June 16, 2025 • 29 mins
Kathryn Swyngle, Virginia Mason tells us what to expect throughout a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, the care that's available and symptoms to look for. Mark Coleman educates us on food insecurity within Washington State, resources available through Food Lifeline and how you can help.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Jessamine MacIntyre, your host of Seattle Voice, your
community Voice, presented by iHeart Radio Seattle, and today I
have the pleasure of being joined by Katherine Swingle, who
is an outpatient oncology social worker. And Catherine, first of all,
thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Thank you for inviting me to talk.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
It's lovely and we appreciate your time. Everyone listening does
as well. And you know, let's get right into it.
I read your title outpatient oncology social worker. A lot
of us don't know exactly what that entails. Can you
describe what your job, what your umbrella job is, and
then we can get a little bit more into the
nitty gritty of your day to day.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah. So, I've worked for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health outpatient
oncology for nine years and as social worker, I tell
patients basically I help with everything non medical. So I
can help with resources like if someone needs lodging, transportation,
(01:01):
help with applying for Social Security disability, help with FMLA paperwork,
and then there's the emotional support side. Of course, cancer
affects people in many different ways and certainly does psychologically,
so I provide emotional support sometimes some short term counseling,
(01:22):
help people get connected with support groups with mental health resources.
And then I'm also an advocate for patients and help
them if they need especially we have a lot of
non English speaking patients, so they need people to sort
of help be a voice for them. So a social worker,
(01:43):
I can be an advocate and help in getting them
the needed resources.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Wow, Catherine Swingle joining me, that is a lot of
things that you just described that you do. I imagine
that you have teammates you work with as well. I do.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I'm lucky to have amazing and other social workers. So
we're all we get our master in social work. And
then also were so most social workers get licensed as well.
And yes, we're very busy. We have a very busy
clinic and we actually Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is a
(02:21):
center of excellence for pancreatic cancer. And so it seems
like sometimes I think, oh, my goodness, is there rise
in pancreatic cancer. But it's because a lot of people
come to our clinic because it is a center of
excellence for that particular cancer, which is a really tough one.
And so it does mean a lot of a lot
(02:42):
of these patients need that extra support because of what
kind of cancer it is and the symptoms and the
you know, the enormity of what this cancer is.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, thank you so much for actually touching in on that,
because pancreatic cancer. I have known a few in my
life who have gone through and I think we'd all
be hard pressed to not be able to recognize someone
we know or someone we know who knows someone who
has endured that disease and it is absolutely devastating.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Can you talk a little bit about.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
The specialty that you have there and exactly what Virginia
Mason does when it comes to making you guys stand
out against the rest.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, so we are considered one of the center's excellence
for that cancer. Doctor Percozzi has been working with pancreatic
cancer patients for most of his career as a oncologist,
and so he is actually world renowned. People come to
him from all over the world for opinions on treatments.
(03:45):
He's involved with many clinical trials that we do at
Virginia Mason and then pank CAN, which is a Pancreatic
Cancer Action Network, which is the best organization for cancer
and fundraising and be in the face of this cancer
to for legislation and bringing you know, making sure that
(04:09):
funds are brought for research for pancreatic cancer. And they
recognize certain centers and we are one of the ones
in the Seattle area that's recognized as a center of excellence.
So many people come to Virginia Mason from lots of
different parts of the country, but also here in Seattle,
(04:32):
folks come from eastern Washington, from up north, from the coast.
So there's the logistics sort of coming for treatment from
so far away, and this is where social work steps
in to help, you know, find resources and make that
travel easier and find support because they're coming from so
(04:53):
far away to get the treatment.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Catherine Swingle joining me Jessamin McIntyre here for Seattle Voice
presented by iHeart Radio Seattle. Catherine, you are from Virginia Mason,
Franciscan Health. I want to mention that as well, to
make sure that we know where the center of excellence is,
just so that people actually have the resources that they need.
You had touched on symptoms, and I think that a
lot of the time, which I'm sure you're well aware of,
(05:17):
when people are aware that they have pancreated cancer, they
are beyond a point or they're to a point where
the percentages of survival get extremely low. And I was
wondering if you could share with our audience some of
the things that perhaps we can look out for ahead
of time.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yes, because the reason why this is such a quote
lethal cancer is because often it's diagnosed at a very
late stage. Many people get diagnosed at stage four because
it's there and you often don't even know that it's there,
or you may have some symptoms, and because the GI
(05:55):
type symptoms like you know, you have changes in new vowel,
or you're suddenly losing some weight, or you feeling a
little nauseous, these can be it can be accredited to
many different things. And of course your PCP, your doctor
is not going to go right away to oh, you
(06:16):
must have pancreatic cancer. So unfortunately a lot of times
people may have these symptoms and it's not diagnosed until later.
So weight loss, loss of appetite, changes in your stool,
pancrea titus. Although many people can have pancrea titus and
(06:36):
it doesn't mean they're going to get pancreatic cancer. But
that's another warning sign and then a sudden onset of
diabetes because of course the pancreas is what monitors and
helps insulin, and so if there's any changes to your pancreas,
it might cause you to suddenly become diabetic. So those
(06:57):
some of the symptoms that you know, people should be
aware of. Also pain and they abt them and obviously
is another one. And but yes, a lot of times
people don't know they have it, and unfortunately by the
time they start treatment at stage four. A lot of
people who get it caught early at stage one. It
(07:21):
was an incidental finding. Let's say they were in a
car accident and then they had to have scams and
they're like, oh, there's that little spot. What's that spot
doing in your pancreas? And we've had, we do have
people who have gone into well they cancer free, they
get the cancer out, they get a few rounds of chemo,
and then they're the lucky ones. And fortunately too, with
(07:45):
new treatments and and also more awareness about and creating cancer,
people hopefully getting you know, diagnosed a little quicker. And
and also because of the treatments available and the i say,
the wonderful care that people get a Virginia Mason Francis
(08:08):
can help. We have actually people who live quite a
long time and have beaten the odds of what the
usual prognosis is with is cancer.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well, that is really encouraging to hear, and just knowing
that all those symptoms could be, like you said, symptomatic
of many, many, many things. So yeah, if you know
I have a tummy ache, you know, I'm not immediately
thinking that.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
But it is always an awareness.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
During March, we did an entire month worth of shows
on correctal cancer awareness.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
So there are certain things.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
You also don't talk about, and I had some really
brave survivors that we're.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Like, let's talk about boop.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You know, yes, it's absolutely yeah, So thank you for
sharing some of those signs too. I know that nobody
wants to think about the worst, but I don't know.
