Seattle Voice with Greg Bakke, President of the Board of Directors for The Forgotten Children's Fund
December 18, 2024 • 30 mins
Greg Bakke, President of the Board of Directors for The Forgotten Children's Fund joins Jessamyn to discuss what the organization does for families in need during the holiday season. From gratitude to extreme humility, Bakke and his team do amazing things to bring Christmas joy to all families in our community.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seattle Sports Radio ninety three point three e kJ R
f M Seattle and I our radio station available everywhere
in our free iHeartRadio app Number one for music radio
and podcasts all in one.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is Jasmin McIntyre, your hosts of Seattle Voice, your
Community Voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle, and I have the
pleasure of being joined today by Greg Backy, who does
some amazing things in our community.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Can you introduce yourself to the audience.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Greg, Yeah, Hey, this is Greg Backey.
Speaker 5 (00:28):
I represent Forgotten Children's Fund, and I must just to clarify,
it's not me doing amazing things. We have an awesome
group of volunteers that do lots of great things in
the community. So I'm just happy to be here to represent.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, it's great, it's great to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And can you talk a little bit about what Forgotten
Children's Fund does?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Yeah, thank you. We all year long we raise.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Money and collect toys and funds and everything. And at
Christmas and well, I'll say, in December, we get a
warehouse donated to us and we convert that warehouse into
our We call it the North Pole. We spend the
entire month of December wrapping upwards of twenty thousand gifts.
We build anywhere from five hundred to six hundred bikes wow.
(01:15):
And then on Christmas Eve we go out and deliver
a full Santa and Elves Christmas to families that wouldn't
otherwise have Christmas.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So you called it the North Pole, I'm assuming that
that is just a distribution center and then you send
out the gifts or do people come there as like
a true North Pole?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (01:35):
No, So we on Christmas Eve we get usually around
twenty five box trucks donated to us, and then Microsoft
donates their vans and drivers and we go out to
the family's homes. So the North Pole is, as you said,
distribution center. It's kind of our center of operation and
we get to use that warehouse for a month. It's
in a different place every year, but we use that
(01:55):
as the center and then we go out into the
community to deliver.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So how did those again, Greg Backy of Seattle Children's
I'm sorry, the Forgotten Children's Fund is here with me
on Seattle Voice. How do people who are in need
get involved make requests? And what is that process like
for those in our community?
Speaker 5 (02:14):
They can nominate themselves and apply for help on our website,
which is www dot Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. We
also get referrals from their families, nominating friends or anything.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
We get.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Nominations from school counselors, guidance counselors, that.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Sort of thing.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
Just people in the community trying to help out their neighbor.
And so we have a screening process, so we do
interview those families and we get more applications than we
can serve, but we'd end up serving anywhere from seven
hundred and fifty to nine hundred families in the future
found area.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
And you know, I know everyone gets involved with things
like this right around the holiday season, but you said
that you spend all year doing this, So when do
you start? January first, it all starts over again for
twenty twenty five Christmas.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
Yeah, we end up cleaning up the warehouse so that
it can go back to its owner on December twenty sixth,
and we do rest for a little bit, but we
have a debrief meeting early in January to kind of
get ready and start talking about fundraising events. We're all grassroots,
we don't have any paid employees, so throughout the year
it's smart to start raising money just as Christmas ends,
(03:30):
so that we have enough to.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Take care of those people.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Oh yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Mean how long has the Forgotten Children's been in operation
out here in Seattle?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Great question.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Yeah, it started in nineteen seventy six. There was a
restaurant in Seattle and a mailman had come across this
letter that a kid had written to Santa Claus and
he brought it to this restaurant because he knew Dick
Francisco was our founder, and he knew that Dick Francisco
had a soft heart. He was a marine, but had
really soft heart for kids. And so when they got
(04:03):
this letter and it basically said, Santa, I know you
lost your way last year and hopefully you can find
our house this year, Dick thought, jeez, if there's one
kid like this, there must be thousands, and so he
started delivering delivering gifts and it's grown to what we
are today.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
And how long have you been involved?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
By the way, that is heartbreaking and very touching story
and we hope that that does not happen in our community,
and this is what that's all about.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
But how long have you personally been involved?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah? I've been involved for about twenty five years. It's
my dad was.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
A Santa Claus and so my brothers and I were
hisselves for a while. And then once my dad, yeah,
once my dad was he ended up getting cancer and stuff,
and so he couldn't be Santa anymore, and so my
brothers and I were taking turns and I love it,
so I stopped taking turns because I wanted to be
Sants every year. So it's really cool, and we've kept
(04:54):
at a family affair.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So my uncle is.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
My truck driver, my aunt is our navigator, my wife
and three of my cousins are held and then we're
adding my father in law and my hopefully my seventeen
year old son is.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Elve this year too.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
A family affair that sounds like a really great way
to spend the holidays. So thank you for all that
you do. Again, Craig. Back you here with Jessinman McIntyre
on Seattle Voice. We are discussing the Forgotten Children's Fund,
which is something that we all try to think about
besides our own families and friends during this holiday season.
There are those out there that are going without and
(05:30):
to bring a smile to children's faces during this time
of year where if they're struggling now, they probably struggle
through throughout the year. So for you to provide that,
do you actually get to meet the families or do
they keep it anonymous?
