The Lenox Hotel, President of the NCAA: Charlie Baker, Cambridge Savings Bank & Bridges Homeward

.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought withBilly and Jenny, brought to you by
the Box Center. For more thanfifteen years, this dining duo has been
eating their way through New England,mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurantsand giving you the inside scoop on where
to wine, dine and spend yourtime. So get ready, it's Food
for Thought giving you something to chewon. Hey, everybody, welcome into

(00:22):
Food for Thought. Billy Costa hereand again Food for Thought. When Jenny
and I started this show, itwas while I'll be honest with you,
intended to be mostly about restaurants,about hospitality. It was meant to showcase
the chefs and their staffs all overthe city, all across New England,
and in some spot times outside thecountry. I mean, we had Tom
Brady's personal chef on app shaved ina couple of weeks ago, Alan Campbell.

(00:46):
Anyway, we've kind of grown intofood, hospitality, restaurants, chefs,
lifestyle, fitness. We kind oftry to do it all, Okay,
basically, Hey, that's Food forThought. You get it. Uh?
That voice there is the voice ofDan Donahue, who operates and runs

(01:06):
the Lenox Hotel in Boston. Goodto see you, Dan. How you
doing, buddy? You got totalk right into the mic. Own it,
you got to own it, allright. So, Dan, I
wanted to have you in because,first of all, I find you a
fascinating person. And by the way, you smell beautiful. I've never said
that to another man, how aboutAdrian. I think this is a first.
Okay, I know it smells verynice, it does it? Yes?

(01:30):
Do you know I've been wearing ittwenty five years? What is it?
It is chrome chrome by a Zarrow. Oh, that's a good one,
by Zorro by a Zarrow. Ohit would have been funny if Zoro
had a fragrance. Oh. Anyway, Dan, I wanted to have you
in because I've always thought of theLenox Hotel as basically like the starting line

(01:53):
of the Boston Marathon, right,I mean you can throw a stone at
it right from our from our corner. So yeah, we've been there.
You know, we're almost celebrating ourhind twenty fifth year being on that corner.
I'm sorry, one hundred and twentyfive Next year will be a huge
I could Yeah, I started whenas a child, mere child. He
heard me say that like fifty times. So, yeah, Lenox Hotel right

(02:16):
there at the corners of Boyleston andClarendon, Exeter, Exeter exactly one hundred
and twenty five years. You know, you know, we're family owned,
family, third generations in Boston.It is, it is quite the renaissance
over the past eight I've been thereeighteen years. We really transformed it into

(02:40):
something that I think people you know, we always say, right, you
may not remember what we did foryou when you're with us, but you'll
remember the feeling you have when youworked with with us, and that gets
people to come back. Well,I got to tell you, not just
because you were a friend of mineand my wife Michelle's, but she loves
your hotel. I mean every yearwe have to go there once or twice,

(03:00):
especially in the winter when you haveit all decorated for Christmas. Yeah.
I don't think anybody can touch youwhen it comes to decorating for Christmas
around the fireplace. Yeah, youknow, it's just a special you know,
it's you know, listen, we'reour footprints are not that big.
It's an intimate lobby. Uh,you know, the staff takes care of
you. You sit there, youjust you just don't want to move right.
It's that comfortable. So when marathoncomes around, is it all hands

(03:23):
on deck? Oh, we're alwaysstarting today, we have the meeting.
As soon as I leave you,I want to go back to the hotel.
We have a big meeting. Youknow, it's our it's our it's
our biggest event we do all year. It's the biggest time it's coming.
You know, you talk about BlackFriday, it's our Black Fridays. You
got the a Dolpars of Winter andnow you're going back into you know,
in the black again. Now you'vegot three restaurants in the hotel. Yeah,

(03:46):
I'm guessing all three or jam packedthroughout the marathon weekend. Absolutely,
yeah, because people come in allweek. It's like a super Bowl here
in Boston. You know, marathon. One thing we're lucky watch of the
marathon is is so different than anyother marathon that people come not just for
two days or three days, thereare four or five. They bring in
families and it's a family event.You walk around Boston and Back Bay during

(04:08):
the marathon week you know you're somewherespecial Yeah, and you're seeing people from
all over the world. Yeah,some of whom are seeing Boston for the
first time. Yeah. So howfar in advance does somebody have to book
a room with the Lennox around themarathon. The day after marathon we start
booking. So you were sold outa year ago, we're sold literally that
day. Now do the restaurants thereare three of them, I know,
there's City Table, City Table,City Bar, City Bar, Solas and

(04:30):
Solas which are Solas is more ofIrish cuisine right right on Boilston Street.
Now, do they have themed dishesand everything around the marathon or no?
You know, we do a lotof past obviously, Okay, we carve
up for the runners. You know, it's it's just a great time to
be in Boston. We kind ofyou know, the quest of the hotel
is to really just guest driven.Obviously, we want to come into the
outlet's come on and we love tohave you, but it's it's gonna be

