minute, tell me what Food for People does-

Carly Robbins: So-

Scott Hammond: … for Humboldt County.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. Food for People is the food bank for Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: We operate as most larger food banks in urban areas do, where we, you know, bring in food and we distribute it to a network of agency partners throughout the county. Food for People's also really unique in that we do a lot of direct distribution.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Carly Robbins: So we saw gaps in service and have evolved over the years to meet those. So-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … we do anything from pop-up distributions in the really rural areas of our county.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Um, child and senior nutrition programs that specifically target those demographics when they need it most. Um, emergency food response.

Carly Robbins: We do-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … nutrition education, CalFresh outreach, kind of anything we can do to help improve-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … food security in Humboldt County.

David Reed: Yeah, I think, I think that's because, you know, Humboldt's… S- that's why there's 100% Humboldt Podcast, right, is because Humboldt is an unusual animal in a lot of ways.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: And in bigger places, there's probably a nonprofit that does that nutrition education or the, you know, the, the, the kids, the kids nutrition programs. But Food for People's kind of stepped into the places where there are gaps wherever there's gaps.

Scott Hammond: So there's a lot of places. So say you had a food problem in SoHum, Garberville. You could come and address a regional area or a population.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. Yeah. So w- we work with a, a couple different entities in SoHum, for example.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: We bring food directly to the food pantry there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Our partners down who run the Garberville food pantry, Patty Rose, has been there for a very long time.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Carly Robbins: She's an amazing person.

Scott Hammond: Shout out to Patty. Hi, Patty.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. Shout out, Patty. We also work with the SoHum Resource Center.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: We do pop-up distributions in Redway.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: We bring Backpacks for Kids foods down.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: One of the most recent things we've been working on doing, you know, trying to get food to the areas that have traditionally been underserved.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Carly Robbins: So just this last year in partnership with the SoHum Family Resource Center, we started bringing foods out to Alderpoint-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … which was an area we never served before.

Scott Hammond: Pretty remote.

Carly Robbins: Very remote.

Scott Hammond: Yep. So-

Carly Robbins: We had to get a brand new vehicle that can traverse some- … treacherous roads.

David Reed: There's some cr- especially the winter.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: We're, we're christening it in, like… Although it's already, it's already going there, right?

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: But we're, we're christening that all-wheel drive refrigerated van in a couple of

David Reed: weeks.

Scott Hammond: Wow. That's, yeah, that's cool. So you would go up to Klamath Trinity too and the, the hills up there and-

Carly Robbins: Um, yeah. We, farthest north we typically go on a regular basis is Orick-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Carly Robbins: … on the coast-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … and Orleans on the eastern area.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Willow Creek up that way.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Carly Robbins: Occasionally in the past we've helped, um, in Klamath when Last Chance Grade had that area cut off for a long time.

Scott Hammond: All right.

Carly Robbins: 'Cause traditionally, they're served by the Del Norte Food Bank, but when they were having a hard time making it through-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Carly Robbins: … we would be, you know, we helped out to do some food deliveries to that

Carly Robbins: community.

Scott Hammond: So would you drive all the way around or on a back road or?

Carly Robbins: Well, we could get to Klamath 'cause Last Chance Grade-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause we're on this side. Yeah

Carly Robbins: … was, yeah, on the other side.

Scott Hammond: Great point. Okay.

Carly Robbins: They couldn't, so that was where we-

Scott Hammond: But it's still in their county. Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I got it. Okay. Let me show everybody on my tricky map-

David Reed: Where we're talking about.

Scott Hammond: See your tricky map. Very tricky. It's not tricky. It's beautiful. This is Humboldt County over there. I don't know if you can see it. We're talking about the, the part, the n- the upper right, left, right quadrant. The right quadrant. The other right. Left. Anyway, so yeah, I, usually it's right here and I can point to it and use it as a prop, but right now-

David Reed: It's way far away from your hand

Scott Hammond: … it's not working. It's like I… Yeah, sorry. Anyway, so for those of you that don't know your geography that great. So David and I go way back. We have some history together. How long have we known each other?

David Reed: Uh…

Scott Hammond: I'll answer. Not long enough.

David Reed: Yeah. I, you know, I mean, we were both in, in local media-

Scott Hammond: Yep

David Reed: … for a while.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: Selling advertising.

Scott Hammond: That almost sounds like we were on the air. We were the, the salespeople that made ads

Scott Hammond: on, on newspapers.

David Reed: Yeah. And, and, and ran into each other from time to time.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And then you were in advertising, of course, well, handling marketing for Fortuna, right?Yeah. Yeah.

David Reed: For about 10, 10, 11 years I was-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

David Reed: … the head of their business improvement district.

Scott Hammond: You were with the Times-Standard newspaper.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: This is a weird, this is a weird offshoot.

Carly Robbins: We're going through David's resume, which is an impressive resume.

David Reed: This is a weird offshoot.

Scott Hammond: It is. He's so, he's getting a very… So a newspaper is this thing that you hold, it's made out of print-

David Reed: That you hold in your hand

Scott Hammond: … and you can read it

David Reed: It's made out of wood that has been pulverized and then flattened out, and then you put black and white print on it. Or unless you have a color ad like Ray's Food Place.

Carly Robbins: Mm.

Scott Hammond: Wait. No, really, Dave? You know, the three that are left in the chain. Anyway, sorry. D- no offense to Ray's. Love those guys. So yeah, David and I would run into each other in Arcata. And then, uh, later as I became a cable TV sales guy and you were in

Scott Hammond: Fortuna, I would make David my, uh, lunch date at the Eel River Brewery.

Carly Robbins: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we always hung out.

David Reed: This is a very strange turn.

Scott Hammond: Both married at the same time, so it wasn't any, any sort of

Scott Hammond: other-

David Reed: Scott, Scott used to, um, be, uh, much better at his job than I was, and he would leave business cards

David Reed: behind-

Scott Hammond: Oh, no

David Reed: … at, at-

Scott Hammond: Don't say it

David Reed: … various places in Arcata-

Scott Hammond: Don't say it

David Reed: … McKinleyville that-

Scott Hammond: Don't, don't go in there

David Reed: … and he would say, "Please give this to David when he comes-

David Reed: … the next time." So,

David Reed: so-

Scott Hammond: So-

David Reed: … this is, this is probably payback for, for that

Scott Hammond: … so David would show up and call on a business and walk in, "Hey, I'm Dave Reed with Times-Standard or whoever, and oh, Scott has a business card for you-

David Reed: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … just here."

David Reed: It's really-

Scott Hammond: That happened really?

David Reed: A lot.

Scott Hammond: That's, that's pretty rude.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'm now, I'm no longer that way.

David Reed: Y- you know, it was funny. It was funny.

Scott Hammond: Okay. No, it was, still is funny.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so your day-to-day, what do you, what, what do you do?

David Reed: Yeah. I, you know, I have… I am the person that connects people with something that they believe in. That's kind of what I've, that's what I feel like I do all the time, is, uh, that,

David Reed: you know, I don't ask people for money. People, people want to help others in Humboldt

David Reed: County.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: And we just facilitate that-

Scott Hammond: Mm

David Reed: … happening. And so we ask in a lot of different ways. Um, we mail people things, we talk on podcasts, we, you know, go on radio stations. We do events. But I mean, mainly it's expressing to people what the need is in Humboldt County and how it's changed.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: And then asking people who care, you know, to, to either give their time or give their funds-

Scott Hammond: Mm

David Reed: … or think about us in the future if they're, like, planning their estate or something like that.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

David Reed: And so that's, you know, that's what I do every day, and sometimes it's, it's just thinking about, "Okay, God, what should we do

David Reed: next?"

David Reed: Um, but-

Scott Hammond: So you do estate planning if I wanna give you my Jag and my-

David Reed: I don't do estate planning, but-

Scott Hammond: But you, you could take donations that are big ones?

David Reed: Sure. Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: For sure.