Past the age of thirty, I started waking up on
my elbow Hertz.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
This is how it ends. It's just it's hard to
know when to.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Treat something as seriously as you're describing, So so thank
you for that. I very much appreciate you at least
outlining some of the things that could catch it early.
We don't want anyone getting into a car accident just
to get a scan, but pay attention to your body
and listen, is what I'm hearing.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And what's happening too with pank CAN, the PANK Credic
Cancer Action Network, is that they're doing a lot of
research around early detection. We're going to get closer to
that than a cure, but that is what they're hoping for,
is to have eventually a blood test that can kind
(09:40):
of detect that you've got a genetic makeup that would
make you more susceptible, so that you can get that
constant workup and close monitoring so that if you do
get the cancer, they get it early. So that's exciting
that there's a lot more research around on that and
(10:00):
they're getting closer to finding that, you know, sort of like, aha,
we see it. We need to monitor you because you
have a higher chance of getting this.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
That's amazing to hear that a blood test could even
do that. I mean, that is great. Is there anything
more you can tell me about Pangham. I think we've
talked a little bit about it, but I know that
you probably have a wealth of knowledge you'd like to share.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes, Well, they just had that big fundraiser the last
weekend in April, and because we see so many pancreatic
cancer patients. I want to say it was six years ago.
Myself and another nurse decided to start a team because
pancreat Because pang Ham does this big fundraiser called Purple
(10:47):
Stride and it's the number one fundraiser to go towards
research and the great thing about them is that most
of that money does go back out to research rather
than at man costs and all that. So I started
a team and it's Virginia Mason Francis can help team
(11:08):
and anybody can join and we you know, do fundraising
by asking, you know, putting flyers out getting team members
to come and they ask people. It's kind of the
word of mouth and we managed to read to Actually
my original goal was ten thousand for the team, and
we ended up raising thirty one thousand dollars. We were
(11:32):
the number one team, which was really exciting. So got
to be up there and got a plaque and and
it was just great to see patients there. So, you know,
we have people who come and and do the walk
and they're they go up on stage and they're applauded
and and it's just an amazing day. Everybody's wearing purple
(11:55):
and it's just a happy day. And then there's a
walk and people can participate, not depending on their ability,
but it was very successful this year. And actually the
Pugit Sound team or the Puget Sound area, their goal
was to raise two hundred and twenty thousand and they
exceeded three hundred thousand. So it's so wonderful to exceed
(12:19):
because often you don't, you know, reach your goal, especially
in these times, right, but people were so generous and
and so you know, everybody was just very elated as
to the results.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, congratulations on all of that. And even with fundraising.
I've done a lot of fundraising through Lukemi and Lafoas Society.
And even if you don't hit your goal, you are
still each dollar is more than they had beforehand.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Absolutely, And are.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
People able to donate?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I know that you just had the big fundraiser, but
I'd like you to share how people can contribute because
this research sounds groundbreaking on so many different levels. And
can you share a little bit about how people can
generously donate.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yes, they can go to www. Dot Cancan dot o
RG and they can donate at any time. I mean,
you know, they're very happy to get donations. I think
that there's still Team, you know, you can still donate
to a Team, because I think that's still open for
(13:24):
a little bit longer. So they haven't closed the Purple
Stripe fundraising yet, but once that's closed, it doesn't mean
you can't still donate to great to that great cause.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Well, it is absolutely wonderful everything that you're doing. Catherine Swingle,
Virginia Mason, Franciscan Health. I am so glad that you
are one of the people in this kind of industry
that is doing this work, and it's an absolute pleasure
to meet you. Is there anything else you'd like to
add that we might not have gotten to.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Well, the other thing that I'm proud of is we
started a pancredic cancer group and that happened. Oh god,
I want to say that It's been nine actually eight years,
almost eight years that I've been running the pank credit
cancer support group, and the support group stanted in person
(14:18):
here at Virginia Mason, and we decided to stand it
because I had someone had asked me what a patient
had asked, is there a support group specific to pancredic cancer,
And I said, you know, let me look, and I
couldn't find any, certainly, not in this part of the world.
And so I decided, with a pancredic cancer nurse navigator
(14:42):
at the time, that we should start one here because
it was important to have a specific group for this cancer,
because there's so many side effects and so many psychosocial
aspects of this cancer that people just don't feel that
they can share at a regular support group. Breast cancer
(15:05):
has different types of side effects than pancretic cancer, and
so we thought, well, we should start the group. And
it was in person. Sometimes people would come with the
ivy polls into the into the room and just so
they wouldn't miss the group. And then and then the
(15:26):
well COVID happened and we couldn't have in person groups anymore.