(04:54):
a busy time. You're such agreat location. Well for the marathon,
you are the location for the finishline, but you've got the Boston Public
Library nearby in the backside of theBoston Public Library. There's this glassed in
section of that building. Actually.You know, for years I hosted high
school quiz show and WGBH has astudio right outside your front door. Yeah,

(05:15):
and I would go in there onceor twice a year and do the
show from there. That's what theydid at library. They opened it up.
They made the library usable and friendlyand welcoming. Right. This it's
not that Big Cement members of BigCement Boulders he used to have outside.
It's open, it's welcome and anybodycan come. And it's by the way
and there's Holy Saffificatered Affair. Yeah. They have the map Room where they

(05:36):
have a restaurant. Yeah high tis what oh the t oh yeah,
the lunch where you go for lunch. Yeah, by the way, highly
recommend it. Maybe it's not themap Room. Maybe it's not called that,
but it is. But we've donedining Plinburg. You meagine AJ.
She's the producer of this program andthe AJ is well well documented. She's
been looking for love and you've gotto date this weekend. Right. Ah.

(06:00):
So if you're looking for something romantic, right, you can go to
the Lenox Hotel. We have acouple of rooms if you, oh,
I don't know if we need ad you're assuming a lot here too far,
too quick. Yeah, so you'vegot a first date. But Dance
Hotel is extremely romantic. In thelobby, you get yourself a glass of
wine, a city bar, acity bar, fairfect. Yeah, it's

(06:24):
one of the few bars in thecity that doesn't have a TV. It's
it's just it's it's small, it'sintimate. Yeah, it's a It's a
nice place to hang out. Andby the way, if things work out,
you know, and you're decided toget a room at the Lenox,
uh, you know, the nextday you could go to the Boston Public
Library for high tea or for lunchor I'm just trying to set you up.

(06:45):
I can do everything at the Lenoxand then you know what, you
stay over and then on Saturday youcan go to the playoffs in the garden
there you go, by the way, fireplaces in the rooms. Okay,
I'm just saying, okay, Dan, we got to take a break and
I'm going to ask you to indulgeme for a couple of minutes because on
the Billion Lise of Morning show onKiss the other day, Charlie Baker,

(07:06):
former governor head of the NCAA,was leaving Indianapolis at the airport, coming
to Boston for March Madness, andhe decided to call into our show.
And there's a big news story now. He was trying to ban prop bedding
in college sports. There was alot to talk about. So I've decided
I'm going to rerun that interview andI really think you'll enjoy it. Oh,
he's a good guy, all right, So we'll talk with former Governor

(07:29):
Baker right after the break. You'relistening to Food for Thought, brought to
you by the Box Center and SalemWaterfront Hotel in Sweets Hey, everybody,
welcome back. Billy Costa here andagain Dan Donna. He was here from
the Lenox Hotel in Boston. Imean, the Boston Marathon is right around
the corner and the Lenox Hotel isright on the finish line. So I
thought it'd be good to get Danin. But we're going to take a

(07:50):
couple of minutes away from Dan andthe Lenox and the marathon because something very
cool happened the other day. Ithink it was Thursday morning on the Billion
Lisa Morning Showing Kiss Governor Baker,who's now the president of the NC double
A, basically the guy in chargeof March Madness that's in Boston this weekend,
decided to call into our show,and here's some of the interview.

(08:11):
Good morning, Governor, good morning, how are you? We're doing fine?
Are you really calling for kiss concerttickets? Charlie? I'll take whatever
I can get. You know,you could have just call me at home.
You know what I mean? Governor? Or could drive by. We're
both North Shore residents. You knowyou got that right. I got to
tell you. Do I call you, Governor? Can I call you Charlie?

(08:35):
What's the deal now? Charlie's fine, Okay, soste shock would be
too much. So we just thinkit's so cool that on a day like
this, where March Madness is invadingthe TD Garden and you are the president
of the NC double A, thatyou would take time out to call us.