Scott Hammond: What you… So what's, name a big donation. Have you guys had property or land or anything, like a big estate?

Carly Robbins: No land that I am aware of in my time. But actually, when we were in the process of rebuilding our facility, which I mentioned we moved into a year ago today, we actually-

Scott Hammond: Where is it exactly? Is it same, same location?

Carly Robbins: Same location.

Scott Hammond: But you rebuilt.

Carly Robbins: Corner of 14th and Summer-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … if you know where the old DMV is-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … right next door.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Carly Robbins: And we got a bequest kind of in the middle of that fundraising.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: A, a donor, uh, a quiet donor who hadn't let us know had included us in their estate, and that was almost a half a million.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: So that was a huge… You know, we had had a pretty stagnant fundraising period. We were trying to rebuild the building.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Didn't know how we were gonna make it happen. And that came in, you know, kind of like godsend out of nowhere-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … and gave us the push we needed to reinvigorate and, and get there.

Scott Hammond: That's so cool.

David Reed: And the amazing thing is that it was someone who really wasn't, wasn't someone who was even-

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … like supporting Food for People on a day-to-day basis-

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … or even an annual basis, right? I mean, it was just-

Carly Robbins: No

David Reed: … something that was very close to their heart, and-

Carly Robbins: It was close to their heart. They lived close to us-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … or, you know, close to our location, so they saw Food for People

Carly Robbins: regularly.

David Reed: Wow.

Carly Robbins: And yeah, they included us in their estate, and they've… I mean, I credit them a lot with-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … me not having a mental breakdown, but also just-

David Reed: Right

Carly Robbins: … the, the future of Food for People and us being able to get to where we are today.

David Reed: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So I'm curious about, like, the granular story of families that come in without names.

Scott Hammond: I realize-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … there's HIPAA law-

Carly Robbins: Mm

Scott Hammond: … and all, and I'm not asking for that, but kind of the profile of who, who you would tell me about that generally comes in, a demographic overview of here's, here's who we see generally or, or maybe not generally. And also, uh, do- the donor thing, I wanna go back to that, too. Is cash, cash is king probably for all of us 'cause it's flexible.

Carly Robbins: It's flexible. It fills in the gap.

Carly Robbins: We, you know, and nonprofits have many gaps 'cause you're-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … puzzling together funding. But also, when we are purchasing food, we can purchase a lot in bulk, and we do a lot of bulk purchasing.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Carly Robbins: So that dollar really goes a lot farther.

Scott Hammond: So if you have a good kitty of money, you can make those and then

Scott Hammond: store it?

Carly Robbins: Yep. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Keep hitting my mic today. What is-

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um-

David Reed: You should work on that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Thank you for your-

David Reed: I, I was, um, I d- I don't get downstairs into the actual work of the food bank every day.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: But I got to help out in the, on the front desk a couple weeks back, and the thing that always strikes me is even today, even, like, me working at Food for People for a year and knowing Carly for, like, 15 year, 15 years, 10 years, something like that, knowing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … and for before that, I still have this set notion of what I think someone who comes into the Eureka Choice Pantry is or comes to a, a-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … produce distribution is. And it is everybody-

Scott Hammond: Hm.

Carly Robbins: Mm

David Reed: … that you could imagine.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

David Reed: I talked to a mom who had just had, like, you know, she had her six-week… No. Yeah, six-week-old daughter with her-

Scott Hammond: Hm

David Reed: … and her toddler with her, and it was her first time ever coming to the food

David Reed: bank.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

David Reed: Um, there was a couple of gra- people who looked exactly like my grandpa-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … who, like, you know, working dudes who just, you know, they needed help at the end of the month.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: Um, and, uh, a mom who, you know, looked like, you know, every ranch mom I ever knew in Fortuna.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Hmm.

David Reed: It's, you know, it is everybody. Every person you could imagine could, could be someone who needs help from-

Scott Hammond: Right

David Reed: … from Food for People.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. I would echo that. It's, you know, you can't really pinpoint it down to one generalization-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … 'cause it's, you know, every story is different.

David Reed: Sure.

Carly Robbins: We got people who are living on low fixed incomes-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … seniors who are coming in e- every month 'cause they just can't get by on, you know, $900 a month plus rent, utilities, all that.

David Reed: Who can? Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Who can? But then there's also people who come in who had a sudden medical emergency-

David Reed: Mm

Carly Robbins: … and, you know, everyone in the house is working, but-

David Reed: Mm

Carly Robbins: … those costs went way above, and now-

David Reed: Right

Carly Robbins: … they can't make mortgage, they can't make car payment, and all of that.

David Reed: Wow.

Carly Robbins: And, you know, they're at risk of defaulting on something, and-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … food is the thing in the budget that has wiggle room.

David Reed: Mm.

Carly Robbins: But you still have to make sure that your family's fed, so.

David Reed: Love it.

Carly Robbins: We'll get people who it's just a one-time thing 'cause they don't know how to get through that month.

Scott Hammond: So there's probably folks like that that are r- reticent or reluctant or feel, feel weird about receiving. Some of us do.

Scott Hammond: Some of us are, are glad receivers. I would love you to buy me lunch, by the way. Actually, it's probably my… I think it's my turn to buy you lunch. So those folks, i- w- if we were to talk to them to go, "Hey, th- th- this isn't for six-digit income people to roll in and, and fill up boxes. This is… But it's for people that are in need, kind of maybe r- regardless of what…" I don't know. E- there, there must be… Do you see where I'm going with that?

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: There's some people that would be re- r- recalcitrant.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is that a good word?

David Reed: I, I… Erin, who, um, runs the Choice Pantry in Eureka, is, like, the most eloquent person-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … about, you know, people getting rid of the shame of asking for help.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Um, she, she just says, you know, "We are open for you. The name of-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … this place is Food for People.

David Reed: You-

Scott Hammond: Right

David Reed: … are people, and you can't choose not to eat."

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That was the question I was asking.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Food, food receiving shame.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so there's… So she, she takes that out of the equation,

Scott Hammond: or tries to.

David Reed: She tries to, within the d- within the walls-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

David Reed: … of, of the building. I think that's as far as that power-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

David Reed: … goes.

Scott Hammond: And I wanna say hi to my wife, Joanie Joanie. So here comes the Joanie comment. So I would gladly go in. Joanie, 'cause I married the opposite, which often you do, um, would go, "No, no, that's for the, like, the super, super, like, needy, needed, more needful people." And that's… What I'm hearing you say is, "Hey, there's probably enough. It's a b- a universe of abundance, and we can probably take care of most people."

Carly Robbins: Yeah. I mean, I… If you have to make a tough decision on, you know, something super important in your life and food, and you have to prioritize that other bill-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … don't skip a meal. Don't…

Carly Robbins: You know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Food for People is there to help. We're… If you need the help, we're there, and we, we have a lot of ways we try and make it a little less intimidating.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: You know, really meeting people where they're at. Um, the Eureka Choice Pantry, which David was talking about earlier, is modeled to look like a smaller version, but a version of a grocery store.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Carly Robbins: So-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … if you're coming in, it's not kind of what you might picture from many

Carly Robbins: decades ago-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … of, like, the pre-made box with the government cheese.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Carly Robbins: That kind of thing.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Carly Robbins: When you're coming in, we're sitting down, we're having a conversation, wanting to know, you know, first family size, we know how much food t- we can give you. But are there any other services we can connect you

Carly Robbins: to?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Something so hopefully you don't need Food for People in the future.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: And then you get to shop through based on a nutritional point system and take the foods that you want, will use,

Carly Robbins: will fit-

Scott Hammond: Right

Carly Robbins: … your dietary needs. Um, if you have culturally significant foods that, you know, your family prioritizes-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … hopefully we can meet those if-

Scott Hammond: Gluten-free options.

Carly Robbins: Gluten-free. Erin is great about having a little corner with, you know, the gluten-free, soy, or dairy-free-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … options, so-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … hopefully we… you're walking away with something-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … that will be of use.