So we transitioned to zoom and that actually ended up
being great because it opened up the door to more people,
and we opened the door to non Virginia Mason Franciscan
help patients so that we could have people from Bahaj
(15:49):
from other centers, from Oregon to California to Chicago. So
we have books from all over the country who've actually
joined because again and this particular group for pancreatic cancer,
there's so few of them out there, and we just
had it yesterday and we had actually twenty members and
(16:14):
the support group. That's quite a bit. And I think
that the patients really appreciate hearing from others. So you've
got a new patient who's just joined, has just been diagnosed,
and then is hearing from someone who's been you know,
with dealing with this cancer for six seven years and
(16:36):
is you know, they can be a wealth of information
to that new patient. And so I really feel that
it helps patients kind of like I said, dealing with
the non medical aspect of things, but having that support
and we call it building resilience, so that folks feel
(16:57):
that they have that resilience to deal with this very
difficult cancer. And we also provide hope, which is so
important as well.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, I think just the feeling of not being alone
is a great first step there and dealing with you know,
other people actually understanding what you're dealing with. You don't
have to describe it in its fullest going through a
painful time, So that's absolutely wonderful and I really appreciate
you joining me again. Catherine Swingle of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You're awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Everything that you're doing is awesome, and just because you've
talked to me once doesn't mean that we're not going
to talk again.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So I would love to have you on again in
the future.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Anytime, And thank you so much for having me again.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
This is Jessman McIntyre, your host of Seattle Voice. This
is your community voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle. And remember,
if you want your voice to be heard or have
any show ideas, you can always email Seattle Voice at
iHeartMedia dot com. And we're gonna switch gears up just
a bit right now as I am joined by Mark Coleman,
a food Lifeline.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Mark, thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Good morning, Jessman. Thank you so much for having me.
I hope you're having a great start to your day.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I am because I'm talking to you and that is
a very wonderful way to start my day.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
And we're gonna dive into food Lifeline. But as I
do with all my guests, I want people to know
a little bit about you.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Oh okay, I was born and raised here in western Washington.
I was born in Ballard and grew up in West
Seattle and Renton.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
I never really left here.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
I went into television back in the mid nineties and
I became a television reporter for Northleist cable News in
King five, and then they turned me into a weather man.
I went back to school become a meteorologist and did
that for about another ten years, and then I got
really tired.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
And in television news, you got tired televisions?
Speaker 5 (18:56):
How could that make you tired? No? No, I loved it,
but a pace.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And the the.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Shortness of it, you know, the impact is, you know,
no one cares what you did yesterday, it's what you
did today. And and during while I was in television,
I started.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Getting involved with nonprofits. And what I found was that
I had this really important information.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
They needed how to get their stories in the news
in the newspaper, and I knew that, and so I
started working with a couple of small nonprofits helping them
do that.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I kind of basically created a job for myself.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
And then I went to work for Pause, the animal
shelter it and so I had puppies and kittens on
morning shows across the city.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
It was I was in my element. You know, it
was fun.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I'm a fellow foster, so yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Okay, yes, yes it was.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It was really lovely. But it was a very small organization.
I mean, something a little bit bigger. And then I
came across Food Lifeline, and you know, I've always believed
that food waste was a huge you know, as a meteorologist,
that's a huge environmental issue. And then I grew up
with a single mom and we struggled with food insecurity
for a number of years, so I have kind of
(20:11):
a personal experience with that. So coming to work for
Food Lifeline was just this wonderful fit. And so now
you know, when the media shows up, everybody runs and hides,
and they shoved me out there and I'm able to
talk and share about our mission and the work we
do in Western Washington. So it's it's a pretty amazing
(20:31):
journey that I've had. But yeah, I'm very much enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Well, I can tell you again, this is Mark Holeman,
a Food Lifeline that I am, as a member of
this community, very pleased about your journey. To have you
in the position you're in right now because communication is
a very important element when it comes to anything that
people do. You know, you could do these amazing things,
and if people don't know about it, you don't necessarily
get the support that you might need. And so Mark,
(20:57):
I would I would just like to ask you, because
Food Lifeline we talked about food insecurity, but can you
tell us a little bit more for those who aren't familiar.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Okay, certainly. Well, the first I need to describe what
a food bank is. And in Seattle, a food bank
is where you go to get food if your food
is secure. Across the country, where you go to get
food is called a food pantry, and a food bank
is actually a much larger organization that gathers food and
(21:26):
distributed to the pantries. For some reason here in western Washington,
we started calling everybody a food bank, so that left
us without a title. So we often joked that we're
the food bank's food bank. So what we do is
we source surplus food from farmers, manufacturers and grocery stores
and retail outlets. This is surplus food that obviously they're
(21:48):
not going to use, that is eventually at some point
going to go to waste.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
We bring that food into our warehouse.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
We have a two hundred thousand square foot warehouse in
the South Park neighborhood, which is just near the airport,
and so we bring that food in, the volunteers work
with us to sort it and repack it, and then
we distribute to three hundred food bank partners across Western Washington.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
That's just Western Wow.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
That's just Western Washington. We discover seventeen counties.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
And so what we were constantly on the lookout for
is sourcing food, bringing that in, moving that food out
to our partners, but also partnering with them on how
to run a food bank, how to write grants to
you know, we're always looking to what we say, build
our network, and that's to strengthen these smaller community organizations,
whether they're food bank shelters or meal programs, so that
(22:37):
they can better serve the people that are coming to
visit them.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
So that's in.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
The big picture, and so what we're looking for on
a daily basis is obviously food, but also funds to
move that food. Now, if we take that food and donated,
that's great. That food is free, but it costs money
to warehouse it, transport it, move it. But what it
works out to be is about anywhere between eight to
(23:02):
ten cents a pound. So that's that's that's really effective,
and so we're looking to do that on a daily
basis and then and then really help educate people on
food what causes food in security.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
And I think it's surprising to a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, what would you say the current state of food
insecurity is here in Western Washington.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Well, it's funny.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Just before the pandemic, and we take surveys from all
our partners every year to try to figure out what
the numbers are and if we're serving in the right
places and the right foods. And before the pandemic, our
number was about seven hundred and fifty thousand people, which
which I found pretty dramatic, you know, considering we have
four to five million people in Western Washington. I thought
(23:44):
that it was pretty pretty awful. During the pandemic that
jumped up to one point two million people. And during
the pandemic, we couldn't even the food banks couldn't even open.