(08:56):
That is just so cool for us. Well, I'm happy to do
it. Obviously. You have alot of fans in the Greater Boston and
Greater New England region and we areincredibly excited. I mean, for me,
this is luck because these decisions aboutwhere to locate the regionals happened several
years ago, and to be ableto have one in Boston so soon after

(09:22):
I started in this job. I'vebeen in it for about a year.
It's just a real blessing and I'mincredibly excited about it. The teams that
are playing in it are terrific.I think the local favorite obviously is going
to be Uka. I think youcan I think you can expect to see
a lot of blue and white inthe garden tonight, but that Iowa State
Illinois game is going to be awesome. And and the one thing I will

(09:46):
say, you know, I've alwaysbeen a giant fan of this tournament and
to have an opportunity to now beinvolved in delivering and executing on it,
it's just it's just a joy allway around. And I think, as
you all know, the women's tournament, the final four is going to be
in in Cleveland, and they arebreaking every record there is, oh yeah

(10:11):
around the tenants and TV viewership andall the rest, and and I'm really
looking forward to spending time there withthem as well. Oh you know what
it is, it's to Charlie Bakerfactor. I mean, the n is
on fire. Caitlin Clark probably hasa little more to do with that.
Boy, is she good? Huh, She's incredible. I saw the I

(10:33):
saw her playing three times last yearand I honestly could not believe. I
mean, it is like a rocketlauncher. She's shooting from so far away.
We had a story, Charlie earlierthis morning that Caitlin Clark has an
offer from ice Cube to play inthe Big Three Toys. Yeah. Wow,

(10:54):
very very significant amount of money,at least alleged a very significant amount
of money. Yeah, alleged.She's a transcendent athlete. You know,
she's like Lebron, James, WarryBird, Michael Jordan, take your pick.
I mean, there are people whocome along everyone, see Merrivis come
along every once in a while thatare just mind boggling in terms of their
skills and their capabilities. And I'mnot kidding. Watching somebody launch continuously three

(11:18):
point shots from somewhere near the logo, which is at half court, Yeah,
and seeing them often go in,it's just not Well. You played
ball at Harvard, right, Charliea million years ago? Yeah? Were
you mind boggling on the court?No, I was not. I was.
I was. I was what youcall a hard worker. In fact,

(11:41):
I think my coach actually thought hewas paying me a compliment when he
said this, but I didn't necessarilythink that's the way it came out.
He said, He said, Charlie, you are so much better a guy
than you are a basketball player.I think my hockey coach, a merrimack
the same me. I got toask you, so, as governor of

(12:03):
Massachusetts and now president of the nC Double A, which is a tougher
gig, Charlie, Well, youknow I always wanted to be governor of
Massachusetts. That was you know,public service for me is is always going
to be closest to my heart.And you know, the voters, the

(12:24):
voters, you know, my firsttrip to the to the polls with the
voters, the voters said, youhave a lot to learn, but why
don't you try coming back again fouryears from now? And and to get
an opportunity to survey years despite allthe trials, tribulations and all the rest.
That's the greatest gift I ever got. And and and I think both

(12:48):
jobs are both look, both jobscome with tremendous moments of satisfaction and incredible
complexity. The biggest issue at thisone is. You know, I like
the fact that when Lieutenant Governor Flitoand I were in office, the two
of us could basically cover the stateright and it wasn't that hard geographically for
us to get to as many placesas we needed to get in a day.

(13:11):
When you have fifty states and elevenhundred schools and five hundred thousand student
athletes in your portfolio, it's alot harder to feel like you can get
your arms around it. But Iwill say this, you know, the
politics in both places are complicated,and they're complicated by many of the same
reasons that politics generally are complicated.People with different different views, different roles,

(13:33):
different expectations, different resources, andthere's a ton of visibility associated with
both. And I think for me, it's mostly about just trying to focus
on the things that I think willmake a difference, which is always what
I tried to do when I wasa governor. In this job as well,
so we're going to build We're buildinga fan database, which the ENJAY

(13:56):
doesn't have, and we already havesix and a half million people in it.
I think we'll at ten million.We'll at ten million by the end
of the year. My goal isto have like twenty five million there you
go, so that you know,if you're a fan of almost any college
sport, if we're playing in yourneighborhood, you're going to know about it,
and we're going to give you,you know, access to tickets and

(14:16):
access to to gear and and andif you keep coming, like if you're
a regular, we're going to besaying thank you to you and often garfering
you certain kinds of things for showingup at five championships in ice hockey in
a row. And I think there'sa real opportunity for us to grow the
community once we have a much betterhandle on who they are and what they

(14:39):
like and how to connect with them. It just seems, Charlie, that
so much has been going on withthe NC double A since you took over.
In fact, you were all overthe news yesterday with the prop betting
you're looking to have it banned throughoutthe country. Right, Yeah, we're
actually, we're actually for collegiate sports. I'm not worried about it at the

(15:00):
professional levels, but I'm definitely worriedabout at the collegiate level. And part
of the reason I'm worried about thecollegiate levels, because you know, I
got. I was announced in Decemberof twenty two, and I started in
March of twenty three, just abouta year ago. And I visited a
ton of student athletes during that twoand a half month period, and almost
all of them talk to me aboutthe pressure they were feeling from their schoolmates,

(15:22):
classmates, friends around betting, andyou know, we so much so
that one of the first things Idid when I got there was a survey
of eighteen to twenty two year oldsand nationally and you know, about fifty
five to sixty percent of them baton sports. The numbers were actually higher
on college campuses. I mean werehuge numbers, yea, the eighteen,