Speaker 5 (05:43):
We do the only things the only places that are
anonymous or are the shelters, but every other place where we
deliver to. And that's that's the beauty of our organization
is if people are looking for an opportunity to volunteer,
they can come down.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
To the North Pole and wrap gifts.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
And the cool part is we get to know the
kid's names, so we know their names and age and
what their interests are. And so you literally get to
go around the North Pole. The toys are organized by
age group and so you can go shopping so to
speak for them. And then each president is individually wrapped
with the child's name. And so then when Santa Anazel
(06:19):
come in to the house to deliver the gifts, we
sit down with the family for thirty to forty five
minutes and get to have, you know, take a picture
with Santa. They get to each open one gifts while
we're there, we bring up a box of food. So
it's really it's a really cool.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Experience that's really special.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
I've adopted families for Christmas through various different organizations in
the Seattle area, and you know, you respect the anonymity
of it, but this sounds really fun because Santa actually
comes and visits. Can you share a story without I mean,
I know you don't want to probably share private family
information on the air, but a story or two that
really brought you the Christmas joy?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Every so every year we have people come down to
the North Pole that want to help. And every once
in a while they'll they'll stop. So our north Full
director names Debbie. They'll stop Debbie and and just kind
of tell her to listen. The reason that I'm here
today is because when I was a kid, you guys
help my family.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Sorry, And so.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
They come full circle because we try to help the
working families that are, you know, maybe just down on
their luck that year, and so we try and give
them a hand up. And it's really really cool, and
I'm not kidding. It happens every year where somebody comes
back and it comes full circle because we help them,
and so they want to come back and help another family.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
So it's it's really awesome.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
And I love that as long as you have been
doing this that it still brings you that emotion, and
that's probably why you still do everything that you do,
every every single day, every single.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Year, one hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
And there are so many people in our organization that
have been involved for twenty plus years. Our head Santa
his name is David, he's been he's been a Santa
Claus for over.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Thirty five years.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Don Rall, who is one of the original founders, he's
ninety three years old and he's still a Santa Claus.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
And he's probably our coolest Santa Claus because he wears
black cowboy boots.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Instead of the traditional snow boots.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Well, so.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Further detail, we're part of the way that we're year
round is we also we had a we acquired a
horse ranch up on Whidbey Island that we use for
summertime programs. So we bring needy kids, that risk kids,
special needs kids up there to have a day of
Western fun. So we get to do that in the summertime.
And so I always joke it's great to be Santa
(08:47):
Claus because you know, in the wintertime, I get to
be the center of attention in Santa Claus. But then
in the summertime I get to pretend to be a cowboy,
the best.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Of both world.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I like that. I like that.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
And you will keep it secret that there's multiple Stantas
out there. I mean, yeah, yeah, nobody's got to know.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah, we're Stantus Helpers, We're Stantus Helper exactly.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
That's that's where it is.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
So how does one go about I know that we discussed.
Your website is Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. How does
one become an elf?
Speaker 5 (09:19):
One can become an ELF by going on the website.
There's a Volunteer Opportunities link, so you can click on
there and you can sign up to come down to
the North Pole and wrap a family. That usually you
can have a family done in less than two hours
pretty easily.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
And once you've wrapped a.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Family, you can sign up to be an ELF and
go out on Christmas Eve and I guarantee you it's
it's life changing. But we're always the need of more
volunteers at every capacity, and so that would be a
great opportunity for someone someone.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
To become an else. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I'm looking at your website right now and there's a
get involved drop down menu what we need, volunteer and contributors.
So if you want to donate monetailor terribly, I'm sure
you can go to the contributors tab.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
If you yep, then there it is.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I'm looking at it right now, and the actually is
honoring all of those companies. You've got Lushweb, Microsoft, Michael's, Bellevue,
super Ro, Gravity Payments, Henzel Phelps, Q thirteen, Fox, Bluebird,
Sound Transit, Sharry's Summit Imaging, Daniels brohill Er McGrath and
Associates Guard Well. I mean, you've got so many local
companies that are contributing to this that must mean a
(10:26):
lot too.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
It's incredible. Microsoft pays their drivers double time to come
out and drive us around on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
When I first started as an ELF, we were running
around and donated minivans and stuff. So to have those
Microsoft vans, it's significantly more comfortable. And their drivers are
into it, like they get dressed up and they're there.
They have the holiday spirit too, and so.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
It's really cool.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
But I have to say too, Daniel Freuler and the
Metropolitan Grill over the years, when we come back to
the North Pole on Christmas Eve after.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
We've delivered our gifts.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
They donate an incredible Christmas center for all of our
volunteers that year. They bring employees and you know, their
food is no slouch, I need to tell you that.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
But so we get to sit.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
There and eat crime rib or turkey and mashed potatoes
and all that stuff before we go home to our families.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
So and then.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
I have to say the one that you didn't mention
that I don't know if it's listed there or not.
As pro logious a warehouse company, and the warehouse situation
used to be super stressful, Like there was times that
we didn't have a warehouse till December fifth. Oh, but
now all we do is we call for lodgers at
the end of September or mid October and they let
us choose from three or four different warehouses and their
(11:44):
employees come down and help wrap too. And so that's
been a game changer to take that stress and anxiety.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
Away from us.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, that is absolutely huge. And so when do you
acquire these ones? And can you tell us to the
name of that company again, the warehouse company.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
The company is for a lot.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
So if you drive through rent and can you know
warehouse building a million times, but usually we take over
the warehouse Thanksgiving weekend. But they were funny this year
because they asked me when do you want the weareouse
and so I told her that and she said, well,
I like round numbers. How about November fifteen?
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Oh, so we were okay.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
So we got to move in early, which is incredible
because then we were all set to go on the
first day of wrapping and there was no time crunch
or anything like that, which we almost always have.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
So that was really great.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Oh, that is really great.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And do you have to start storing these gifts early
on or do people physically bring them to you?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
How does the whole process work both.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Another incredible blessing for us has been lefs Schwab. We're
one of the benefactors of their or beneficiaries of their
toy drive, and so mid December they come down. It's
a really incredible spectacle. They come down in their blue
and white lush Wab trucks, they're all in uniform and
they truck all these toys into our warehouse. Well, at
that point we're pretty far along in our wrapping process.
(13:10):
We do own two or three semi trailers and so
we'll load up those trailers with the toys that we
haven't wrapped for this year, and so we have an
inventory for toys of toys to start next year and
we store them year round.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, I mean you're talking about, like I said, all
these local companies that you hear about out here, and
being from the East Coast, I just really I mean,
I've lived here for fifteen years now, but I love
being ingrained in this in this community itself, and you're
just doing absolutely wonderful things. So this is how you
spend your Christmas Eve? How does you and your family?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
How do you spend your Christmas Christmas?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I'm not much of a sleeper inner, but it.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Is a nice day to relax because it is a
big it's a big undertaking.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
To get through Christmas Eve.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
I gotta say, we don't always hit every family on
Christmas Eve, and so there are some families that either
weren't home or for whatever reason, we miss them on
Christmas Eve. We have one, sometimes two Santa Clauses who
do go out on Christmas Day to deliver, which is
amazing because I have small children and so to miss Christmas.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Day would be tough, yes, but we.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
Do have people in our group that do do that.