Scott Hammond: All right. I'm gonna come by next time we do lunch, by the way.

David Reed: You should come for a tour.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Why wouldn't I?

David Reed: I actually… That's, like, not my favorite, favorite thing at my

David Reed: job.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: But one of the things that gives me a lot of joy-

Scott Hammond: Mm

David Reed: … is showing kids and people who donate their time and their money and, you know, just community groups, touring them through the building because-

Scott Hammond: Thank you

David Reed: … it's still really new-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … for us, and it's still really new for most people. I mean, most people even… Uh, we were at a, we were at a rotary meeting, and I thought everybody was gonna raise their hand that they had been in the building, and they, and they hadn't. Um, so it's, it's really great to, like, see, like, what-

Scott Hammond: Proud of your new digs

David Reed: … well, but also what, like, the community does, when, like, the community built

David Reed: this.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: And that's, that's really empowering for people to see is, like, you know, 300% more cold storage-

Scott Hammond: Right

David Reed: … is a big deal when we have, like-

Scott Hammond: It's really huge

David Reed: … an earthquake or a tsunami or something, and it's not just people who are on the edge financially that need the f- the help of Food for People, but it's everybody-

Scott Hammond: Imagine that

David Reed: … who needs Food for People.

Scott Hammond: Red Cross type stuff.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good. So you take kids on tours, like kids like

Scott Hammond: me?

David Reed: Kids like you, but like, yeah, I had, like, this cool homeschool group, and they were great, and we put them on the, we put them on the food scale and- … weighed the whole class and-

Scott Hammond: So as a family of nine being homeschoolers, they're… Cool and homeschool d- don't usually go together.

David Reed: Often don't.

Scott Hammond: There's, there's an oxymoron. Hear that, hon? That's a good one. Um, our, our kids are all homeschooled adults now, and they're, they just feel like they were freaks and weird and-

Scott Hammond: … and, and now weird is cool, so maybe they were cool and they just didn't know

Scott Hammond: it.

David Reed: They just didn't know.

Scott Hammond: Love you kids.

Carly Robbins: Those cycles come around.

Scott Hammond: They… Yeah, they do. They do. Yeah. It's funny. So, uh, so money's important for donors, and-But I wanna go to the other extreme real quick and ask the, the opposite. Uh, you know, we all wanna help that family that's got a bad situation in the down and out. What about the abusive family, the ones that come back again and again? There's, there's no betterment, there's no…

Scott Hammond: I- is it… I don't, I don't mean to say… Let me, let me rephrase. I, I think my question is, what about those who it's just become part of their budget, and that is… Do you exist for that and for that demographic as well? And, uh, maybe, maybe David-

David Reed: I will sim-

Scott Hammond: … will reframe my que- question here

David Reed: … I will simplify and say people need food.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

David Reed: And that's what we're here for.

Scott Hammond: Okay. So-

David Reed: There's not a judgment involved.

Scott Hammond: Okay, so i- if I'm whatever, I, i- if I need food, you're there.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Cool.

Carly Robbins: And I, I'd say it's hard for most people to walk in the door, so people coming just, I don't wanna say for the fun of it, but because-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … they need it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … doesn't often happen.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I, I, I think there's that perception, "Hey, if, if you don't work, you shouldn't eat," type of thing. There- that's out there. That's still old school. It, you know. Um, I'm not saying I espouse that, but I-

David Reed: No, I just-

Scott Hammond: But I'm saying that that's, that's there and, and you go, "Okay, so-"

David Reed: That's, that's not surprising.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And, and Humboldt County has, you know, a really high level of poverty and welfare, and people come here for a reason. I, I just wonder if there's, I don't know, a, a filter for that, and you're saying, "Hey, we feed people." Got

Scott Hammond: it.

Carly Robbins: We feed people. I mean, everything we are… When you come in, we have income guidelines. So you should, you know, fit within those, um, income guidelines for the most part. We do make-

Scott Hammond: There are guidelines. Yeah, okay

Carly Robbins: … there are guidelines.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: And we make exceptions, like, like I mentioned. There might be a family who's just outside of those guidelines and for some reason had an emergency.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Carly Robbins: So if that specific situation comes up, we'll… You know, they won't be getting the USDA foods, for example-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … that we have, but we'll find some way to send them away with something.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Carly Robbins: But for the most part, it is income guidelines set-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … by, you know, the federal government for the USDA guidelines, and we follow that for the most part.

Scott Hammond: Love it. And I'm, um, I'm a recipient of that. As a kid, uh, my mom raised me in San Diego. You might know this. You don't. Uh, we were super poor. Like, she made 100 bucks a week under the table, and we, we lived on nothing, and she raised me hippie feral child, and look what happened to me.

Scott Hammond: I have a little less hair than David, but not much. Anyway, the, the story is that we would go to the Hebrew school, where the distribution center was for the government cheese, the crappy peanut butter, and whatever meat product that is. I mean, I don't know. I, I get… You'll s- you could survive on it, but it's… Whatever the canned meat was was fright- I think it was pork, chicken. Anyway. So very familiar with that. And is that still… Is there still USDA foods that come through the distribution

Scott Hammond: chains?

Carly Robbins: There are. Um, it's a… You know, what you'll see walking through the doors these days for USDA foods is very different.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Carly Robbins: Kind of how it works is food banks get almost like a point system. Like, we have certain amount of, like, quote, dollars, not really-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … dollars that we can use to shop through based on the m- menu they have available. So we pick out with, you know, some limits-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … what food it is that we're getting.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Carly Robbins: So if, you know, no one is taking pinto beans and they're offering pinto beans, we're not gonna order that.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Carly Robbins: You know, if we have a-

Scott Hammond: But if government cheese is popular in Humboldt, then you can…

Carly Robbins: I don't think the government cheese exists, um, in quite the same way that it

Carly Robbins: did.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Am I dating… Am I, am I that old?

David Reed: Well, I don't know. I mean, I'm kind of… I didn't know that we had this in common, but, you know. But I, my mo- my, my, my parents split up when I was about, you know, like 9, 10, 11.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: Uh, and-

Scott Hammond: You too?

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we-

David Reed: And, you know, in Humboldt County, there was no, like… There was no food for people before 1979.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: And-

Scott Hammond: It's that… You're that new

David Reed: … I-

Carly Robbins: 45 years.

David Reed: Yeah, 45 years this year.

Scott Hammond: Sorry. Yeah, I'm dating myself now.

David Reed: But, you know, so there was just, like… You know, you would go and get, like, bread, or you would go and… You know, Mom would go and get, like, some dairy products, and that was it-

Scott Hammond: Right

David Reed: … for, for, for families in Humboldt County at the time.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: So you just, they… You know, you just pieced it together, which is a lot of work,

David Reed: you know.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

David Reed: If you're already, like, working a job and raising two kids, and then you're having to figure out, "Okay, how am I gonna get food?"

Scott Hammond: Rice and beans.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: You know. Or r- or, well, there was no ramen probably even then. That's how old I am. But yeah.

Scott Hammond: There was no what?

David Reed: Ramen.

Scott Hammond: Oh, ramen. Yeah.

David Reed: Right, packaged ramen, 23 cents.

Scott Hammond: That is kinda newer. Yeah. Well, not that new. Anyway. So I have a story that Jamie, my office manager, said that I should repeat, so here it comes.

Carly Robbins: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Big fan. She was a, a student at CR, had 60 bucks for two weeks. She was out of money. She came to y'all in, uh, who knows, '90s, and you guys took care of her. She said, "Make sure that they understand that they helped me."

Carly Robbins: Mm.

Scott Hammond: And she was really grateful. She goes, "Now, that's an agency I would support as a nonprofit locally gladly."

Carly Robbins: Hm.

Scott Hammond: So-

David Reed: That's great to hear

Scott Hammond: … you should hit her up.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'll, I'll go, um… We'll bring her to lunch.