(15:43):
nineteen and twenty year olds that justas much as the twenty one and twenty
two year olds. And whether itwas legal in your state or not really
didn't matter with respect to whether orI yet access to it. And they're
getting bombed by ads from the sportsbooks all day long on their phones.
And the big thing kids were saying, Jimmy was this prompt that thing you
know, I get, guys,I got. People come up to me

(16:03):
all the time saying, you know, I don't want you to lose.
I just don't want you to takethe first shot. I don't want you
to lose. I just don't.I just I mean just and and if
you think about it, for kids, the social pressure on this is intense,
and we should mention that it's alreadybanned in Massachusetts for collegiates proactive prop
betting. So I'm guessing you'll beat the games tonight in the garden.

(16:27):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I'mactually going to do a I'm going to
do a public gathering with Attorney GeneralAndrea Campbell on on sports betting in a
little while. I'm I'm actually I'min the airport in Indianapolis. I'm flying
back to Boston. Oh god,I think it's so cool that at Listaid

(16:51):
Donovan just put a call into youroffice and you've got so much going on
today and you called into the billionLeasa show. That's so cool. One
more thing, one thing I got, I say here, right. Part
of the reason you got, youknow, if this was like a no
brainer for us, is because you'vebeen so kind and so good to my
wife Lauren and to the Wonder Fun. I'm so glad you said that.

(17:11):
We're huge fans of Lauren, anddoes it bother you, Charlie when you
come back here to Massachusetts, you'rereferred to as Lauren's husband. Days of
my life, best days of hislife. He's such a cool guy.
Trust me when I tell you,Dan, this is Dan Lennox from I'm
Dan Donnaue from the Lenox Hotel.He's going to run for president some day.

(17:32):
I was to say that I wantedhim run when he talked about all
fifty states and blah blah blah.Yeah, you just don't do a campaign.
Very cool guy. Former Governor CharlieBaker and now heading up the NCUBA.
We got to take a break moretalk with Dan Lennox. Dan Donnahue
from the Lenox Hotel. And bythe way, Happy Easter, everybody.
You're listening to Food for Thought broughtto you by the Box Center and Stale

(17:53):
in Waterfront Hotel in sweets Hey,everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought
once again. Billy cough to hearand I've got Dan Donahue from the Lenox
Hotel. I keep wanting you tocall you Dan Lennox because you are the
Lenox. You know, people thinkof Dan Donahue Lenox hotel and forty seven
people that are the Lenox. Nowthere you go. And by the way,

(18:15):
the service at your hotel is outstanding. Every time Michelle and I go
there, we spend a weekend oran overnight, the service is just impeccable.
So a shout out to your safepeople exactly. Yeah, yeah,
they're special. Right before the break, I shouted out, Happy Easter.
And you know, I know it'syou know, six thirty or so on
a Sunday night, but it's stillSunday, Easter Sundays. So happy Easter.

(18:38):
What have you got going on atthe hotel? You know, just
normal? We have specials, Easterspecials. You know, we're booked up.
It's good. I mean we mighthave a few reservations later in the
day. What do you mean bythat later in the day, Like,
well, people tend to do Easterearly. Like yeah, Easter is one
of those holidays that nobody has aset for years. Like when you have

(19:02):
young kids, you have these bigfamily gatherings, you have the Easter egg
hans And I think I'm one ofthe few families I had to do the
Easter egg hunt when my three boyswere young and they got cash money,
like the more Easter eggs you collected, there was first, second, and
third prize. It got very ugly, Oh I'm sure, like cousins and

(19:22):
brothers viciously fighting over the eggs.Three yeah, and cousins like, oh
yeah, okay, it's supposed tobe a sweet Easter thing. Like,
it's not really about the money.You know, we hit baskets we were
kids. We never did the dagthing. We hid baskets in the house.
You had to go find it.Oh yeah, you know what we
did to their mom and I.We would for Easter on the Saturday night

(19:45):
before Easter. We were really intoit, so we would I would go
out into the yard and gather updirt and gravel and I would leave like
little footprints on the floor leading upto the Easter baskets. Oh my,
how cool is that? Come on, my cool, dada? What we're
talking about four and five year olds? Okay? And then come down then

(20:06):
like, oh my, well Ishouldn't even do this, should I?
Oh my god? No. Thefact is the bunny came. Oh you
know, right, the bunny comesto some houses. He can't get to
every house, but you know,if you're good, exactly you're good,
just like they want to edit partof that for the West coast as I'm
just saying, it's easter. Okay, let's get back to the marathon.