And so Christmas Day for me is awesome because I
get to sit there and watch my family enjoy what
I got to see other families enjoy the day before.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Wow, that's really the best of both worlds, isn't it. Yeah,
that's really really great. Greg Baggie of Forgotten Children's Fund. Again,
that's Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. If you want to
get involved. And again it's coming up on crunch time
with the holiday season, so if you can't this, your
donations will continue to help in the near future. So
(14:56):
if people, let's say, are listening to this we're in
eight different on eight different radio stations from Seattle all
the way down to Portland here, if they are not local,
what can they do? How much does a monetary donation
or how far does a monetary donation go?
Speaker 4 (15:13):
It goes a long way.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
We are very proud of the fact that because we're
all volunteer and we don't own a warehouse or anything
like that, ninety two cents on every dollar goes straight
back to the children and families. Obviously, we have some
administrative costs like gift wrap and tape and all that
sort of stuff. But the money that gets donated to
(15:34):
us goes a long way. People can donate toys and
bicycles too. I can say that this year we're in
need of kind of mid sized boys bikes like the
sixteen to eighteen inch for a six to eight year old.
We also need older kids bikes like multi speed twenty
four to twenty six inch bikes. And then the other
(15:55):
thing that was brought to my attention this year. Every
year when we're screening the families, asked them what are
what are they most in need of? And a common
answer that we've been getting this year's hygiene products because
you wouldn't you wouldn't think of that. But it's, you know,
it's kind of a indication of where we're at these days.
And but so if if people wanted to go to
(16:19):
Walmart or Target or Costco or something like that and
pick those up and bring them down to the north Ward,
we'd appreciate that too.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Wow, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I was talking to a gentleman from Seattle's Union Gospel
Mission earlier on this show a couple of weeks ago,
and it's amazing what people need, you know, and for
that to be a request on Christmas is quite sad.
But you are still providing a need that they're not
asking for a want. They're asking for a need.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
And and and the people that are asking for there
are neighbors like they're not. We're not talking about the
areas that you would normally think about. We're talking about
just regular neighborhoods where you know, maybe they could hit
hard times, were of the parents has lost their job, or.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
There's a health issue, or you.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
Just never know, and so you never know who needs
the help. And so any anything that people can give
we very much appreciate. You'll see on the website there's
a donate now tab and that's where you can give
cash or you know, monetary things. But like I said,
(17:24):
they're welcome to bring toys, devices or something.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Like that down to Yeah, I think a lot of
people get a lot of joy, you know, gift giving.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
That's like a competitive sport for me.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I love gift giving and so you know, but I
know that also if they physically can't, then it's really
good to know that that donation is an option.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So how far does the dollar go?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
I asked this question to multiple volunteer organizations, and you know,
it's it's crazy to me. There's you know, a gentleman
I was talking to is telling me that a dollar
twenty cents provides a meal for someone in need of one.
So you have you said you could serve between seven
hundred and fifty and nine hundred families. How far do
(18:04):
those monetary donations go?
Speaker 4 (18:07):
They go far.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
So the unsung heroes of our organization, there's two. Actually,
one is the screeners because those are tough when you
get when you're reading the letters and baking the phone
calls and stuff. But the other unsung heroes is we
have a team of people that shop throughout the year.
So don't tell Costco. But like when Costco says has
kids jackets for eight dollars or something like that, we
(18:31):
have a phone tree and so like a dozen people
will go out to every Costco and if they have
limit ten, we're buying ten of them. Well yeah, you know,
because we're trying to save as much money as we can.
And you know, coats and blankets. Every child gets a
coats and every family gets a blankets. So we have
I guess you could call it you said giving gifts
is the competitive sport. We have competitive shoppers that and
(18:54):
they do it all year long.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
Gift Wrap.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
You know, obviously after Christmas, gift wrapped gets discounted. That's
when they are triggered and they go out and they
buy gift wrap. It's the biggest discount they possibly can.
I think that's because we want to We want to
save our money for the things that we really really need,
whether it's bikes the last minute.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Or other things. So we try to stretch.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
That dollar as much as we can write and serve
as many families as possible.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Again, Greg Becky, oh, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Well, and like I said, we do not have a
single paid employee and so we don't have that overhead.
We don't have real estate overhead. Ninety two cents on
the dollar going back to the kids is a pretty
high number. So it's really cool. And one other thing
I want to add that one of our board members
came up with a couple of years or a few
(19:45):
years ago, is we have an aftercare program too. So
if Santa and his elves go into a house and
there's no furniture, or maybe the heat off or the
lights are off, we note that and we don't know
the family's name or anything, but we note that, and
we have an aftercare program. Well, we will come back.
And so we have paid people's rents, we have turned
(20:06):
their lights on, we have turned their heat on. We
picked up furniture form so that.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
They have a dining room table at which they can
have a family meal, that sort of stuff.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
So when you talk about monetary donations, that's where some
of that goes to.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Which is a really really special part of what we do.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That's interesting, and thank you for sharing that, because I
wouldn't have guessed, you know, just looking at the program
and it's very heavily Christmas focused. I wouldn't have guessed
that aftercare would provide more needs because we talked about
you know, hygiene product products and that that is a
big ask that you're seeing this year. Wouldn't know that
this would also provide that. I mean, that is just wonderful.
(20:44):
And is that what comes out of the funds after
all of the gift shopping has been done?
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Yes, yes, I will never forget. It was probably eighteen
twenty years ago when my dad was still Santa Claus.