So what we did is we did these mobile distributions
at shopping malls and colleges, and we had food in
boxes and people would pull up and just pop their
trunks and we would put the food in it, and
(24:04):
I would go on I would go on the morning
shows every morning and say, you don't need to be
a food bad guess. You know, you don't need to
be on snap foodstamps anything. You just need to need food.
And so the people came and we thought, okay, great,
after the pandemic, that's going to drop down.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
It didn't. It went up. We're at one point seven
million people my goodness, yes, every year.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
And I think part of what happened was is that
is people just didn't know about us, and they didn't
know about food bags. But when the pandemic happened, all
of a sudden, they went, ah, here's an option. You know,
here's a way I can help my family. I can
help augment. You know, if I have a five hundred
dollars car repair bill and now I can't afford the groceries,
I can help augment this.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
So I think we basically uncovered a need that was
there all along.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
So at this point today, we're just trying to work
to provide all those people healthy, nutritious food and help
them with the struggles they face that bring them into
a state of food insecurity.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
So in the current situation.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
You suffer nearly two million dollars in federal cuts this year.
How has that affected food lifeline in your operation?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Just Win That makes up about ten percent of the
food we source. We source about seventy five million pounds
a year. That that cut was about seven million, five
hundred thousand, So it's dramatic to us. We're really looking
to our supporters to help make up that shortfall, and
now we're facing possible snack cuts and what that can
(25:33):
mean for the state of Washington is about four hundred
million less dollars for food for people that are experiencing
food insecurity.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
That is dramatic.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
So much like during the pandemic, we're really reaching out
to our supporters and saying, look, can you give us
that little extra help, that little extra push to get
through this.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
And our donors and.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Our supporters and people in the Western Washington community have
always been great about that. So what we're trying to
do is just let them know what's happening, how they
can help, and so that we can navigate this and
move forward.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, well, I certainly hope so, and that's why we
are here to help, which is all that we're trying
to do here, not just at Kajak because that's where
the play what you Want this month. Will get into
that a little bit, but we here want to do
literally everything that we can just to elevate everything that
you guys are doing.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
So I don't know if you.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Want me to explain what kjack is doing or if
you want to dive right.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Into it either way, okay, way.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Well I'll get into just a brief view points. So
Jack FM is raising money for Food Lifeline during this
month June, which is playing what you Want so kids
can eat what they need, and that is so important.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
It's literally what you do.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And so the public is encouraged to visit any Sound
Credit Union location during June to drop off shelf stable
food donations or make a cash contribution and to have
a song played on the radio. You can donate at
Foodlifeline dot org backslash jack FM that's j A c
K FM, and you'll be asked to choose a donation
(27:11):
amount and then a song. And we are running your
tables folks, you're on the ones and twos here and
that is all in supportive food Lifeline. So how will
this help Food Lifeline?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
It's remark Wegg, and I've got to tell you too,
I'm old enough to remember when you used to call
up and request.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Songs on the radio. Yeah, this is like, this is.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Right, This is like Throwback Thursday for me. No, it's wonderful.
And our partners, as you mentioned, Sound Credit Union and
also Fox thirteen Seattle is our television sponsor really helping
us to move this out there. And what that's going
to do is is those funds are going to come in,
and childhood hunger is really a thing, those dollars are
going to help us. In the summer, we have about
(27:52):
a half a million children in western Washington.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
They're on free and reduced lunches.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
So when they're gone from school, each of those child
children have one hundred and eighty missing meals. Their family
have to find one hundred and eighty meals during the
summer per child. So this puts extra pressure on our
three hundred food bank partners. So those funds will help
us source more food to get out there to address
this summer hunger phenomenon and make sure those kids aren't
(28:17):
thinking about anything but monkeying around.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I love it. That's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
And what else can people do obviously, you know this
is just the month of June that we're doing that,
but all year round you are trying to cultivate more funds,
more donations for what kids need, what families need, what
people need in our state.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
What else can people do to help?
Speaker 4 (28:36):
You know, we have the three pillars. You can donate,
you can volunteer, and you can advocate. And by advocate,
we ask you to reach out to you know, your
representatives and give them heck volunteering. You know, we source
seventy five million pounds a year of food. It comes
in on semi trucks on palates, so we need about
fifteen thousand volunteers every year to break that food down,
(28:59):
start it and pack it into smaller boxes and crates
to go out to the food banks. It's a two
and a half hour experience. You come in, you see
this remarkable donated surplus food, you get to repack it,
and you leave knowing that that food within three to
five days is going to be on somebody's table. So
that's our favorite way to have you come down and
meet us, and we have a big, beautiful warehouse. It's
(29:20):
lots of fun, and then you can visit our website
at Foodlifeline dot org, and we'll tell you everything you
need to know about why this is a problem, how
you can help, and just all kinds of wonderful information.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Well, Mark Coleman, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I believe I'll be seeing you tomorrow on Fox thirteen.