(20:29):
Is it too late right now toget a room? Make a reservation very
quickly? It is for us,all right. I mean we may have
one or two, but basically itis all right. We're going to take
a break. We'll come back andwe'll talk more about the Lenox Hotel and
what's going on. I know you'vegot some big changes coming up, but
I guess we can't talk much aboutthose. We could talk a little bit
about it, a little bit,a little bit. We'll talk a little
bit of bit. Right after thebreak. You're listening to Food for Thought,

(20:52):
brought to you by the Box Centerand Sailing Waterfront Hotel in sweets Hey.
Everybody, welcome back to Food forThought. Billy Costa here, and
I've got Den Donahue from the LenoxHotel. Big time for the Lenox,
because again the Lenox Hotel right onthe finish line on Boylston Street, so
when you look out the front door, you could actually see the line,
right, I can see it.And you always have a big party at

(21:15):
the hotel. You know, well, we hold court in the lobby for
all of our guests coming back thererunners, and we you know, have
a beer form and we have actuallywe have the Celtics cheerleaders coming and cheering
them on as a community. Yeah. Do you know that? For three
or four years I hosted the CelticCheerleader auditions. Actually they're called Celtic Dancers

(21:36):
dancers, sorry but yeah. Andthey actually turned it into a reality show
and it exists somewhere out there.There were two seasons of it where I'd
be backstage, I'd be on stageand these women were all auditioning. You
know, some were coming back.But even if you had done the previous
year, you still had to winyour spot on the Celtic Dancers. Really.

(21:57):
Yeah, these are really talent timeand you know what, they're great
girls too, very friendly, verynice, always smiling. They they they're
actresses, right. So the CelticDancers stay at your hotel. They just
come with the party. The CelticsFoundation has a team that runs so they
have a little good part of thehotel where they bring their their runners there

(22:21):
and their families and watch party andthen they bring the Celtic dancers to a
hotel. It's amazing. So folks, do yourself a favor a j look
it up the Celtic Dancer Auditions reality. I'm not making this stuff. Uh
so okay, now you've got totell me something. Yeah, name some
of the biggest celebrities you've had atthe hotel. We don't. You're not

(22:41):
even going. They're not there anymore. One thing about our hotel and it's
it's it's not about you know,claiming attention with somebody. Now you're not
calling in the tab now, it'sno we no, I mean we have
a Judy Garland suite. I guesswe wanted people to know that she stayed

(23:03):
there. I was in that suite. Yeah, don't you have the ruby
red slipper in there. That's acool room. You've got a lot of
your suite's at that hotel. Regiouslynice. We're building another suite. We're
building actually overlooking the Boylston on thesecond floor. We're building a two bedroom
suite this summer. Two bedrooms.Yeah, very nice. Okay, so

(23:26):
you can't give up names of celebrities. How about one of the biggest events
at your hotel, the kind ofjumps out at you. You know,
you know, Charlie said it earlier. The best is the Wonderfund work with
Lauren Baker and her team. Itis amazing. That's one event we really
love. And then the marathon.I mean yeah, right, come on,

(23:48):
Lauren Baker is one of the nicestpeople I've ever met. You know,
so funny that interview said, youknow, you know, this is
uh what you said about Lauren Baker. This is oh, Charlie Islaurren's husband.
Yeah. It comes back home toMassachusetts in the town of Swamps coulde
it's a oh yeah, you're Lauren'shusband. Yeah, he says, yeah,
that was funny. Okay, nowthis we're going to walk over some

(24:11):
sensitive calls here. Okay, youhave some changes, big changes. Listen
coming to the hotel. Give mesomething. I'm going to tell you.
We're going to reconcept city Table anduh, pretty much. You know that's
gonna be the big, big,big city table, one of three restaurants

(24:32):
in the hotel. Right, it'sthe biggest. It's going to be three
meals right now, it's two meals, three meals, and uh, we're
just now going over the concepts andgoing over the design but it is going
to be spectacular. Now. CityTable is the restaurant to the left as
you enter the lobby, and thenthe middle one is City Bar, City
Bar. Leave that. I meanthat does very well. So does very
well. I'm not getting you introuble. You know what's I was at

(24:56):
a Bruins game two or three weeksago and I'm at the owner. That's
my boss. He's a chairman,Gary Saunders. Yeah, mister mister,
oh really, no Todd Is itTodd? No? Gary, Gary Saunders.
So he was with his son Corey'sand Evans Cory. Even Evan said,
he goes, wow, he goes. This meeting Billy was like a
highlight for him. Okay, jall right. No, his sons were

(25:18):
very cool and they did mention thatthey listened to the morning show. Yeah.
Well but he's a cool guy.He's a really good guy. We've
been together for eighteen years, andyou know, I will never go back
to working for anybody else. Wow, eighteen years. You started at the
Lennox. Actually I opened with StephenJohnson, who's now at the Boston Harbor