We went into a house and they literally had zero furniture. Wow,
and so when you walk in there, you know, the
goal is that Santa gets to sit down and have
a kid on his lap or you know, a couple
of kids on his lap, and the open presence. Well,
Santa didn't even have any place to sit down. And
(21:11):
so when we were walking out of there, we were
looking at each other like, why are we giving them
legos when you know we should be running down to
Ikea and grabbing a couch or of you know, a table.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
And chairs or both.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
And so it took a while for that program to
come about, but it is, it's there now, and it's
it's really cool. So when we come back on Christmas Eve,
we sit down with our chief elf is named Dan,
and we run we run through each family and share
notes with San on each of those so that we
can potentially help those help those people after Christmas too.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
And you got that done just by the power of
observation and through the love and caring in your heart.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
That's pretty amazing. So this is something it sounds.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Like those who are requesting gifts wouldn't be aware of.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
And you just take the oh notes, you do it
all internally.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
H Yeah, yeah, that's pretty great.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
I mean, well, sometimes we'll call afterwards and say something like, hey, we.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Noticed your life.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
We're off you need help with that situation, help with
your bills for a while, And so we'll ask that
question because you know, sometimes people just like a dark room,
but if it's a case where they can't pay their bills,
will definitely help them.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Thank you again, Greg Becky of the Forgotten Children's Fund
Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. I'm Jessaman McIntyre, your host
of Seattle Voice, your community Voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
So I think that there.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Are also some parents who have a sense of pride
or maybe a bit of shame in not being able
to provide their kids a full Christmas, and I would
like you to speak to them out there if they
might be listening on the lack thereof or I should
just say that they shouldn't feel that way. And I'd
like you to just speak about your organization and that
(22:59):
tough times are hard and it you know, it doesn't discriminate.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Yeah, my favorite parts. One of my favorite parts is,
you know, the kids are almost always excited when Santa
Claus and elves come into their living room or you know,
apartment or condo or whatever. Almost always excited and you know,
super enthusiastic. Sorry, i'm gonna.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Get choked up again, but that don't apologize for that.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
What you see on the parents' faces a lot of
times is not just joy, but it's relief that they
know that someone is out there thinking about them and
wanting to help them.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
And so, as one of Santa's helpers.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
When I leave, when I'm getting ready to leave the house,
obviously the kids are usually playing with their new toys,
or they're hugging elves or you know, getting pictures taken
or something like that.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
But my favorite part is when you get a hug from.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
The parent because you just you know that they are
probably frustrated with the situation that they're in, but more
often than not, they're just overcome with gratitude that someone's
out there thinking about them. And so it makes me
feel so good and makes me feel so proud that
we have an organization that has so many people willing
to take care of these families.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
That otherwise wouldn't be yes, and that is absolutely wonderful
and I love to hear that too. So if anyone
is out there and wants a visit from Santa again
Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. And so let's get into
the details of Christmas Eve this year. I know that
you've explained how the whole program worked, but where are
you right now. Let's say it's Sunday, this Sunday, right now,
(24:40):
where are you in your process?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Because it's got to be go time.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Yeah, we're probably by this Sunday, we're probably halfway done wrapping.
Last year we finished wrapping early. We just I don't
know why we had so many people coming down and helping.
But usually by this Sunday will be about halfway. Most
of our bikes will probably be built. We have Les
(25:04):
Schwab brings a bunch of guys employees down to help
build bicycles, and then we have other bicycle mechanics to
come down and build bicycles, and so it's really cool
to wear out skills up with. We put the toys
in numbered bags and so that we have bags all
over the floor, perfectly organized, of course because they're all
by number, But so it really starts to look cool
(25:27):
because there will be rows and rows and rows of
toys and bicycles.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Ready to go.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, that's very amazing.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
You're supposed to sign up. We ask that you sign
up to wrap so that we don't end up with
a thousand people.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
On one day.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Sure, almost every time, by about December first, every session
has taken them on the website because so many people
are said so giving of their time. That being said,
we don't turn people away. If they want to come
in and help us, We'll find something for them to do,
whether it's packed food boxes or you know, just find
some space to wrap a family. But every year it
(26:05):
kind of feels like we're behind the eight ball, but
we're never actually behind the eight ball. We get it done,
and we have an incredible team of regular volunteers that
are kind of they oversee the North Pole. Like I said,
Debbie in charge down there. But we've got Brandy driving forklifts,
We've got Tanta Kurt running around doing.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Anything that needs to be done.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
And then we have regular volunteers that are not on
the board or anything like that, but they dedicate their
entire December to being at the North Pole every single day.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
That's really amazing to know that those people are out
there in our community. And again Craig Backy is joining
me justaman that entire Seattle Voice and I tell this
story in every show. It's one that I kind of
It's a poem, short story, whatever you want to call it,
that I grew up reading. And it was this little
girl who is on a beach full of washed up
starfish and she is one by one, there's hundreds and
(26:57):
hundreds of them, and one by one she picks them
up and chucks them back into the sea. And a
gentleman walks by and says, what are you doing. You're
not going to be able to save them all. It
just doesn't matter. And I think of every single person,
every single family that you are affecting. And she flings
one back into the sea and says, it matters to
(27:19):
that one, and that must bring you so much joy.
And I heard another iteration of this story where the man,
after hearing her say that, actually just starts joining her
and chucking the starfish in with her. And I just
think that especially when you're sharing people coming back after
having been served by your program, you know, all of
(27:41):
the wonderful people who come together many hands, light work.
That is that reminds me of that story.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
That's a really that's a really good story. I mean,
that's that's.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Literally our mission, not literally because we don't serve starfish.
I meant putting a putting a smile on one kid
or one parent's face.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
It's it's worth its weight in gold.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
So yeah, yeah, it's a it's a good story and
it's if you want to actually read it.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
There's they've put up a website called the Starfish.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
It's the Starfish change dot org and it's just in
the spirit of affecting people, one person at a time.
It might seem overwhelming, but there's always someone out there
that needs your help and one more time. Tell us
how people can get involved with Forgotten Children's Fun.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
At the website Forgotten Children's Fun dot org. In the
upper right hand corner, there's a donate now tab that.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
You can click on and donate funds.
Speaker 5 (28:41):
There's also the what we do tab if you want
to learn about us and just learn about what we
do out.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
In the community.
Speaker 5 (28:49):
And then there's a volunteer Get involved volunteer opportunity tab
in case you want to come down and wrap or
fill food boxes if you want to be an elf
and come out and enjoy the sperience with us on
Christmas Eve. You'll also see on the website the ranch
upon Widby of which I spoke, it's called mbarc Ranch.
We're always looking for more volunteers up there, so if
(29:10):
you have any listeners up on the island, or go
to the island a lot, we're always looking for people
up there. That's a really cool experience also and something
that we do all summer long, and but you know,
it's a piece of property that needs to be maintained
all year round, so there's always something to be.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Done up there.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
That's absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Thank you for everything that you do, Greg Baggie Forgotten
Children's Fund. Thank you for your time and really appreciate
everything that you do.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I appreciate you having me on, and thank you again
for the starfish change. I wrote that down so I
I'll go check that out.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
It's a good shot.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Thank you for thank you for the discussion, and thanks
thanks for having me on today.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Yes, of course, and yeah you can.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
It's a good discussion to have with family members and
your volunteers even and it's like just a nice short story.