I will be joining you so get to actually see
each other face to face.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
Absolutely look forward to it. We will see you tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Thank you for everything you do.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Again, you've been listening to Seattle Voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I'm Jessaman McIntyre.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
For show ideas or to find out how your voice
can be heard, email Seattle Voice at iHeartMedia dot com
This is Jessamine MacIntyre, your host of Seattle Voice, your
community Voice, presented by iHeart Radio Seattle, and today I
have the pleasure of being joined by Katherine Swingle, who
is an outpatient oncology social worker. And Catherine, first of all,
thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Thank you for inviting me to talk.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
It's lovely and we appreciate your time. Everyone listening does
as well. And you know, let's get right into it.
I read your title outpatient oncology social worker. A lot
of us don't know exactly what that entails. Can you
describe what your job, what your umbrella job is, and
then we can get a little bit more into the
nitty gritty of your day to day.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah. So, I've worked for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health outpatient
oncology for nine years and as social worker, I tell
patients basically I help with everything non medical. So I
can help with resources like if someone needs lodging, transportation,
(01:01):
help with applying for Social Security disability, help with FMLA paperwork,
and then there's the emotional support side. Of course, cancer
affects people in many different ways and certainly does psychologically,
so I provide emotional support sometimes some short term counseling,
(01:22):
help people get connected with support groups with mental health resources.
And then I'm also an advocate for patients and help
them if they need especially we have a lot of
non English speaking patients, so they need people to sort
of help be a voice for them. So a social worker,
(01:43):
I can be an advocate and help in getting them
the needed resources.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Wow, Catherine Swingle joining me, that is a lot of
things that you just described that you do. I imagine
that you have teammates you work with as well. I do.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I'm lucky to have amazing and other social workers. So
we're all we get our master in social work. And
then also were so most social workers get licensed as well.
And yes, we're very busy. We have a very busy
clinic and we actually Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is a
(02:21):
center of excellence for pancreatic cancer. And so it seems
like sometimes I think, oh, my goodness, is there rise
in pancreatic cancer. But it's because a lot of people
come to our clinic because it is a center of
excellence for that particular cancer, which is a really tough one.
And so it does mean a lot of a lot
(02:42):
of these patients need that extra support because of what
kind of cancer it is and the symptoms and the
you know, the enormity of what this cancer is.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, thank you so much for actually touching in on that,
because pancreatic cancer. I have known a few in my
life who have gone through and I think we'd all
be hard pressed to not be able to recognize someone
we know or someone we know who knows someone who
has endured that disease and it is absolutely devastating.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Can you talk a little bit about.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
The specialty that you have there and exactly what Virginia
Mason does when it comes to making you guys stand
out against the rest.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, so we are considered one of the center's excellence
for that cancer. Doctor Percozzi has been working with pancreatic
cancer patients for most of his career as a oncologist,
and so he is actually world renowned. People come to
him from all over the world for opinions on treatments.
(03:45):
He's involved with many clinical trials that we do at
Virginia Mason and then pank CAN, which is a Pancreatic
Cancer Action Network, which is the best organization for cancer
and fundraising and be in the face of this cancer
to for legislation and bringing you know, making sure that
(04:09):
funds are brought for research for pancreatic cancer. And they
recognize certain centers and we are one of the ones
in the Seattle area that's recognized as a center of excellence.
So many people come to Virginia Mason from lots of
different parts of the country, but also here in Seattle,
(04:32):
folks come from eastern Washington, from up north, from the coast.
So there's the logistics sort of coming for treatment from
so far away, and this is where social work steps
in to help, you know, find resources and make that
travel easier and find support because they're coming from so
(04:53):
far away to get the treatment.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Catherine Swingle joining me Jessamin McIntyre here for Seattle Voice
presented by iHeart Radio Seattle. Catherine, you are from Virginia Mason,
Franciscan Health. I want to mention that as well, to
make sure that we know where the center of excellence is,
just so that people actually have the resources that they need.
You had touched on symptoms, and I think that a
lot of the time, which I'm sure you're well aware of,
(05:17):
when people are aware that they have pancreated cancer, they
are beyond a point or they're to a point where
the percentages of survival get extremely low. And I was
wondering if you could share with our audience some of
the things that perhaps we can look out for ahead
of time.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yes, because the reason why this is such a quote
lethal cancer is because often it's diagnosed at a very
late stage. Many people get diagnosed at stage four because
it's there and you often don't even know that it's there,
or you may have some symptoms, and because the GI
(05:55):
type symptoms like you know, you have changes in new vowel,
or you're suddenly losing some weight, or you feeling a
little nauseous, these can be it can be accredited to
many different things. And of course your PCP, your doctor
is not going to go right away to oh, you
(06:16):
must have pancreatic cancer. So unfortunately a lot of times
people may have these symptoms and it's not diagnosed until later.
So weight loss, loss of appetite, changes in your stool,
pancrea titus. Although many people can have pancrea titus and
(06:36):
it doesn't mean they're going to get pancreatic cancer. But
that's another warning sign and then a sudden onset of
diabetes because of course the pancreas is what monitors and
helps insulin, and so if there's any changes to your pancreas,
it might cause you to suddenly become diabetic. So those
(06:57):
some of the symptoms that you know, people should be
aware of. Also pain and they abt them and obviously
is another one. And but yes, a lot of times
people don't know they have it, and unfortunately by the
time they start treatment at stage four. A lot of
people who get it caught early at stage one. It
(07:21):
was an incidental finding. Let's say they were in a
car accident and then they had to have scams and
they're like, oh, there's that little spot. What's that spot
doing in your pancreas? And we've had, we do have
people who have gone into well they cancer free, they
get the cancer out, they get a few rounds of chemo,
and then they're the lucky ones. And fortunately too, with
(07:45):
new treatments and and also more awareness about and creating cancer,
people hopefully getting you know, diagnosed a little quicker. And
and also because of the treatments available and the i say,
the wonderful care that people get a Virginia Mason Francis
(08:08):
can help. We have actually people who live quite a
long time and have beaten the odds of what the
usual prognosis is with is cancer.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well, that is really encouraging to hear, and just knowing
that all those symptoms could be, like you said, symptomatic
of many, many, many things. So yeah, if you know
I have a tummy ache, you know, I'm not immediately
thinking that.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
But it is always an awareness.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
During March, we did an entire month worth of shows
on correctal cancer awareness.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
So there are certain things.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
You also don't talk about, and I had some really
brave survivors that we're.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Like, let's talk about boop.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
You know, yes, it's absolutely yeah, So thank you for
sharing some of those signs too. I know that nobody
wants to think about the worst, but I don't know.