Scott Hammond: No. So let's talk about the c- the county real quick. So what do you see,

Scott Hammond: um, I guess maybe short of connecting to your agency, but what do you see as our s- our challenges and our, our opportunities as a executive director of a

Scott Hammond: nonprofit?

Carly Robbins: Um, well, as an executive director of a, you know, a, a service-centered nonprofit, I'd say we have a really high cost of living, and wages-

Scott Hammond: Boy, oh boy

Carly Robbins: … are not necessarily keeping up. Um, it– Just in the last year, we have seen at least a 30% increase in the amount of people coming to Food for People.

Scott Hammond: That's what I was gonna ask. Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause inflationary spiral and that, so you've seen-

Carly Robbins: All that

Scott Hammond: … you have numbers to say that things are-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the need's going up.

Carly Robbins: The need's going up. You know, we had about six months where we hit a new record every single month.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Carly Robbins: Um, and you know, our staff would come to staff meeting every month and be like, "I don't know how we're gonna do more than this."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: Um, and the stories that we're hearing, you know, it's diverse people, but it's a lot of similar things. It costs a lot. Rent is high.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Gas is high. Everyone's seeing how much it costs at the grocery store.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: It's really hard to make, make it through. And you know, we have-Low unemployment rates going right now-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … but that doesn't mean that all of the jobs out there are paying livable wages.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Carly Robbins: So many of the people that we see-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … are working, but are either underemployed, only part-time work-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … or, you know, the work that they're doing, they're just not getting

Carly Robbins: compensated-

Scott Hammond: Right

Carly Robbins: … enough to live. You know, if you're a single parent these days trying to keep even, like, a two-bedroom apartment, house-

Scott Hammond: Crazy

Carly Robbins: … on minimum wage, it's nearly impossible in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Well, rents, rents are crazy.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Thank you all the people that make $6 a gallon gas for us. Appreciate you-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … doing, contributing.

David Reed: Hey, it's five- 5.37 right now.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, right.

David Reed: Count your lucky stars.

Scott Hammond: It's 4.47 in, like, Hawaii, which is- We were in Maui. We were in Maui a couple months ago, and I'm going, "It's a buck cheaper here. What are you talking about?" So-

David Reed: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … there's that.

David Reed: Used to be Kona and, Kona and Eureka had the same gas price.

Scott Hammond: Right, and San Fran- downtown San Francisco maybe.

David Reed: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we're crazy on that. But yeah, I have a 19 and 22-year-old at home. Guess where they're going anytime soon?

Scott Hammond: Nowhere.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause rent is… Thank you, rent

Scott Hammond: people and gas people, and I, I don't know, to blame Biden wouldn't be fair to sit here on the air and go, "Thanks, Joe," but, uh, thank you, Congre- I don't know. We'll blame somebody. But-

Carly Robbins: Oh, I'm sure there are many a factor contributing.

Scott Hammond: Absolutely. So, so let's cycle back. So you're 30% up. You must have 30% more need. This might be the, the PSA, the, the, a moment that, huh-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … if we wanted to help, what… How could we help as Humboldt, or when this gets, when Nick gets the podcast up and we're in Great Britain, how do people, how do people help Food for People?

David Reed: Uh, well, I think first of all I gotta say that I am astounded at how supportive this community has been for Food for People for so many years because I come from, you know, a couple, three different nonprofits that I've worked for-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … and helped raise, you know, a lot of funds for. But people are so generous-

Scott Hammond: Mm

David Reed: … to give, you know, and give to Food for People until it hurts. Um, and built a, you know, a new facility, $6.2 million, um, you know-

Scott Hammond: Really?

David Reed: … debt-free. Um, and a lot of that came from this very community.

Scott Hammond: I'm hearing that right now for the first time, so-

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … wow, that's

Scott Hammond: impressive.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: And a lot of that money came from here. Uh, y- yeah, of course. I mean, people can go online right now on foodforpeople.org.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: Hit the Give button, and you know, obviously-

Scott Hammond: Food button. Are you guys on Facebook?

David Reed: Yes.

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: And-

Scott Hammond: Instagram?

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Instagram.

Scott Hammond: TikTok?

David Reed: No TikTok, and no-

Carly Robbins: We have our friends out there

David Reed: … and no Twitter, no.

Scott Hammond: No Twitter yet.

David Reed: No Twitter, no-

Scott Hammond: Huh

David Reed: … no TikTok. But, um, yeah.

Scott Hammond: MySpace?

David Reed: Uh-

Carly Robbins: Oh

David Reed: … YouTube though- … which is really-

Carly Robbins: Yes

David Reed: … YouTube is perfect. Our YouTube, our YouTube channel is really neat, and I wish the, more people were on it 'cause, um, it's not just, you know, fundraising videos. It's-

Scott Hammond: It's people

David Reed: … it's nutrition and menus and stuff like that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: But yeah, no, i- to, to make the big pitch-

Scott Hammond: Please

David Reed: … you know, foodforpeople.org and, and click the Donate button or become a Full Plate Partner, which is what we call people who give every single month-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … um, which is a great way to be a really big hero for Food for People without it affecting your individual day-to-day life that much 'cause it's 10, 15, 20 hundred bucks a month-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

David Reed: … instead of laying down a big check.

Scott Hammond: Do you do Venmo and PayPal and all that?

David Reed: Venmo and PayPal and-

Scott Hammond: And cash and-

David Reed: Cash-

Scott Hammond: Just-

David Reed: And vegetables and people dropping off cans.

David Reed: It's-

Scott Hammond: Oh

David Reed: … it all helps.

Carly Robbins: All of it.

Scott Hammond: So the zucchini-

Carly Robbins: Zucchini

Scott Hammond: … the zucchini joke.

Carly Robbins: We'll take the zucchini.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. There's lots of zucchini.

Scott Hammond: Don't…

David Reed: It's coming on in my garden right now.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

David Reed: I've got, I've got two big plants, and I've got one more going in, so I am going to donate my zu- my extra zucchini.

Scott Hammond: So many zucchini jokes coming your way right now, but well,

Scott Hammond: in the fall.

David Reed: Yeah, just-

Scott Hammond: Um, no, I love that. So, uh, can you talk about, like… So there are stores that give you their-

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … whatever day of, day old.

Scott Hammond: Um, do you get to talk about them openly, or d- are they anonymous?

David Reed: Oh, no.

Carly Robbins: No. Uh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Wildberrys, ENF-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Co-op, whatever.

Carly Robbins: Co-op, um, Safeway, Costco.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Carly Robbins: We have a driver who will go around on kind of like a weekly

Carly Robbins: schedule-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Cool

Carly Robbins: … to all of our regular stores-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … and picks up the food that would otherwise go to waste.

Carly Robbins: And I think-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … last year it was just over 300,000 pounds of food-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yeah

Carly Robbins: … um, that we, you know, rescued from local stores and were able to put into the hands of people who could use it.

Scott Hammond: Is it dangerous or wrong for me to eat dated food? I'm always eating dated stuff at work. My staff's getting mad at me.

David Reed: I-

Scott Hammond: "No, it's, it's dead two days ago." I go-

David Reed: I know. I've gotten-

Scott Hammond: … "It's a panettuta, man."

David Reed: I have gotten a total education working at Food for People. There are so many at, you know, experts at Food for People who say sell by dates are a marketing technique. They are not-

Scott Hammond: Oh

David Reed: … they are not a way-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: … they are not telling you to throw away that food.

Scott Hammond: Did you know that?

David Reed: But there are guidelines-

Scott Hammond: I didn't

David Reed: … right? There are guidelines out there.

Carly Robbins: There are guidelines, and yes, sell by dates, best by dates can all be really

Carly Robbins: confusing.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Carly Robbins: You know, for canned foods, we will follow, again, USDA guidelines, which it's usually this year-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … four years in the past is the cutoff of when you should no longer, or if a can is rusty, bulging, anything like that.

Scott Hammond: Right. Right.