But Greg, thank you again. You've been listening to Seattle
Voice
Seattle Sports Radio ninety three point three e kJ R
f M Seattle and I our radio station available everywhere
in our free iHeartRadio app Number one for music radio
and podcasts all in one.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is Jasmin McIntyre, your hosts of Seattle Voice, your
Community Voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle, and I have the
pleasure of being joined today by Greg Backy, who does
some amazing things in our community.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Can you introduce yourself to the audience.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Greg, Yeah, Hey, this is Greg Backey.
Speaker 5 (00:28):
I represent Forgotten Children's Fund, and I must just to clarify,
it's not me doing amazing things. We have an awesome
group of volunteers that do lots of great things in
the community. So I'm just happy to be here to represent.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, it's great, it's great to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And can you talk a little bit about what Forgotten
Children's Fund does?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Yeah, thank you. We all year long we raise.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Money and collect toys and funds and everything. And at
Christmas and well, I'll say, in December, we get a
warehouse donated to us and we convert that warehouse into
our We call it the North Pole. We spend the
entire month of December wrapping upwards of twenty thousand gifts.
We build anywhere from five hundred to six hundred bikes wow.
(01:15):
And then on Christmas Eve we go out and deliver
a full Santa and Elves Christmas to families that wouldn't
otherwise have Christmas.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So you called it the North Pole, I'm assuming that
that is just a distribution center and then you send
out the gifts or do people come there as like
a true North Pole?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (01:35):
No, So we on Christmas Eve we get usually around
twenty five box trucks donated to us, and then Microsoft
donates their vans and drivers and we go out to
the family's homes. So the North Pole is, as you said,
distribution center. It's kind of our center of operation and
we get to use that warehouse for a month. It's
in a different place every year, but we use that
(01:55):
as the center and then we go out into the
community to deliver.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So how did those again, Greg Backy of Seattle Children's
I'm sorry, the Forgotten Children's Fund is here with me
on Seattle Voice. How do people who are in need
get involved make requests? And what is that process like
for those in our community?
Speaker 5 (02:14):
They can nominate themselves and apply for help on our website,
which is www dot Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. We
also get referrals from their families, nominating friends or anything.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
We get.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Nominations from school counselors, guidance counselors, that.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Sort of thing.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
Just people in the community trying to help out their neighbor.
And so we have a screening process, so we do
interview those families and we get more applications than we
can serve, but we'd end up serving anywhere from seven
hundred and fifty to nine hundred families in the future
found area.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
And you know, I know everyone gets involved with things
like this right around the holiday season, but you said
that you spend all year doing this, So when do
you start? January first, it all starts over again for
twenty twenty five Christmas.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
Yeah, we end up cleaning up the warehouse so that
it can go back to its owner on December twenty sixth,
and we do rest for a little bit, but we
have a debrief meeting early in January to kind of
get ready and start talking about fundraising events. We're all grassroots,
we don't have any paid employees, so throughout the year
it's smart to start raising money just as Christmas ends,
(03:30):
so that we have enough to.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Take care of those people.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Oh yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Mean how long has the Forgotten Children's been in operation
out here in Seattle?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Great question.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Yeah, it started in nineteen seventy six. There was a
restaurant in Seattle and a mailman had come across this
letter that a kid had written to Santa Claus and
he brought it to this restaurant because he knew Dick
Francisco was our founder, and he knew that Dick Francisco
had a soft heart. He was a marine, but had
really soft heart for kids. And so when they got
(04:03):
this letter and it basically said, Santa, I know you
lost your way last year and hopefully you can find
our house this year, Dick thought, jeez, if there's one
kid like this, there must be thousands, and so he
started delivering delivering gifts and it's grown to what we
are today.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
And how long have you been involved?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
By the way, that is heartbreaking and very touching story
and we hope that that does not happen in our community,
and this is what that's all about.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
But how long have you personally been involved?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah? I've been involved for about twenty five years. It's
my dad was.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
A Santa Claus and so my brothers and I were
hisselves for a while. And then once my dad, yeah,
once my dad was he ended up getting cancer and stuff,
and so he couldn't be Santa anymore, and so my
brothers and I were taking turns and I love it,
so I stopped taking turns because I wanted to be
Sants every year. So it's really cool, and we've kept
(04:54):
at a family affair.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So my uncle is.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
My truck driver, my aunt is our navigator, my wife
and three of my cousins are held and then we're
adding my father in law and my hopefully my seventeen
year old son is.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Elve this year too.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
A family affair that sounds like a really great way
to spend the holidays. So thank you for all that
you do. Again, Craig. Back you here with Jessinman McIntyre
on Seattle Voice. We are discussing the Forgotten Children's Fund,
which is something that we all try to think about
besides our own families and friends during this holiday season.
There are those out there that are going without and
(05:30):
to bring a smile to children's faces during this time
of year where if they're struggling now, they probably struggle
through throughout the year. So for you to provide that,
do you actually get to meet the families or do
they keep it anonymous?
Speaker 5 (05:43):
We do the only things the only places that are
anonymous or are the shelters, but every other place where we
deliver to. And that's that's the beauty of our organization
is if people are looking for an opportunity to volunteer,
they can come down.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
To the North Pole and wrap gifts.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
And the cool part is we get to know the
kid's names, so we know their names and age and
what their interests are. And so you literally get to
go around the North Pole. The toys are organized by
age group and so you can go shopping so to
speak for them. And then each president is individually wrapped
with the child's name. And so then when Santa Anazel
(06:19):
come in to the house to deliver the gifts, we
sit down with the family for thirty to forty five
minutes and get to have, you know, take a picture
with Santa. They get to each open one gifts while
we're there, we bring up a box of food. So
it's really it's a really cool.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Experience that's really special.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
I've adopted families for Christmas through various different organizations in
the Seattle area, and you know, you respect the anonymity
of it, but this sounds really fun because Santa actually
comes and visits. Can you share a story without I mean,
I know you don't want to probably share private family
information on the air, but a story or two that
really brought you the Christmas joy?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Every so every year we have people come down to
the North Pole that want to help. And every once
in a while they'll they'll stop. So our north Full
director names Debbie. They'll stop Debbie and and just kind
of tell her to listen. The reason that I'm here
today is because when I was a kid, you guys
help my family.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Sorry, And so.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
They come full circle because we try to help the
working families that are, you know, maybe just down on
their luck that year, and so we try and give
them a hand up. And it's really really cool, and
I'm not kidding. It happens every year where somebody comes
back and it comes full circle because we help them,
and so they want to come back and help another family.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
So it's it's really awesome.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
And I love that as long as you have been
doing this that it still brings you that emotion, and
that's probably why you still do everything that you do,
every every single day, every single.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Year, one hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
And there are so many people in our organization that
have been involved for twenty plus years. Our head Santa
his name is David, he's been he's been a Santa
Claus for over.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Thirty five years.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Don Rall, who is one of the original founders, he's
ninety three years old and he's still a Santa Claus.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
And he's probably our coolest Santa Claus because he wears
black cowboy boots.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Instead of the traditional snow boots.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Well, so.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Further detail, we're part of the way that we're year
round is we also we had a we acquired a
horse ranch up on Whidbey Island that we use for
summertime programs. So we bring needy kids, that risk kids,
special needs kids up there to have a day of
Western fun. So we get to do that in the summertime.