Past the age of thirty, I started waking up on
my elbow Hertz.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
This is how it ends. It's just it's hard to
know when to.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Treat something as seriously as you're describing, So so thank
you for that. I very much appreciate you at least
outlining some of the things that could catch it early.
We don't want anyone getting into a car accident just
to get a scan, but pay attention to your body
and listen, is what I'm hearing.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And what's happening too with pank CAN, the PANK Credic
Cancer Action Network, is that they're doing a lot of
research around early detection. We're going to get closer to
that than a cure, but that is what they're hoping for,
is to have eventually a blood test that can kind
(09:40):
of detect that you've got a genetic makeup that would
make you more susceptible, so that you can get that
constant workup and close monitoring so that if you do
get the cancer, they get it early. So that's exciting
that there's a lot more research around on that and
(10:00):
they're getting closer to finding that, you know, sort of like, aha,
we see it. We need to monitor you because you
have a higher chance of getting this.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
That's amazing to hear that a blood test could even
do that. I mean, that is great. Is there anything
more you can tell me about Pangham. I think we've
talked a little bit about it, but I know that
you probably have a wealth of knowledge you'd like to share.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes, Well, they just had that big fundraiser the last
weekend in April, and because we see so many pancreatic
cancer patients. I want to say it was six years ago.
Myself and another nurse decided to start a team because
pancreat Because pang Ham does this big fundraiser called Purple
(10:47):
Stride and it's the number one fundraiser to go towards
research and the great thing about them is that most
of that money does go back out to research rather
than at man costs and all that. So I started
a team and it's Virginia Mason Francis can help team
(11:08):
and anybody can join and we you know, do fundraising
by asking, you know, putting flyers out getting team members
to come and they ask people. It's kind of the
word of mouth and we managed to read to Actually
my original goal was ten thousand for the team, and
we ended up raising thirty one thousand dollars. We were
(11:32):
the number one team, which was really exciting. So got
to be up there and got a plaque and and
it was just great to see patients there. So, you know,
we have people who come and and do the walk
and they're they go up on stage and they're applauded
and and it's just an amazing day. Everybody's wearing purple
(11:55):
and it's just a happy day. And then there's a
walk and people can participate, not depending on their ability,
but it was very successful this year. And actually the
Pugit Sound team or the Puget Sound area, their goal
was to raise two hundred and twenty thousand and they
exceeded three hundred thousand. So it's so wonderful to exceed
(12:19):
because often you don't, you know, reach your goal, especially
in these times, right, but people were so generous and
and so you know, everybody was just very elated as
to the results.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, congratulations on all of that. And even with fundraising.
I've done a lot of fundraising through Lukemi and Lafoas Society.
And even if you don't hit your goal, you are
still each dollar is more than they had beforehand.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Absolutely, And are.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
People able to donate?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I know that you just had the big fundraiser, but
I'd like you to share how people can contribute because
this research sounds groundbreaking on so many different levels. And
can you share a little bit about how people can
generously donate.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yes, they can go to www. Dot Cancan dot o
RG and they can donate at any time. I mean,
you know, they're very happy to get donations. I think
that there's still Team, you know, you can still donate
to a Team, because I think that's still open for
(13:24):
a little bit longer. So they haven't closed the Purple
Stripe fundraising yet, but once that's closed, it doesn't mean
you can't still donate to great to that great cause.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Well, it is absolutely wonderful everything that you're doing. Catherine Swingle,
Virginia Mason, Franciscan Health. I am so glad that you
are one of the people in this kind of industry
that is doing this work, and it's an absolute pleasure
to meet you. Is there anything else you'd like to
add that we might not have gotten to.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Well, the other thing that I'm proud of is we
started a pancredic cancer group and that happened. Oh god,
I want to say that It's been nine actually eight years,
almost eight years that I've been running the pank credit
cancer support group, and the support group stanted in person
(14:18):
here at Virginia Mason, and we decided to stand it
because I had someone had asked me what a patient
had asked, is there a support group specific to pancredic cancer,
And I said, you know, let me look, and I
couldn't find any, certainly, not in this part of the world.
And so I decided, with a pancredic cancer nurse navigator
(14:42):
at the time, that we should start one here because
it was important to have a specific group for this cancer,
because there's so many side effects and so many psychosocial
aspects of this cancer that people just don't feel that
they can share at a regular support group. Breast cancer
(15:05):
has different types of side effects than pancretic cancer, and
so we thought, well, we should start the group. And
it was in person. Sometimes people would come with the
ivy polls into the into the room and just so
they wouldn't miss the group. And then and then the
(15:26):
well COVID happened and we couldn't have in person groups anymore.