(25:38):
Hotel. I know Steven Johnson.Yeah, is he still at the Boston
Harbor. He sure is. Okay, wow, there is one of my
favorite hotels in the city. Imean the views. Oh yeah, he
does it right, he knows service. Right. I actually somebody celebrated one
of my big birthdays. Yes,in their space. You were there?
Yeah, oh yeah, sure was. That was a nice night. It

(26:00):
was a very Actually just recently,two years ago maybe or a year ago.
I had another celebratory party at theBoston Harbor. You did, Yeah,
what was it? Why are youasking that? It was a big
celebration. We were celebrating a significantnumber. Yes, that's all I'll say.
You know, I've known you foryears, Dan, I never asked

(26:22):
you. How did you land atthe Lenox Hotel? Quickly, so real
quick started at Jerry's Open Jerry's withStephen and Steve wasn't going anywhere, so
I started thinking that what do whatdo you want to do next? And
they had a GM that left unexpectedly, and I walked through the hotel.
Nobody was around me, walked upand down the hotel, even when on

(26:45):
the roof, stayed in the bar. Yeah yeah, And it was a
lot more worn back then, andI said I want to work here.
There we go and here you areeighteen years ago. Always good to see
you, Dan, Billy, greatto see. Don't forget the marathon is
just like a couple of weeks away, and definitely spend some time of your
marathon experience at the Lenox Hotel inBoston. So we'll take a break.

(27:10):
When we come back. We're goingto meet and hear about a really really
cool foundation for young children and fosterchildren. It's a really really cool story
and we'll tell it right after thebreak. You're listening to Food for Thought,
brought to you by the Box Centerand Salem Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.
Hey. Everybody, welcome back toFood for Thought. Quite a show so

(27:32):
far. Dan Donahue from the Lenoxin Boston with the marathon coming up.
He's right on the finish line.And Charlie Baker, the former governor who's
now heading up the NC Double A. Boys, he doing a good job.
NC Double A is exploding under hisleadership, and of course he's in
town. It's not often that MarchMadness the Sweet sixteen comes to Boston.
And if that's not enough, yo, yo, yeah, I was in

(27:53):
studio with us right now. Goodto see yo, yo, Good to
see you really, let me explainwhat brought you here Cambridge Savings Bank.
Well, it's my bank, okay, I don't want to make a big
deal about it. It was myvery first bank account when I was a
kid. And they're doing wonderful things. One of those wonderful things is backing

(28:15):
legitimate foundations charitable organizations, and oneof those you had up and that's called
Bridges Homework. Yes, correct,you can move closer into the microphone.
It's an awkward studio, I know, but Bridges Homework. Now, before
we went on the year, yougave me a fun fact. You said
it's been going for one hundred andfifty years. Now. That must have

(28:36):
been a mistake. Is it onehundred and fifty years? Yes, definitely,
it's one hundred and fifty years.So our founder, his name is
James Huntington. In eighteen seventy fourhe created an aphanation home we call a
phone home in Cambridge, so thatwas his creations of Out the last one
hundred and fifty years, we've becomingnon profit organizations to serving people. Currently

(29:00):
we have a three types of services, boss Care, adoptions, family stabilizations
and serve individuals with disability. Well, having said that, I have to
thank you for your services. Imean, this does not sound like an
easy undertaking. Yeah, that's noteasy. Throughout the year, we have
so many amazing staff, support donorsand State Department of Children's and Family Devironmental

(29:25):
Disability services to support all our servicesin Cambridge area as well as a great
Boston area. Wow, and youkind of oversee it all. How many
people are working with the foundation rightnow. So in our organizations we currently
have fifty staff and forty five parttime staff and we serve children's youth family

(29:47):
are over one two hundred per year. And I actually you're not only placing
students in foster care who by theway, desperately needed, but you also
monitor it while they're being fostered,right, Yes, So when we receive
a referral from our department students offamily, we usually do family stabilizations.
When the family no longer be ableto stabilize DCF, we work with us

(30:11):
to remove the trial placed into thefourth care So usually in the fourth care
systems sometimes childreents could be their years, so we try to reduce the amount
of the time are the children inthe fourth care systems so we always want
us to support the children's families beable to stabilize us so they could be
unified to home. But when thatis no longer available, we were looking

(30:33):
for adoptions. So we provide fourstcare adoptions, and adoptions sometimes could be
taking one year and sometimes could betaken two, three years or eight years.
Yeah, I've always wondered what's theratio of foster children who are going
to be adopted? So the stateprobably will have the data because it's very
complexity process because we have a dualauditions. Need to go through that process

(30:57):
whether the trial, could we meanare to uh reunify with their birth parents?
If not, they will placed infos cares. So it's a parallel
trip we want ongoing. Hopefully couldwe unify the child in their birth parents.
If not, we're looking for ourkingship adoptions, so it means they're