And so I always joke it's great to be Santa
(08:47):
Claus because you know, in the wintertime, I get to
be the center of attention in Santa Claus. But then
in the summertime I get to pretend to be a cowboy,
the best.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Of both world.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I like that. I like that.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
And you will keep it secret that there's multiple Stantas
out there. I mean, yeah, yeah, nobody's got to know.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah, we're Stantus Helpers, We're Stantus Helper exactly.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
That's that's where it is.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
So how does one go about I know that we discussed.
Your website is Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. How does
one become an elf?
Speaker 5 (09:19):
One can become an ELF by going on the website.
There's a Volunteer Opportunities link, so you can click on
there and you can sign up to come down to
the North Pole and wrap a family. That usually you
can have a family done in less than two hours
pretty easily.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
And once you've wrapped a.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Family, you can sign up to be an ELF and
go out on Christmas Eve and I guarantee you it's
it's life changing. But we're always the need of more
volunteers at every capacity, and so that would be a
great opportunity for someone someone.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
To become an else. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I'm looking at your website right now and there's a
get involved drop down menu what we need, volunteer and contributors.
So if you want to donate monetailor terribly, I'm sure
you can go to the contributors tab.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
If you yep, then there it is.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I'm looking at it right now, and the actually is
honoring all of those companies. You've got Lushweb, Microsoft, Michael's, Bellevue,
super Ro, Gravity Payments, Henzel Phelps, Q thirteen, Fox, Bluebird,
Sound Transit, Sharry's Summit Imaging, Daniels brohill Er McGrath and
Associates Guard Well. I mean, you've got so many local
companies that are contributing to this that must mean a
(10:26):
lot too.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
It's incredible. Microsoft pays their drivers double time to come
out and drive us around on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
When I first started as an ELF, we were running
around and donated minivans and stuff. So to have those
Microsoft vans, it's significantly more comfortable. And their drivers are
into it, like they get dressed up and they're there.
They have the holiday spirit too, and so.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
It's really cool.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
But I have to say too, Daniel Freuler and the
Metropolitan Grill over the years, when we come back to
the North Pole on Christmas Eve after.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
We've delivered our gifts.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
They donate an incredible Christmas center for all of our
volunteers that year. They bring employees and you know, their
food is no slouch, I need to tell you that.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
But so we get to sit.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
There and eat crime rib or turkey and mashed potatoes
and all that stuff before we go home to our families.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
So and then.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
I have to say the one that you didn't mention
that I don't know if it's listed there or not.
As pro logious a warehouse company, and the warehouse situation
used to be super stressful, Like there was times that
we didn't have a warehouse till December fifth. Oh, but
now all we do is we call for lodgers at
the end of September or mid October and they let
us choose from three or four different warehouses and their
(11:44):
employees come down and help wrap too. And so that's
been a game changer to take that stress and anxiety.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
Away from us.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, that is absolutely huge. And so when do you
acquire these ones? And can you tell us to the
name of that company again, the warehouse company.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
The company is for a lot.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
So if you drive through rent and can you know
warehouse building a million times, but usually we take over
the warehouse Thanksgiving weekend. But they were funny this year
because they asked me when do you want the weareouse
and so I told her that and she said, well,
I like round numbers. How about November fifteen?
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Oh, so we were okay.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
So we got to move in early, which is incredible
because then we were all set to go on the
first day of wrapping and there was no time crunch
or anything like that, which we almost always have.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
So that was really great.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Oh, that is really great.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And do you have to start storing these gifts early
on or do people physically bring them to you?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
How does the whole process work both.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Another incredible blessing for us has been lefs Schwab. We're
one of the benefactors of their or beneficiaries of their
toy drive, and so mid December they come down. It's
a really incredible spectacle. They come down in their blue
and white lush Wab trucks, they're all in uniform and
they truck all these toys into our warehouse. Well, at
that point we're pretty far along in our wrapping process.
(13:10):
We do own two or three semi trailers and so
we'll load up those trailers with the toys that we
haven't wrapped for this year, and so we have an
inventory for toys of toys to start next year and
we store them year round.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, I mean you're talking about, like I said, all
these local companies that you hear about out here, and
being from the East Coast, I just really I mean,
I've lived here for fifteen years now, but I love
being ingrained in this in this community itself, and you're
just doing absolutely wonderful things. So this is how you
spend your Christmas Eve? How does you and your family?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
How do you spend your Christmas Christmas?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I'm not much of a sleeper inner, but it.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Is a nice day to relax because it is a
big it's a big undertaking.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
To get through Christmas Eve.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
I gotta say, we don't always hit every family on
Christmas Eve, and so there are some families that either
weren't home or for whatever reason, we miss them on
Christmas Eve. We have one, sometimes two Santa Clauses who
do go out on Christmas Day to deliver, which is
amazing because I have small children and so to miss Christmas.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Day would be tough, yes, but we.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
Do have people in our group that do do that.
And so Christmas Day for me is awesome because I
get to sit there and watch my family enjoy what
I got to see other families enjoy the day before.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Wow, that's really the best of both worlds, isn't it. Yeah,
that's really really great. Greg Baggie of Forgotten Children's Fund. Again,
that's Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. If you want to
get involved. And again it's coming up on crunch time
with the holiday season, so if you can't this, your
donations will continue to help in the near future. So
(14:56):
if people, let's say, are listening to this we're in
eight different on eight different radio stations from Seattle all
the way down to Portland here, if they are not local,
what can they do? How much does a monetary donation
or how far does a monetary donation go?