So we transitioned to zoom and that actually ended up
being great because it opened up the door to more people,
and we opened the door to non Virginia Mason Franciscan
help patients so that we could have people from Bahaj
(15:49):
from other centers, from Oregon to California to Chicago. So
we have books from all over the country who've actually
joined because again and this particular group for pancreatic cancer,
there's so few of them out there, and we just
had it yesterday and we had actually twenty members and
(16:14):
the support group. That's quite a bit. And I think
that the patients really appreciate hearing from others. So you've
got a new patient who's just joined, has just been diagnosed,
and then is hearing from someone who's been you know,
with dealing with this cancer for six seven years and
(16:36):
is you know, they can be a wealth of information
to that new patient. And so I really feel that
it helps patients kind of like I said, dealing with
the non medical aspect of things, but having that support
and we call it building resilience, so that folks feel
(16:57):
that they have that resilience to deal with this very
difficult cancer. And we also provide hope, which is so
important as well.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, I think just the feeling of not being alone
is a great first step there and dealing with you know,
other people actually understanding what you're dealing with. You don't
have to describe it in its fullest going through a
painful time, So that's absolutely wonderful and I really appreciate
you joining me again. Catherine Swingle of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You're awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Everything that you're doing is awesome, and just because you've
talked to me once doesn't mean that we're not going
to talk again.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So I would love to have you on again in
the future.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Anytime, And thank you so much for having me again.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
This is Jessman McIntyre, your host of Seattle Voice. This
is your community voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle. And remember,
if you want your voice to be heard or have
any show ideas, you can always email Seattle Voice at
iHeartMedia dot com. And we're gonna switch gears up just
a bit right now as I am joined by Mark Coleman,
a food Lifeline.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Mark, thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Good morning, Jessman. Thank you so much for having me.
I hope you're having a great start to your day.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I am because I'm talking to you and that is
a very wonderful way to start my day.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
And we're gonna dive into food Lifeline. But as I
do with all my guests, I want people to know
a little bit about you.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Oh okay, I was born and raised here in western Washington.
I was born in Ballard and grew up in West
Seattle and Renton.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
I never really left here.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
I went into television back in the mid nineties and
I became a television reporter for Northleist cable News in
King five, and then they turned me into a weather man.
I went back to school become a meteorologist and did
that for about another ten years, and then I got
really tired.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
And in television news, you got tired televisions?
Speaker 5 (18:56):
How could that make you tired? No? No, I loved it,
but a pace.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And the the.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Shortness of it, you know, the impact is, you know,
no one cares what you did yesterday, it's what you
did today. And and during while I was in television,
I started.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Getting involved with nonprofits. And what I found was that
I had this really important information.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
They needed how to get their stories in the news
in the newspaper, and I knew that, and so I
started working with a couple of small nonprofits helping them
do that.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
I kind of basically created a job for myself.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
And then I went to work for Pause, the animal
shelter it and so I had puppies and kittens on
morning shows across the city.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
It was I was in my element. You know, it
was fun.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I'm a fellow foster, so yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Okay, yes, yes it was.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It was really lovely. But it was a very small organization.
I mean, something a little bit bigger. And then I
came across Food Lifeline, and you know, I've always believed
that food waste was a huge you know, as a meteorologist,
that's a huge environmental issue. And then I grew up
with a single mom and we struggled with food insecurity
for a number of years, so I have kind of
(20:11):
a personal experience with that. So coming to work for
Food Lifeline was just this wonderful fit. And so now
you know, when the media shows up, everybody runs and hides,
and they shoved me out there and I'm able to
talk and share about our mission and the work we
do in Western Washington. So it's it's a pretty amazing
(20:31):
journey that I've had. But yeah, I'm very much enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Well, I can tell you again, this is Mark Holeman,
a Food Lifeline that I am, as a member of
this community, very pleased about your journey. To have you
in the position you're in right now because communication is
a very important element when it comes to anything that
people do. You know, you could do these amazing things,
and if people don't know about it, you don't necessarily
get the support that you might need. And so Mark,
(20:57):
I would I would just like to ask you, because
Food Lifeline we talked about food insecurity, but can you
tell us a little bit more for those who aren't familiar.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Okay, certainly. Well, the first I need to describe what
a food bank is. And in Seattle, a food bank
is where you go to get food if your food
is secure. Across the country, where you go to get
food is called a food pantry, and a food bank
is actually a much larger organization that gathers food and
(21:26):
distributed to the pantries. For some reason here in western Washington,
we started calling everybody a food bank, so that left
us without a title. So we often joked that we're
the food bank's food bank. So what we do is
we source surplus food from farmers, manufacturers and grocery stores
and retail outlets. This is surplus food that obviously they're
(21:48):
not going to use, that is eventually at some point
going to go to waste.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
We bring that food into our warehouse.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
We have a two hundred thousand square foot warehouse in
the South Park neighborhood, which is just near the airport,
and so we bring that food in, the volunteers work
with us to sort it and repack it, and then
we distribute to three hundred food bank partners across Western Washington.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
That's just Western Wow.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
That's just Western Washington. We discover seventeen counties.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
And so what we were constantly on the lookout for
is sourcing food, bringing that in, moving that food out
to our partners, but also partnering with them on how
to run a food bank, how to write grants to
you know, we're always looking to what we say, build
our network, and that's to strengthen these smaller community organizations,
whether they're food bank shelters or meal programs, so that
(22:37):
they can better serve the people that are coming to
visit them.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
So that's in.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
The big picture, and so what we're looking for on
a daily basis is obviously food, but also funds to
move that food. Now, if we take that food and donated,
that's great. That food is free, but it costs money
to warehouse it, transport it, move it. But what it
works out to be is about anywhere between eight to
(23:02):
ten cents a pound. So that's that's that's really effective,
and so we're looking to do that on a daily
basis and then and then really help educate people on
food what causes food in security.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
And I think it's surprising to a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah, what would you say the current state of food
insecurity is here in Western Washington.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
Well, it's funny.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Just before the pandemic, and we take surveys from all
our partners every year to try to figure out what
the numbers are and if we're serving in the right
places and the right foods. And before the pandemic, our
number was about seven hundred and fifty thousand people, which
which I found pretty dramatic, you know, considering we have
four to five million people in Western Washington. I thought
(23:44):
that it was pretty pretty awful. During the pandemic that
jumped up to one point two million people. And during
the pandemic, we couldn't even the food banks couldn't even open.