Carly Robbins: Obviously fresher foods have their own guidelines, and it kinda depends on the food. But, you know, within reason-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … you know.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Use best judgment.

Scott Hammond: Is it really four years?

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: Four years. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you have some discretion as to what you might distribute.

Carly Robbins: A little bit.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. You know-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … we're obviously not gonna try and distribute anything that we ourselves don't

Carly Robbins: deem safe.

Scott Hammond: Sure. Sure.

Carly Robbins: Um, and we have volunteers who will sit… You know, not everything we get from the local stores is usable. You know, we might get bins of strawberries where some are bad-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … some are not, so we have volunteers who go through, sort that.

Scott Hammond: Who gets that donation?

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Well, you get, you get that food after it's been cleaned.

Scott Hammond: Probably farmers that get that for other purposes maybe. I mean, yeah.

Carly Robbins: You know, the stuff we can't use, we have hog farmers who will come pick up.

Scott Hammond: I remember Williams Brad used to, the, the hog man would come in and get 1,700 loaves of bread of all kinds, and-

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Where, where do you go… "That looks like good bread." "Well, I got a hog farm up

Scott Hammond: in Hayfork."

David Reed: Yeah

Scott Hammond: All right. All right, chief. Get up there, bud. Have fun.

David Reed: I see her, the, the, the farmer who comes by what- once, twice a

David Reed: week.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Perfect. Hey, recycle, reuse, man.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: But yeah, it's, uh… I, I didn't realize also until working for Food for People that, you know, stores aren't

David Reed: necessarily putting stuff out for us when it's expired. It's kind of more like they, they, they know it's like, "Okay, this is… We're gonna pull this now because it's… You know, we're not gonna sell it. We know that."

Scott Hammond: They have their own reasons.

David Reed: "And we, you know, we can get it out to-

Scott Hammond: Ah

David Reed: … people who are at the Choice Pantry." Where else does that food go?

Carly Robbins: I mean, it kinda depends. We have a network of partners we work with.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Um, for, you know, we once tallied, and we were at almost 100 partners in Humboldt County-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … that we work for. Or work with, not for. But, you know, we partner with to make our work possible, and some of those are, you know, congregate meal sites. St. Vincent de Paul comes in. They pick up their own food. Um, we give them food directly.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: You know, so local store donations might go to them.

Scott Hammond: So there's individuals that will cook for the homeless. Will they come and get food from y'all?

Carly Robbins: Um, we work with a whole bunch of nonprofits.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Carly Robbins: As, as long as you serve low-income individuals-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … and kinda meet the requirements on-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Carly Robbins: … you know, making sure you're meeting the silhouettes.

Scott Hammond: It's a whole network.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So gosh, the politics of food are gotta be fascinating, and I don't wanna get there, even try to, but it seems like we manufacture a lotta overage and a lotta surplus.

Scott Hammond: Is that… I mean, even in our little county, we… Uh, it has to go somewhere.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, it could go in the, I guess, in the landfill, which is travesty.

Carly Robbins: It is a travesty, and actually, California recently passed some legislation trying to, I mean, you know, cut down on that. But I would say in Humboldt County, we're a lot better than, say, other places in the state. We have… Food for People has great working relationships with a lot of the farmers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: So we have a whole gleaning program-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … that will go out to farms, get, you know, the extra produce that's not gonna make it to market, or maybe it's a little not

Carly Robbins: as, um, aesthetically pleasing, that kinda stuff that they know-

Scott Hammond: Mm. Mm

Carly Robbins: … won't sell. We'll harvest, bring back. Um, we have backyard gardeners. You mentioned zucchini. Zucchini and apples have their very own season in Humboldt County. So-

Scott Hammond: Oh, like their very own bin.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. Um, bins, plural.

Scott Hammond: Bins. That's funny.

David Reed: So many-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: … apples that we worked with Humboldt Cider Company last year to… We, we couldn't get through all the apples.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause you just got donated tons.

Carly Robbins: To… Yeah, we had a really odd growing season last year because of the rain.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: So the apple crop was just immense.

Carly Robbins: And-

Scott Hammond: Immense

Carly Robbins: … getting so many apple donations, and you can only give out so many-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … before they start to turn. And the ones that were about to or turning, we worked with Humboldt Cider, and they pressed into its very own

Carly Robbins: cider.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: It's Cider for People. I think it's still out there. You can buy it, and $1 of every sale goes to Food for People.

Scott Hammond: That's really cool. I like that.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's a good association.

David Reed: It's just-

Scott Hammond: That's-

David Reed: … yeah

Scott Hammond: … makes sense.

David Reed: Yeah. E- I mean, even with refrigeration, there's, like, only so long you can hold onto an apple.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Right. Well, and then the cider turns into apple… What do they call that, the hooch? The apple cider, uh, when it's- … alcoholic. Why am I looking at you?

Carly Robbins: I thought he was an expert.

Scott Hammond: Why are you looking guilty? That's Nick. He's over there. Don't look.

Scott Hammond: Um, whatever they call it. Well, it's hard cider.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Well, it's hard cider, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: For sure.

Scott Hammond: You give away hard cider? Wait.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: No, I'm f- I, no, I, I totally know you don't do that. So what's in the future? What do you, what do you see in, in the near future? More need and more…

Carly Robbins: I think s- um, strategically, we're looking at, you know, the, um… I don't wanna harp on the pandemic 'cause it's mostly over.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: But the, the feds and the state did a lot of, you know, kind of extra funding support for food banks in the last several years-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … because so many people were experiencing hardship because of the

Carly Robbins: pandemic.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Carly Robbins: And a lot of those are going away.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: And at the same time, as we mentioned, we're seeing a huge uptick in need. Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … right now we're pretty good, but we're looking ahead to what, you know, food banks in all of California are deeming the hunger cliff that we all anticipate. You know, less resources, more need.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: So-

Scott Hammond: It has a name? That's a thing?

Carly Robbins: That

Carly Robbins: is the term.

Scott Hammond: The hunger cliff?

Carly Robbins: The hunger cliff.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Carly Robbins: At least amongst food bankers, which I get is a very specific group of-

Scott Hammond: So it's co- there's a coming…

Carly Robbins: There's a, a coming worry-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … I guess we'll say.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: There's no hard facts yet. But with the state budget where it is-

Scott Hammond: It's a concern

Carly Robbins: … all of that, it's a concern.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: Um, so trying to keep up with that and do it equitably.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: We've been making a really concerted effort, as I alluded to earlier, of looking at where there are food deserts and seeing how we can better serve-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … those communities.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: So in the last few years, we've expanded. We're doing new distributions with partners in Alder Point-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … Petrolia, and Honeydew, Myers Flat,

Carly Robbins: um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … and more to come. So-

Scott Hammond: Wish I had a pointer I could-

Carly Robbins: I know.

Scott Hammond: I'm so-

David Reed: You need a longer, you need a longer stick.

Scott Hammond: I wanna get my geography thing going.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

David Reed: Yeah. And the, and

David Reed: it's-

Scott Hammond: There's-

David Reed: There's so many little pockets-

Scott Hammond: Remote areas, huh?

David Reed: … in Humboldt County.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: And those are the places that need sometimes the most

David Reed: support.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: But it's, it's difficult to get there.

David Reed: Um-

Scott Hammond: But they have good growing places.

David Reed: Right. Sure.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: But, you know, our growing season's only a few, you know-

Scott Hammond: Speaking of growing-

David Reed: The, few months

Scott Hammond: … and the boom-and-bust marijuana industry.

Scott Hammond: That's-

David Reed: Sure

Scott Hammond: … gotta affect that, that bigger inflation picture you're talking about and the

Scott Hammond: need.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause that's, I'm told, heart-wrenching in SoHum. There's just… Market fell out of the bottom of the market, and it's just awful. So I, um… Not to bring up the politics of marijuana, although I have lots of opinions, the, the, the point is, uh, there are people with need.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And families and little kids with need.