Speaker 4 (15:13):
It goes a long way.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
We are very proud of the fact that because we're
all volunteer and we don't own a warehouse or anything
like that, ninety two cents on every dollar goes straight
back to the children and families. Obviously, we have some
administrative costs like gift wrap and tape and all that
sort of stuff. But the money that gets donated to
(15:34):
us goes a long way. People can donate toys and
bicycles too. I can say that this year we're in
need of kind of mid sized boys bikes like the
sixteen to eighteen inch for a six to eight year old.
We also need older kids bikes like multi speed twenty
four to twenty six inch bikes. And then the other
(15:55):
thing that was brought to my attention this year. Every
year when we're screening the families, asked them what are
what are they most in need of? And a common
answer that we've been getting this year's hygiene products because
you wouldn't you wouldn't think of that. But it's, you know,
it's kind of a indication of where we're at these days.
And but so if if people wanted to go to
(16:19):
Walmart or Target or Costco or something like that and
pick those up and bring them down to the north Ward,
we'd appreciate that too.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Wow, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I was talking to a gentleman from Seattle's Union Gospel
Mission earlier on this show a couple of weeks ago,
and it's amazing what people need, you know, and for
that to be a request on Christmas is quite sad.
But you are still providing a need that they're not
asking for a want. They're asking for a need.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
And and and the people that are asking for there
are neighbors like they're not. We're not talking about the
areas that you would normally think about. We're talking about
just regular neighborhoods where you know, maybe they could hit
hard times, were of the parents has lost their job, or.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
There's a health issue, or you.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
Just never know, and so you never know who needs
the help. And so any anything that people can give
we very much appreciate. You'll see on the website there's
a donate now tab and that's where you can give
cash or you know, monetary things. But like I said,
(17:24):
they're welcome to bring toys, devices or something.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Like that down to Yeah, I think a lot of
people get a lot of joy, you know, gift giving.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
That's like a competitive sport for me.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I love gift giving and so you know, but I
know that also if they physically can't, then it's really
good to know that that donation is an option.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So how far does the dollar go?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
I asked this question to multiple volunteer organizations, and you know,
it's it's crazy to me. There's you know, a gentleman
I was talking to is telling me that a dollar
twenty cents provides a meal for someone in need of one.
So you have you said you could serve between seven
hundred and fifty and nine hundred families. How far do
(18:04):
those monetary donations go?
Speaker 4 (18:07):
They go far.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
So the unsung heroes of our organization, there's two. Actually,
one is the screeners because those are tough when you
get when you're reading the letters and baking the phone
calls and stuff. But the other unsung heroes is we
have a team of people that shop throughout the year.
So don't tell Costco. But like when Costco says has
kids jackets for eight dollars or something like that, we
(18:31):
have a phone tree and so like a dozen people
will go out to every Costco and if they have
limit ten, we're buying ten of them. Well yeah, you know,
because we're trying to save as much money as we can.
And you know, coats and blankets. Every child gets a
coats and every family gets a blankets. So we have
I guess you could call it you said giving gifts
is the competitive sport. We have competitive shoppers that and
(18:54):
they do it all year long.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
Gift Wrap.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
You know, obviously after Christmas, gift wrapped gets discounted. That's
when they are triggered and they go out and they
buy gift wrap. It's the biggest discount they possibly can.
I think that's because we want to We want to
save our money for the things that we really really need,
whether it's bikes the last minute.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Or other things. So we try to stretch.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
That dollar as much as we can write and serve
as many families as possible.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Again, Greg Becky, oh, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
Well, and like I said, we do not have a
single paid employee and so we don't have that overhead.
We don't have real estate overhead. Ninety two cents on
the dollar going back to the kids is a pretty
high number. So it's really cool. And one other thing
I want to add that one of our board members
came up with a couple of years or a few
(19:45):
years ago, is we have an aftercare program too. So
if Santa and his elves go into a house and
there's no furniture, or maybe the heat off or the
lights are off, we note that and we don't know
the family's name or anything, but we note that, and
we have an aftercare program. Well, we will come back.
And so we have paid people's rents, we have turned
(20:06):
their lights on, we have turned their heat on. We
picked up furniture form so that.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
They have a dining room table at which they can
have a family meal, that sort of stuff.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
So when you talk about monetary donations, that's where some
of that goes to.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
Which is a really really special part of what we do.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That's interesting, and thank you for sharing that, because I
wouldn't have guessed, you know, just looking at the program
and it's very heavily Christmas focused. I wouldn't have guessed
that aftercare would provide more needs because we talked about
you know, hygiene product products and that that is a
big ask that you're seeing this year. Wouldn't know that
this would also provide that. I mean, that is just wonderful.
(20:44):
And is that what comes out of the funds after
all of the gift shopping has been done?
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Yes, yes, I will never forget. It was probably eighteen
twenty years ago when my dad was still Santa Claus.