(31:18):
relative if willing to adopt those childrens. If that is not possible, we
will go for outside to look forour parents, our interested What are the
early steps like how do you identifyand qualify children? Like how do they
come to you or how do youeven locate? Yeah, so basically we
refer from our DCS department Children's Family. So our social worker will start to

(31:42):
do the intel understand the family dynamicand lots of time throughout the process we
understand what exactly the families need,what kinds of support they need. So
we really focus on permanency concept.So permanency concept, it could be you
have a coach in your life thatcould help you to reach to your next
step. You could have an auntieor neighbor really want to help you see

(32:06):
you. So our permanency is notnecessarily a permanent concept about physical home.
You could be a legal permanency,you could be emotional permanency. It's something
we want to embrace to create anenvironment, a community, have care,
a doubt to support those children's andyouth. But what's it like for you

(32:28):
on a daily basis? Like doyou have one of those jobs where you're
getting calls through the night. Yeah, so I'm the CEO at Bridges Own
Work. I unfortunately did not getthose direct calls. Mostly it's our staff,
but I'm the persons. I alwayswant to serve people and without my
career, I was a social workerto helping our youth at risk and then

(32:51):
I was working at Massachusetts Reactations tohelping people with bring injury trauma. And
then I was at Boston Chinatown NeighborCenter Work for eight years to help people
have different issues. So I'm heretoday at British Home Work. I really
want to help children's family, individualswith disability to reach their potential and next

(33:13):
level. Well, I feel againto thank you for your services, so
I think I will. Now,how does your relationship with Cambridge Savings Backwark,
Oh, Chemistry Saving Band is amazingbank, just like you say,
right, they are your first band. So the first step I step in
a King Saving Band is the collaborationswith British Homework. So they do all

(33:35):
our support for British Homework. Soone point in our organizations we have a
financial challenge because we run those twos. With all you're doing, I would
guess, yeah, you've got afinancial challenge. Yeah, So I really
appreciate one of the stuff. Hername is Barbara. She coaching us how
to thinking about financial substainability, howto make an impact in the community,

(33:55):
how to balance the risk management,So that have been very critical throughout the
year. There have been our longterm supporter advising us, coaching us as
well as coach our staff about theirfinancial literacy. Well, it's funny you
say that, because, like Isaid, I've dealt with Cambridge Savis Banker
for years and one of their modelsis that they're not just their rank,

(34:16):
your banker. They are your friendand they're your supporter and your partner in
business. And you feel that,don't you when you deal? Oh,
I feel it deeply. So thefirst day I arrived, but just a
homework, I made your phone call. I say, hey, Brabra,
I have an X, Y andZ A questions. She said, no,
proper, she picked up the phoneimmediately. So you know I'm a
stranger right for someone new coming intothe road. She's so friendly and then

(34:37):
we make connections immediately. And thenafter that connection we also know some friendship
of circle connect to each other aswell, because that's going to be one
of the most challenging parts of yourjob, right, is that you need
funding and you have to go askingfor it. So you're uncomfortable walking in
and I'm guessing they make it prettyeasy for you. Yeah, And I

(34:58):
do want to emphasize I SA nonprofitorganizations, right, we come here to
serve, We come here to makean impact out to the society. So
we also held a copper company tomake their money become more meaningful to serve
the entire community. I know you'rementioning Barbara a couple of times. Who
you deal with? And I happento know Lisa Roderick, who, by

(35:20):
the way, would have been heretoday. But she's a little under the
weather. But Lisa is another one. She does such a great job.
Oh she is. I will sendall my love for her. Yeah,
she has some challenge, but weare all here to support each other.
She's amazing. Now you have agala coming up? Is it May May
nine, twenty twenty four? Andwhere's the gala going to be? Hired?

(35:43):
Regency at Cambridge the high End onMemorial Drive. Well, I've spent
a lot of time there, youknow that. For years I hosted Are
you ready for this New Year's Eve? Up? But they used to have
a rotating restaurant. I don't know, you're probably not old enough to No,
I've been there one times. Theyhave a rotated restaurant. You could

(36:06):
see all different review eye about trouser. Yeah, I've got Johnny b and
Christian Studio. Have you been ChrisWell. Yeah, back in the day,
yeah, way back in the day. The spinnaker louds. Yes,
folks, if you're listening, youdon't know what we're talking about. The
highatt on Memorial Drive in Cambridge onthe rooftop for years it was a great
place to go. But the restaurantwas the only one I've ever seen in

(36:28):
my life. As you were sittingaj and if you go with that new
note's not there anymore, but thehotel is. But the rotating room as
you're having dinner, your view ofthe Charles and the Boston skyline would change
during the course of the dinner.It was a very cool concept, unless,
of course, you got like dizzyer seatsick or something. But it