Carly Robbins: Yeah, who, you know, have not experienced that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … a lot in their life.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: It's been a pretty dramatic change in the last few years.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Um-And that's definitely an impact. Unfortunately, Humboldt County has a history of boom and bust industries, um-

David Reed: Yes, we do.

Carly Robbins: So I am excited. You know, you asked earlier what can Humboldt County do. I'm excited for some of the potentials, you know, industry expansion that might-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … bring some more jobs and stability.

David Reed: Talk to us. What, what do you see?

Carly Robbins: I mean, I'm not an expert, but there's the fish farm that-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … it will hopefully be coming to fruition soon.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Wind farm. All of that's really far down the line, but I think, um, hopefully will be an investment-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … in a little stability in Humboldt County.

Carly Robbins: It, it-

David Reed: And the trail system, the Great Redwood Trail.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: As I drive home tonight- Yeah

Carly Robbins: … I'm gonna shoot ph- I, I keep thinking I'm gonna shoot a photo while I'm driving. Nah. The insurance guy that's taking photos while he's driving, that-

David Reed: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … doesn't work.

David Reed: It's a good look. Thank you. Thank you for affirming that. Uh, the… So my wife's a trail person and a walker, runner, hiker, and the trail's coming in from Arcata to Eureka as we speak.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: They're, they're grinding. I can see it from here. They're actually… It's gonna be happening before the end of the summer.

Carly Robbins: Oh, wow.

David Reed: Which is really cool 'cause that'll give you basically the power

David Reed: plant to Little River Beach and Clam Beach.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Whoa.

Carly Robbins: On a bike-

David Reed: That's true

Carly Robbins: … or you wanna walk it.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: You can do whatever. And so yeah, I think that's gonna be… And then the trail system coming in from… Uh, where will it start? Like, Willits? I don't know. Bay Area?

David Reed: Probably-

Carly Robbins: Probably-

David Reed: … like the, the rail, rail corridor, right?

David Reed: So-

Carly Robbins: It is that. It's the Eel River, yeah.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: But maybe not in our lifetime, although may you live to see it.

David Reed: Thank you.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Thank you.

Carly Robbins: May you see that. May we all see that. So issues that are the, the coming economy, the election, the, the cliff- Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: The

Carly Robbins: last v- version I saw, it was included-

David Reed: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … which is very exciting.

David Reed: Yeah. I mean, right now-

Carly Robbins: That's cool

David Reed: … our kids summer-

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … food program serves 225 kids.

Carly Robbins: Whoa.

David Reed: In Humboldt County, that's not a lot of kids.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: And that's-

Carly Robbins: Well, the kids are in summer school, thousands

David Reed: … and that's mostly in communities that are, that don't have the ability to have a summer-

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … a summer lunch program and are mostly very rural and r- rural and remote-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: … or at least are just in communities that are cut off in one way or another.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

David Reed: Um, you know, as close as Manila, but as far away as, you know, Willow Creek and

David Reed: Hoopa.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. I liked what you said, re- the, the notion of reasonable

Carly Robbins: people. It might be an oxymoron, but I don't think so, not f- not forever 'cause we're so… One of the themes of the podcast is it's called Cal Poly. That's one theme. The other is, hey, we're pretty divided.

David Reed: It's called Cal Poly. Get it right.

Carly Robbins: It's still HSU.

David Reed: Get it… I know. For me, it's HSU and you, and you too. Um, but that, this division and… But for reasonable people, I like that 'cause we could come together as reasonable people, and a reasonable person, I might assert, would say, "We're in America, man. There's plenty of food." Right.

Carly Robbins: Let's, let's feed hungry people, especially hungry kids. I mean, I… Who's gonna argue that? It's like if there's hunger in Whitethorn, in one family that can't f- what, for whatever reason, figure it out, and you, and you got a, a, a, a warehouse full of food, what's wrong with this? Why would, why would we not get that person fed?

Carly Robbins: So-

David Reed: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … I get that, actually.

David Reed: So, so I mean, that's, that's-

Carly Robbins: Thank you

David Reed: … another thing that people can do is-

Carly Robbins: Mm

David Reed: … that they can, they can find the issues they can, they can agree upon and then advocate for them with legislators.

Carly Robbins: Could I find a food desert in McKinleyville and rep- and report it

Carly Robbins: … and make a recommendation for y'all to, to meet-

David Reed: Huh

Carly Robbins: … a need or get them information? I mean, there must be- I mean, it's always-

David Reed: Not a whole desert, but maybe a family or maybe a tribe of folks that live in cabins up in Westhaven. I… Whatever. Um, maybe tribe's not the word I'm looking for, but-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: … a group of, a c- little community that's kinda hard for food. Is that, is there a referral program where you would, could do-

Carly Robbins: There's no formal referral program, but really, you know, finding out about those areas-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … and, and hearing from it, and ideally, if we have a direct connection-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … there, someone-

David Reed: And they can call you and figure it out.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. Um, we can figure out if there's a way to partner and get food there.

Carly Robbins: The-

David Reed: Oh

Carly Robbins: … the more we know about, the better we'll be able to d- plan.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: So-

David Reed: And the good thing is that, you know, Food for People isn't doing this alone, that there's a network of-

Carly Robbins: Correct

David Reed: … food pantries that, you know, aren't under the Food for People umbrella-

Carly Robbins: Sure

David Reed: … necessarily. They're, they're our partners, and we support

David Reed: them.

Carly Robbins: Right.

David Reed: But, you know, they're, they're the eyes and ears, too.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Um, I got to, like, help out at the Trinidad pantry, and it's once a month, and it is super grassroots. It is in the community hall.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: It is mostly retired people-

Carly Robbins: Oh, they're great

David Reed: … handing out-

Carly Robbins: It's the Lions Club. They do it.

David Reed: It's Lions Club, right.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Right.

Carly Robbins: The Lions do it. Okay.

David Reed: Yeah. Lions are cool. And it's-

Carly Robbins: They're great

David Reed: … it is very, you know… Th- And people come in from the community who are helping out, and they say, "Oh, I heard about this, and I saw so and so-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: … and this guy doesn't live there anymore." You know, so that's, that's some of that is how-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: Those referrals happen.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. And-

Scott Hammond: It might be with seniors. I'm thinking of senior citizens-

Carly Robbins: Mm

Scott Hammond: … too, that are just whatever, for whatever reason can't,

Scott Hammond: can't eat.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: We have a whole program that focuses on seniors, so they either have days in, you know, their unique communities where they-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … can come pick up from us. Or if they can't make it out of the house for whatever reason-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … we have a network of really dedicated volunteers who will come pick food up from

Carly Robbins: us-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Carly Robbins: … and deliver it to the seniors on their route.

Scott Hammond: Wow, that's cool.

Carly Robbins: Mm.

Scott Hammond: I lo- So I love that about you guys already, the fact that you're all networked in and dialed in and-

Carly Robbins: Where was that?

Scott Hammond: And all those drivers are volunteers, which is-

Carly Robbins: Oh, yeah, 100%

Scott Hammond: … so amazing. Are they through you or the senior center?

David Reed: Through us.

Carly Robbins: Uh, they're through us. You know, we partner with the senior center-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Carly Robbins: … um, and they have also many of our volunteers overlap.

Scott Hammond: And they're a great, they're a great group.

Carly Robbins: They are.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, yeah, no, really good. So, uh, w- let's, let's stop the show, and do the quiz. Are you ready?

Carly Robbins: Oh, okay.

David Reed: No.

Scott Hammond: Funny, 'cause it's- … often related to food. David's going, "No, not me."

David Reed: I'm not ready.

Scott Hammond: We'll start with Carly in that case, and-

Carly Robbins: All right

Scott Hammond: … we'll, we'll rotate this.

Scott Hammond: Uh, Carly, and your favorite coffee in town, where do you go for coffee?

Carly Robbins: Ooh.

Scott Hammond: If you could go anywhere and order anything, where would you go? What would you order?