We went into a house and they literally had zero furniture. Wow,
and so when you walk in there, you know, the
goal is that Santa gets to sit down and have
a kid on his lap or you know, a couple
of kids on his lap, and the open presence. Well,
Santa didn't even have any place to sit down. And
(21:11):
so when we were walking out of there, we were
looking at each other like, why are we giving them
legos when you know we should be running down to
Ikea and grabbing a couch or of you know, a table.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
And chairs or both.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
And so it took a while for that program to
come about, but it is, it's there now, and it's
it's really cool. So when we come back on Christmas Eve,
we sit down with our chief elf is named Dan,
and we run we run through each family and share
notes with San on each of those so that we
can potentially help those help those people after Christmas too.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
And you got that done just by the power of
observation and through the love and caring in your heart.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
That's pretty amazing. So this is something it sounds.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Like those who are requesting gifts wouldn't be aware of.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
And you just take the oh notes, you do it
all internally.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
H Yeah, yeah, that's pretty great.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
I mean, well, sometimes we'll call afterwards and say something like, hey, we.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Noticed your life.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
We're off you need help with that situation, help with
your bills for a while, And so we'll ask that
question because you know, sometimes people just like a dark room,
but if it's a case where they can't pay their bills,
will definitely help them.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Thank you again, Greg Becky of the Forgotten Children's Fund
Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. I'm Jessaman McIntyre, your host
of Seattle Voice, your community Voice, presented by iHeartRadio Seattle.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
So I think that there.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Are also some parents who have a sense of pride
or maybe a bit of shame in not being able
to provide their kids a full Christmas, and I would
like you to speak to them out there if they
might be listening on the lack thereof or I should
just say that they shouldn't feel that way. And I'd
like you to just speak about your organization and that
(22:59):
tough times are hard and it you know, it doesn't discriminate.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Yeah, my favorite parts. One of my favorite parts is,
you know, the kids are almost always excited when Santa
Claus and elves come into their living room or you know,
apartment or condo or whatever. Almost always excited and you know,
super enthusiastic. Sorry, i'm gonna.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Get choked up again, but that don't apologize for that.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
What you see on the parents' faces a lot of
times is not just joy, but it's relief that they
know that someone is out there thinking about them and
wanting to help them.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
And so, as one of Santa's helpers.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
When I leave, when I'm getting ready to leave the house,
obviously the kids are usually playing with their new toys,
or they're hugging elves or you know, getting pictures taken
or something like that.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
But my favorite part is when you get a hug from.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
The parent because you just you know that they are
probably frustrated with the situation that they're in, but more
often than not, they're just overcome with gratitude that someone's
out there thinking about them. And so it makes me
feel so good and makes me feel so proud that
we have an organization that has so many people willing
to take care of these families.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
That otherwise wouldn't be yes, and that is absolutely wonderful
and I love to hear that too. So if anyone
is out there and wants a visit from Santa again
Forgotten Children's Fund dot org. And so let's get into
the details of Christmas Eve this year. I know that
you've explained how the whole program worked, but where are
you right now. Let's say it's Sunday, this Sunday, right now,
(24:40):
where are you in your process?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Because it's got to be go time.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Yeah, we're probably by this Sunday, we're probably halfway done wrapping.
Last year we finished wrapping early. We just I don't
know why we had so many people coming down and helping.
But usually by this Sunday will be about halfway. Most
of our bikes will probably be built. We have Les
(25:04):
Schwab brings a bunch of guys employees down to help
build bicycles, and then we have other bicycle mechanics to
come down and build bicycles, and so it's really cool
to wear out skills up with. We put the toys
in numbered bags and so that we have bags all
over the floor, perfectly organized, of course because they're all
by number, But so it really starts to look cool
(25:27):
because there will be rows and rows and rows of
toys and bicycles.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Ready to go.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, that's very amazing.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
You're supposed to sign up. We ask that you sign
up to wrap so that we don't end up with
a thousand people.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
On one day.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Sure, almost every time, by about December first, every session
has taken them on the website because so many people
are said so giving of their time. That being said,
we don't turn people away. If they want to come
in and help us, We'll find something for them to do,
whether it's packed food boxes or you know, just find
some space to wrap a family. But every year it
(26:05):
kind of feels like we're behind the eight ball, but
we're never actually behind the eight ball. We get it done,
and we have an incredible team of regular volunteers that
are kind of they oversee the North Pole. Like I said,
Debbie in charge down there. But we've got Brandy driving forklifts,
We've got Tanta Kurt running around doing.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Anything that needs to be done.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
And then we have regular volunteers that are not on
the board or anything like that, but they dedicate their
entire December to being at the North Pole every single day.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
That's really amazing to know that those people are out
there in our community. And again Craig Backy is joining
me justaman that entire Seattle Voice and I tell this
story in every show. It's one that I kind of
It's a poem, short story, whatever you want to call it,
that I grew up reading. And it was this little
girl who is on a beach full of washed up
starfish and she is one by one, there's hundreds and
(26:57):
hundreds of them, and one by one she picks them
up and chucks them back into the sea. And a
gentleman walks by and says, what are you doing. You're
not going to be able to save them all. It
just doesn't matter. And I think of every single person,
every single family that you are affecting. And she flings
one back into the sea and says, it matters to
(27:19):
that one, and that must bring you so much joy.
And I heard another iteration of this story where the man,
after hearing her say that, actually just starts joining her
and chucking the starfish in with her. And I just
think that especially when you're sharing people coming back after
having been served by your program, you know, all of
(27:41):
the wonderful people who come together many hands, light work.
That is that reminds me of that story.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
That's a really that's a really good story. I mean,
that's that's.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Literally our mission, not literally because we don't serve starfish.
I meant putting a putting a smile on one kid
or one parent's face.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
It's it's worth its weight in gold.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
So yeah, yeah, it's a it's a good story and
it's if you want to actually read it.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
There's they've put up a website called the Starfish.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
It's the Starfish change dot org and it's just in
the spirit of affecting people, one person at a time.
It might seem overwhelming, but there's always someone out there
that needs your help and one more time. Tell us
how people can get involved with Forgotten Children's Fun.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
At the website Forgotten Children's Fun dot org. In the
upper right hand corner, there's a donate now tab that.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
You can click on and donate funds.
Speaker 5 (28:41):
There's also the what we do tab if you want
to learn about us and just learn about what we
do out.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
In the community.
Speaker 5 (28:49):
And then there's a volunteer Get involved volunteer opportunity tab
in case you want to come down and wrap or
fill food boxes if you want to be an elf
and come out and enjoy the sperience with us on
Christmas Eve. You'll also see on the website the ranch
upon Widby of which I spoke, it's called mbarc Ranch.
We're always looking for more volunteers up there, so if
(29:10):
you have any listeners up on the island, or go
to the island a lot, we're always looking for people
up there. That's a really cool experience also and something
that we do all summer long, and but you know,
it's a piece of property that needs to be maintained
all year round, so there's always something to be.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Done up there.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
That's absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Thank you for everything that you do, Greg Baggie Forgotten
Children's Fund. Thank you for your time and really appreciate
everything that you do.
Speaker 5 (29:38):
I appreciate you having me on, and thank you again
for the starfish change. I wrote that down so I
I'll go check that out.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
It's a good shot.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Thank you for thank you for the discussion, and thanks
thanks for having me on today.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Yes, of course, and yeah you can.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
It's a good discussion to have with family members and
your volunteers even and it's like just a nice short story.
But Greg, thank you again. You've been listening to Seattle
Voice
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com