(36:50):
was a very slow move. Soagain the Gala, Okay, people can
get tickets, Yes, they couldrisk our website a Bridges homework all quick
at the galas picket so Bridges Homewarddot org. Yes, and they can
attend the gallop. What's going tohappen at the Gala? So this year
we are going to celebrate our onehundred and fifty year anniversary. You know,
for out the one hundred and fiftyyears, so many things change,

(37:14):
also have a small one may change, but our call value never change.
We always focus on intecuity, communityand adaptability. All right, we got
to take a break. Okay,I'm up against the clock. We got
to take a break. But wegot a few more minutes left to the
show. So I want to makesure you get out any and all information
you think you need to pass alongto everybody when it comes to Bridges Homeward
one hundred and fifty years Yes,wow, and you look fabulous. I

(37:37):
gotta tell you one hundred and fiftyyears later, Are you kidding me?
Yeah, we'll take a break.We'll be right back. You're listening to
Food for Thought, brought to youby the Box Center and Sail and Waterfront
Hotel in sweets. Hey, everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought.
We just have a few minutes leftto the show. And by the way,
again, happy Easter, everybody.Let's not forget that Happy Easter.
A lot of people may have justtuned in. Our guest in studio is

(37:59):
your yo yao. We've been talkingabout Bridges Homeward, which is doing an
incredible job in terms of fostering children, adopting children, helping families work through
the challenges of adoption and or fostering. But you mentioned earlier that the organization
is one hundred and fifty years old. Wasn't it called something else before?

(38:20):
Yeah? Before we call Cambridge Studentsand Family Services. Okay, because I
remember I hosted a gala a coupleof times with the Cambridge Savings Bank at
the Sinsta all due respect to theHyatt and it was for that foundation which
is now Bridges Homework. I haveto imagine with a few minutes we have
left. The fundraising is always thebiggest challenge that you folks are confronted with.

(38:44):
Yes, so lots of time peoplefeel like, oh, you are
funded by a government contract, youare all set, you no need funding,
And actually it's not true because thegovernment contract probably will cover eighty five
percents of the course and then theother fifteen percents we need to go from
wasting for and are Here is thething I highly encourage people want to make
a commitment or serve the community andalso bring their talents, their treasure,

(39:07):
their time to support organizations like usserving children's family. What's the best way
they can do that? Well,you know, yeah, you know,
obviously by making donations. By theway, how do they do that quickly?
Yes, so they could visit ourwebsite bridgeson World dot org. So
that is a donations on our website. They just click that our donations,

(39:29):
they will drop down. They couldbe an ongoing monthly donor. They could
be a one time donor, whateverthey feel comfortable. We are all welcome
bridges homework dot org. Now withyour galler coming up at the Higher Memorial
Drive May night, how is thefundraising happening with the gala. Yeah,
so they still could go into ourwebsite bridgeson World dot org Gala twenty four

(39:52):
so they could buy the ticket there. They also could provide us a sponsorship
at the bottom of the webpage.We have a sponsor package. They could
do copper sponsorship, individual sponsorship,family sponsorship, any sponsorship with Is there
going to be entertainment, Oh definitely. We have a life Jeff music come
by jazz Okay, and we alsohave a story about individuals how they go

(40:17):
food. So foster families will comein and tell their stories. Yeah,
adoption family, We're coming to telltheir story. And we also have a
keynote. She is a Massachusetts studentsadvocate. Her name is Maria Maceda,
so you also could visit our websiteto find out her informations and she is
a formal executive director of British World. So tonight out, you're on the

(40:40):
Charles River, you have magnificent viewsof the city. You're at the Hiatt
on Memorial Drive. You're going tobe helping to raise money and help some
families out there who are struggling ina very big way, making decisions and
making moves that will change people's lives. And you've got entertainment and you know
what, a lot of money goingto be raised for a good cause,

(41:00):
I believe. So the one thingI want to highlight is because this is
a one hundred and fifty year anniversary, I hope everybody come, create a
sense of community, create a senseof belongs to how more people you need?
Okay, And since he's sitting inthe studio right now, Johnny B
one of the sales executives here,KISS want to wait. Since he's sitting
here on his behalf, I wantto make a nice donation, so I'm

(41:23):
sure he'll be happy to like venmoyou or something that's very generous of you,
Johnny, thank you so much,Thank you so much. I'm kidding
listen, thank you so much,and well, happy Easter to you,
and happy Easter to everybody listening.And thanks to Camber Savings Bank for what
they're doing helping out in such abig way. And I'm sure representatives from

(41:45):
Cambridge Savings Bank will be there atthe event May night at the Height as
well. Once again it's Bridges Homeworddot Org. Yo, yo, good
to see you, good to seeyou, Thank you so much. All
right, you've been listening to Foodfor Thought. I'm Billy Costa and by
the way up next you ready forthis? Sixty minutes