Carly Robbins: I- I'm typically more of a tea person-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Carly Robbins: … if I'm honest. Um, but if I do want a coffee,

Carly Robbins: um, Jitter Bean is close to us-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … so I often go to Jitter Bean.

Scott Hammond: Oh, they're right there.

Carly Robbins: 'Cause they're right down the street.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They have their warehouse over there too.

Carly Robbins: They do.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: They roast, like, two doors down from us. We get to smell it.

Scott Hammond: Rick Roberts, what's up?

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: So probably Jitter Bean.

Scott Hammond: All the Roberts. Okay, Jitter Bean.

Carly Robbins: I, I love all our local c- coffee places, but…

Scott Hammond: Okay, David's had a long time to think about it.

David Reed: I've had a long time to think about this, and this is not where I do go, but it is where I would get my best cup of coffee in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Please.

David Reed: And that is Cafe Mocha.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

David Reed: And it's like-

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh

David Reed: … yeah, I can't get there because it is, like, you know, I love it, but it's not where I work or where I live, but man, that is-

Scott Hammond: And finish c- And take a hot tub while you're there.

Carly Robbins: I know.

David Reed: Right.

Scott Hammond: So the first place in all of Humboldt to have espresso coffee, like the real deal, like a mocha and a latte-

David Reed: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and cappuccino, was Cafe Mocha in Arcata.

David Reed: No way.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, in the, like, er- mid-'80s, early '80s even, and they ha- It's a little Finnish, like, uh, what would you call the house?

Scott Hammond: A house?

David Reed: A house.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: I would call it a house. It's kind of a, it's kind of a-

Scott Hammond: Well, it's a Finnish house

David Reed: … it's that, that, that, that, uh, Tudor English looking-

Scott Hammond: Correct

David Reed: … kind of thing, where it's plaster and, and, and board.

Scott Hammond: Scandinavian, if you will.

David Reed: Scandinavian, possibly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, possibly.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, the hot tub's around, and, and, but the killer coffee.

David Reed: Really g- really good coffee.

Scott Hammond: We have… I gotta take Joni for that. That'd be good.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. My, my favorite coffee, I'm glad you, you asked, Dick Taylor. Oh, wait, here they are.

Carly Robbins: Oh.

David Reed: Oh, actually, you know what?

Scott Hammond: They have killer coffee.

David Reed: They really do.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Followed by Brio. Brio Bakery has that-

Carly Robbins: Oh, they do

Scott Hammond: … blue dolphin something. It's fi- it's all five bucks a cup.

David Reed: Is, is Dick Taylor sponsoring this podcast?

Scott Hammond: Not at all.

David Reed: Okay.

Scott Hammond: No.

David Reed: I just wanted to say.

Scott Hammond: No, but-

David Reed: His bag's right there

Scott Hammond: … I doubt it. Oh, oh, oh, that little bag. Weird. Um, so that's great coffee. Okay. N- next question. Round two.

Scott Hammond: You ready? We'll start with David. For five points-

Scott Hammond: … and the championship, best hamburger, where do you go for a burger?

David Reed: Hmm.

David Reed: Bes-

Scott Hammond: Since it's Food for People, I'm talking about food

David Reed: … besides my house.

David Reed: Um-

Scott Hammond: Can't go to your house

David Reed: … I do love Stars.

Scott Hammond: Stars? Okay. Yeah. They've won Best of Humboldt a number of times.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Would it be okay if everybody voted for y'all for Best of, Best of Humboldt for-

Carly Robbins: We would love that.

Scott Hammond: You would love that?

David Reed: We would love that. We're in three categories.

Scott Hammond: What are the categories? It's, shout out for Best of Humboldt.

David Reed: Let's see. Uh-

Scott Hammond: Through June 30th, you can vote once a day. Go to, go to North Coast Journal-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and Best of Humboldt.

Carly Robbins: Under Services, it says-

Scott Hammond: Services

Carly Robbins: … Volunteer Organization.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Carly Robbins: Which is, uh, w- we're humbled to say we have about 250 volunteers every single month-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … throughout programs.

Scott Hammond: That's huge, yeah.

Carly Robbins: So they m- they make Food for People function, but also-

David Reed: And then under Bonus,

David Reed: there's,

David Reed: uh-

Carly Robbins: Local Cause, I believe-

David Reed: Yeah, Local Cause

Carly Robbins: … and maybe Local Nonprofit.

David Reed: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So three.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's pretty good.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Okay, cool. So we can vote for you.

David Reed: Anybody else have, have a place in that, that quiz?

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Can't really think of any.

David Reed: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Offhand. Maybe, maybe Dick Taylor.

David Reed: Probably.

Scott Hammond: They do.

David Reed: Yeah. No insurance or-

Scott Hammond: So does Jitter Bean, by the way-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and I think Star- may or may not.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, what's your favorite burger?

Carly Robbins: Well, I was gonna go with Stars 'cause I, um, they're a classic, and I love a mustard forward, um-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Carly Robbins: … hamburger.

Scott Hammond: Is that-

Carly Robbins: But-

Scott Hammond: What does that mean?

Carly Robbins: I love mustard on my hamburger.

Scott Hammond: Oh, you just put extra mustard on it?

Carly Robbins: No, I mean-

David Reed: No, their, their, their hamburger is mustard forward.

Carly Robbins: It is.

David Reed: I will give you that.

Carly Robbins: I don't think they even put ketchup on. I mean, you can yourself, but I think they-

Scott Hammond: No, that's a thing.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Carly Robbins: I believe so. Someone might have to correct me on that.

David Reed: Until you said it, I didn't really think about it.

David Reed: That's true.

Carly Robbins: It's delicious. I love it. Um-

Scott Hammond: Is it on the menu like that?

Carly Robbins: I think that's just how it comes.

David Reed: Or is their burger just-

Carly Robbins: That is their standard

David Reed: … really… Okay.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'll try that. That sounds yum.

Carly Robbins: Yeah. So yeah, so I'll go Stars, but, um, there's a new food truck that I am f- failing to remember the name of. I think it's, like, Humboldt Burger or something like that, but it was quite good the last time I had that at the Friday night market.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

David Reed: Is that right?

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Uh, and did you, did you wanna ask me my best burger?

Carly Robbins: Yes.

David Reed: Yes, please. What is your best burger?

Scott Hammond: It's got… Well-

Scott Hammond: … it's In-N-Out Burger. Just, there you go. Okay. Say no more. They said, uh, my daughter just told me this. They're here from Medford. The cheapest fast food in all of Medford, which is pretty big, is In-N-Out Burger. McDonald's is, like, six bucks for a Mc…

Scott Hammond: What's that-

Carly Robbins: Hmm

Scott Hammond: … the little breakfast thing?

David Reed: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: McSen-

Carly Robbins: Muffin.

Scott Hammond: McMuffin. Thank you. On the muffin, wow. It's weird getting old. You kind of-

David Reed: Hard to make those connections.

Scott Hammond: What was your name again? Yeah, so,

Scott Hammond: uh, lastly, round three. We'll start with Carly. This is the tiebreaker.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Uh, favorite pizza.Ooh.

Carly Robbins: Ooh, uh, Live From New York.

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy.

Carly Robbins: That's my favorite.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: I like a, a thin crust.

Scott Hammond: Guess whose 19-year-old son works-

Carly Robbins: Oh

Scott Hammond: … there?

Carly Robbins: Does that mean you get all the free?

Scott Hammond: Well, we can't talk about that on the air.

David Reed: That is really good pizza.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: And they also have, uh, doughs. You can pick up doughs if you make-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … pizzas at home.

Scott Hammond: Paul's did a great job.

David Reed: This is showing my age and ancient Humboldt County cred, but I will never be the same now that there's no Angelo's Pizza.

Carly Robbins: Mm.

Scott Hammond: That is… Yeah, I saw that. We just walked by today. The guy that reopened it shut it already.

Carly Robbins: Oh, no. I hadn't heard that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. They, he… I think he reopened a bunch of restaurants really kinda

Scott Hammond: quick.