So what we did is we did these mobile distributions
at shopping malls and colleges, and we had food in
boxes and people would pull up and just pop their
trunks and we would put the food in it, and
(24:04):
I would go on I would go on the morning
shows every morning and say, you don't need to be
a food bad guess. You know, you don't need to
be on snap foodstamps anything. You just need to need food.
And so the people came and we thought, okay, great,
after the pandemic, that's going to drop down.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
It didn't. It went up. We're at one point seven
million people my goodness, yes, every year.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
And I think part of what happened was is that
is people just didn't know about us, and they didn't
know about food bags. But when the pandemic happened, all
of a sudden, they went, ah, here's an option. You know,
here's a way I can help my family. I can
help augment. You know, if I have a five hundred
dollars car repair bill and now I can't afford the groceries,
I can help augment this.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
So I think we basically uncovered a need that was
there all along.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
So at this point today, we're just trying to work
to provide all those people healthy, nutritious food and help
them with the struggles they face that bring them into
a state of food insecurity.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
So in the current situation.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
You suffer nearly two million dollars in federal cuts this year.
How has that affected food lifeline in your operation?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Just Win That makes up about ten percent of the
food we source. We source about seventy five million pounds
a year. That that cut was about seven million, five
hundred thousand, So it's dramatic to us. We're really looking
to our supporters to help make up that shortfall, and
now we're facing possible snack cuts and what that can
(25:33):
mean for the state of Washington is about four hundred
million less dollars for food for people that are experiencing
food insecurity.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
That is dramatic.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
So much like during the pandemic, we're really reaching out
to our supporters and saying, look, can you give us
that little extra help, that little extra push to get
through this.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
And our donors and.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Our supporters and people in the Western Washington community have
always been great about that. So what we're trying to
do is just let them know what's happening, how they
can help, and so that we can navigate this and
move forward.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, well, I certainly hope so, and that's why we
are here to help, which is all that we're trying
to do here, not just at Kajak because that's where
the play what you Want this month. Will get into
that a little bit, but we here want to do
literally everything that we can just to elevate everything that
you guys are doing.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
So I don't know if you.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Want me to explain what kjack is doing or if
you want to dive right.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Into it either way, okay, way.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Well I'll get into just a brief view points. So
Jack FM is raising money for Food Lifeline during this
month June, which is playing what you Want so kids
can eat what they need, and that is so important.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
It's literally what you do.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And so the public is encouraged to visit any Sound
Credit Union location during June to drop off shelf stable
food donations or make a cash contribution and to have
a song played on the radio. You can donate at
Foodlifeline dot org backslash jack FM that's j A c
K FM, and you'll be asked to choose a donation
(27:11):
amount and then a song. And we are running your
tables folks, you're on the ones and twos here and
that is all in supportive food Lifeline. So how will
this help Food Lifeline?
Speaker 4 (27:24):
It's remark Wegg, and I've got to tell you too,
I'm old enough to remember when you used to call
up and request.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Songs on the radio. Yeah, this is like, this is.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Right, This is like Throwback Thursday for me. No, it's wonderful.
And our partners, as you mentioned, Sound Credit Union and
also Fox thirteen Seattle is our television sponsor really helping
us to move this out there. And what that's going
to do is is those funds are going to come in,
and childhood hunger is really a thing, those dollars are
going to help us. In the summer, we have about
(27:52):
a half a million children in western Washington.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
They're on free and reduced lunches.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
So when they're gone from school, each of those child
children have one hundred and eighty missing meals. Their family
have to find one hundred and eighty meals during the
summer per child. So this puts extra pressure on our
three hundred food bank partners. So those funds will help
us source more food to get out there to address
this summer hunger phenomenon and make sure those kids aren't
(28:17):
thinking about anything but monkeying around.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I love it. That's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
And what else can people do obviously, you know this
is just the month of June that we're doing that,
but all year round you are trying to cultivate more funds,
more donations for what kids need, what families need, what
people need in our state.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
What else can people do to help?
Speaker 4 (28:36):
You know, we have the three pillars. You can donate,
you can volunteer, and you can advocate. And by advocate,
we ask you to reach out to you know, your
representatives and give them heck volunteering. You know, we source
seventy five million pounds a year of food. It comes
in on semi trucks on palates, so we need about
fifteen thousand volunteers every year to break that food down,
(28:59):
start it and pack it into smaller boxes and crates
to go out to the food banks. It's a two
and a half hour experience. You come in, you see
this remarkable donated surplus food, you get to repack it,
and you leave knowing that that food within three to
five days is going to be on somebody's table. So
that's our favorite way to have you come down and
meet us, and we have a big, beautiful warehouse. It's
(29:20):
lots of fun, and then you can visit our website
at Foodlifeline dot org, and we'll tell you everything you
need to know about why this is a problem, how
you can help, and just all kinds of wonderful information.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Well, Mark Coleman, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I believe I'll be seeing you tomorrow on Fox thirteen.
I will be joining you so get to actually see
each other face to face.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
Absolutely look forward to it. We will see you tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Thank you for everything you do.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Again, you've been listening to Seattle Voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I'm Jessaman McIntyre.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
For show ideas or to find out how your voice
can be heard, email Seattle Voice at iHeartMedia dot com
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