David Reed: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Uh, what's your favorite pizza, Davy?

David Reed: That's what I said.

Scott Hammond: Angelo's?

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: P- pizza that you can buy.

David Reed: Pizza that I can buy now? Um…

Scott Hammond: Unless you have some frozen Angelo's.

David Reed: I don't think there's any rules about us not picking the same one, and I'm gonna say Live From New York.

Scott Hammond: Live From New York?

Carly Robbins: Yeah. The, um… Before I ask yours, I will give a, a shout-out. If you love a take-and-bake pizza-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … Babes will do take-and-bake, and they are a deal, and they're delicious.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Everybody loves Babes.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Just it's- On that side of town where I do

David Reed: … that's where I, that's where most of my pizza comes from, but yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: So do you have to say Live From New York 'cause your son works there?

Scott Hammond: I do. Yeah, I do. Yeah. Paul, oh, it's ama- it's magical pizza.

Carly Robbins: It is. It is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's, um… So I am, uh, s- almost 65 and trying to be healthy, so it, it is a little bit of a cheat, cheat food for me. I think I can eat a lot of it.

David Reed: That's a shock.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that I'm 65?

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, thank you. I have nice skin.

Scott Hammond: Um, make, let's make it weird. Um, so parting shots. So when you, um, when you go away and you get your wings, what do you wanna be remembered for-

David Reed: Mm

Scott Hammond: … at your eulogy or your-

Carly Robbins: Mm

Scott Hammond: … your legacy session or your celebration of life or, say, your

Scott Hammond: tombstone? Um, and I'll start with you, Carly.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: While I'm looking at David and making it extra- …

Scott Hammond: awkward.

David Reed: Extra weird.

Scott Hammond: Um, who are you and what do you want, and what's your legacy gonna be in your

Scott Hammond: tombstone?

Carly Robbins: I mean, for me, I think, um, you should always meet people with kindness, so be kind.

Carly Robbins: Um-

Scott Hammond: Amen

Carly Robbins: … uh, maybe I'll go with this. I was at a, um, the women's protest many a years ago.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: You remember that? And my sign was, "Be kind, be fair, and be aware," so.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Carly Robbins: Something like that.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Carly Robbins: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: That's a good legacy. I like that. Tomb- that's a tombstone thing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: All right. David, who are you, and what do you want?

David Reed: Hmm. I-

Scott Hammond: I'll, I'll fill in the dead air-

David Reed: … am

Scott Hammond: … to say that he's had all show to think about this 'cause I, I asked-

David Reed: Yeah, you gave it to me early, and I- … I'm still failing. I, I don't know who I am yet, but I'm still figuring it out.

Scott Hammond: Right on. Yeah. Who is it?

David Reed: But my, I hope my legacy is, "He was a good

David Reed: dad."

Carly Robbins: Mm.

Scott Hammond: Oh, good one.

Scott Hammond: Love it. Yeah. How many children?

David Reed: Two.

Scott Hammond: Two, that's right. You guys have two.

David Reed: I have a, uh, I have a newly minted middle

David Reed: schooler-

Scott Hammond: Wow

David Reed: … as of today, so.

Scott Hammond: Graduate, gra- yeah. So does my office mate. Her boy just graduated today.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: And I can say he's a great dad. We'll be at work. There'll be a game on, and he will be watching it on his phone. And I don't know how you do that, but-

Scott Hammond: It's really sweet.

David Reed: I'm not-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

David Reed: … doing it at work-

Carly Robbins: No

David Reed: … though. I'm doing it-

Carly Robbins: That was work trip

David Reed: … during a conference.

Carly Robbins: Yeah.

David Reed: Yeah.

David Reed: Yeah.

David Reed: Not, not at-

Scott Hammond: It's on my break. Yes. It was lunch, you know?

David Reed: It was, we were at dinner, and I'm-

Carly Robbins: Yeah

David Reed: … I'm sitting there watching the softball game- … on my phone. Yeah. No, it's, it's a, it's a good gig. You should… Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Try it sometime.

David Reed: Try it, try it sometime.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And the most noble and the most awesome and the most daunting, and try having adult kids that have drama. It's a whole nother ball of wax. But, hey, um, don't worry. It'll happen to you, too.

David Reed: Good. Thanks.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I'm there for you. Um, what else? Any parting shots? Uh, how do we get ahold of you, and how do we donate and give our time, our money, our, our kit, our caboodle?

Carly Robbins: Yeah. F- I mean, the easiest way is foodforpeople.org.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Carly Robbins: You can find all the information there. You can give really easily online if you wanna give a financial donation.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Carly Robbins: Help us with that purchasing power. It is summertime, so even our most amazing regular volunteers are taking their vacation.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Carly Robbins: So we are looking for-

David Reed: Oh, yeah

Carly Robbins: … volunteer help.

Scott Hammond: Timely.

Carly Robbins: So-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Carly Robbins: … yeah, if you, you have time or if you have a student at home not doing anything-

David Reed: Yeah

Carly Robbins: … and think they would benefit, we could use a, a couple extra hands this time

Carly Robbins: of year.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: Um, we do a orientation every Monday at 3:30, I believe.

David Reed: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: I'm getting my times right. Um, but it's all on there. You can put in an application.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Carly Robbins: Um, and then if you, say, like David, are gonna have an abundance of zucchini or anything like that-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … or just food that you s- aren't gonna use and, um, wanna put in the hands of someone who will use it-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Carly Robbins: … we will accept it.

Scott Hammond: Apples okay?

Carly Robbins: Apples. We'll… We love the apples. That was a, a unique year.

Scott Hammond: That's a lot of cider.

Carly Robbins: Uh.

David Reed: Yeah. No, no, no offense to the apples.

Scott Hammond: No, no.

David Reed: I would say that if, you know, if you're thinking

David Reed: about, you know, "I'm not, I'm not a big shot. I can't make a difference-"

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … I would say you can certainly make a difference.

Scott Hammond: I love it.

David Reed: If, you know, if five bucks a year is, is what you can do, that's great. If $5 a month is something you can do, that's great.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

David Reed: Um, and if you can give your time, and money's not the thing you can do-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

David Reed: … give your time.

Scott Hammond: I love it.

David Reed: Um, even if it's just, like, one day a year when we do, like, a, a food

David Reed: drive because you get to see what, the good that you're doing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I love that.

David Reed: And, and it, and it, it m- it fills you up.

Scott Hammond: And I think too many pe- too many people and too many times we throw money at

Scott Hammond: problems. But if we went down and hung out for a week, that'd be-

David Reed: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … for a year.

David Reed: Yeah. I mean, money, money is helpful,

David Reed: though.

Scott Hammond: But- You don't, don't forget the money.

David Reed: We do.

Scott Hammond: Don't for- don't forget Venmo.

David Reed: We do need to buy the food.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

David Reed: But yeah, no, it, it definitely, it, it changes you when you are, when you're helping people who are your neighbors.

Scott Hammond: I love it, yeah. You might say good neighbors.

David Reed: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, because you become part of the community-

David Reed: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … doing the good. I love it. Um, anything else you guys like to… Parting shots?

Carly Robbins: Mm.

David Reed: Thanks for letting me be part-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

David Reed: … of Carly's interview because this was-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

David Reed: … just supposed to be her.

Carly Robbins: No, this was great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Carly Robbins: He can fill in on everything I forgot.

Scott Hammond: No, you guys are, you guys are a, a daunting team.

Scott Hammond: I love it. Um, yeah, no, thanks for being here. Love to have you back. Carly, thank you.

Carly Robbins: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: And David, a formal thank you.

David Reed: Thank you. I-

Scott Hammond: And, uh-

David Reed: … I'm expecting the lunch soon.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, we- I'll, I'll deliver on that. And, uh, thanks for, uh, listening to Hum- 100% Humboldt, and, uh, we'll, we'll see you guys next time.

Carly Robbins: Thanks, Scott. Thank you