April 25, 2024 • 36 mins
We began the program by bringing you four news segments with different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Mike King with Combat Vets Motorcycle Association 2024 Glen's Run.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jay Willet warns of Black Bear Sightings in Wrentham & Ayer!
Justin Greene and Minis With A Misson – Event at Senior Center in Newton that features Mini Horses and Mini Donkeys to bring joy to seniors.
1 in 3 Massachusetts households facing food insecurity to access nutrition - Today is Stop Food Waste Day-Nearly 40 percent of all food produced in the U.S. goes to waste. Dan spoke with Jennifer Pectol - Program Manager of Food For Free.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio
Mike King with Combat Vets Motorcycle Association 2024 Glen's Run.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jay Willet warns of Black Bear Sightings in Wrentham & Ayer!
Justin Greene and Minis With A Misson – Event at Senior Center in Newton that features Mini Horses and Mini Donkeys to bring joy to seniors.
1 in 3 Massachusetts households facing food insecurity to access nutrition - Today is Stop Food Waste Day-Nearly 40 percent of all food produced in the U.S. goes to waste. Dan spoke with Jennifer Pectol - Program Manager of Food For Free.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's Dan Ray. I'm going Boston'snews radio Gore. We have launched to
follow tonight. We got four gradehours of Nightside coming up as well.
Beautiful day to day, a littlebit of rain late this afternoon. I'm
not sure about tomorrow, but Iget a feeling we maybe have finally turned
the corner on winter. At leastI hope so at least that's my feeling.
(00:22):
We'll see what happens. Good evening, everybody. My name's Dan Ray
and the host of Nightside here everyMonday through Friday night from eight until midnight,
and we will start off tonight withour Nightside News hour. A little
bit later on tonight at nine o'clock, we're going to talk about that bizarre
bad behavior in the Back Bay earlySunday morning, when drivers were racing up
(00:45):
and down Marble Street, which isa very skinny avenue one way street in
the Back Bay, one of thenicer sections of Boston, I mean,
really nice area. And we're goingto talk with a counselor Sharon Durkin about
that, and then we'll talk aboutroot causes a mental illness with doctor Jeffrey
(01:06):
Lieberman, Columbia University, a professor. He is a doctor as well as
a professor, a psychiatrist, andI think you're going to find it to
be very interesting. But we havefour topics for discussion and we are going
to start off with Mike King,who is the executive offer officer of a
group called the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Associationas they get ready for this weekend's fourth
(01:32):
Glenn's Run. It is to honora veteran who lost his life in a
motorcycle accident. Let's talk with Mikeand find out all about it. Mike,
Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir? I'm doing great.
Thank you, Dan. I reallyappreciate this opportunity to talk about CVA May
and what we did well. Youfolks are out in the Berkshires, and
(01:52):
I hope that occasionally our signal getsall the way out there and you guys
get a chance to listen to us. We thank you for reaching out.
So tell us about this one.This is the fourth annual. It's is
it a motorcycle race or a motorcyclerun? I've seen it both. It
is definitely not a race. Definitelynot a race. This is a run.
(02:15):
So just a little background on CBMA. The comment Veterans Motorcycle Association has
been around for over twenty years now. We rooted out, or kind of
separate out of the Veterans of ForeignWars motorcycle. They had a group of
motorcyclists and so forth. And youknow, like any organizations, sometimes you
(02:35):
have differences an opinion and so forth, and there was a split. It
started out honestly in Massachusetts is thesecond state in the Union to have a
chapter of CBNA. That's why weare a chapter two decks three. We
missed the boat by about three days. Our application made it three days after
Kentucky, which is the first stateto have a chapter. And we'll tell
(02:57):
us tell us most of Botany,tell us about the run, because okay,
this is what I want to talkabout. This is coming up this
Saturday on a What is it thisSaturday? If I'm not mistaken, give
me it is Saturday. So duringthe height of COVID in twenty twenty,
we did our best thing of socialdistancing. I mean, how better can
you social distance and motorcycle ride?You know. So we were out in
(03:20):
a great beautiful day. It wasa beautiful day of riding until it wasn't
in Southern Berkshire County. My wifeand I who happens to be our public
relations officer, we were leading aride throughout southern Berkshire County and we got
outside of the Briar Courf Roadside Hotelwhere we conduct this run out of and
(03:43):
Glenn, who is a Navy veteranof Desert Shield Dosure Storm. He was
a Navy corman for lack of abetter term, in medic who have boots
in the ground supporting Marines and DesertShield Desert Storm. He had a stroke
while riding, went down around twopm on that Saturday, the last Saturday
in April. Ended up dying aroundmidnight that night. But he died doing
(04:06):
what he loved, which was ridingmotorcycles and being with people who had a
common understanding of a very complex thingof being in combat combat, and we
did not many people get to sharethat experience. So I can understand why
you have such a camaraderie fraternity.How old was Glenn when he passed?
(04:29):
I wish I could give you anexact age. So he was he was
if he was in Iraq and allof that in nineteen ninety one. He's
in the mid late fifties. Andand you know, fortunately we a lot
of our population are currently first responders, whether they're law enforcement, firefighters,
(04:49):
or paramedics. So you know,we our folks who were there were able,
like in the in the in thereat the moment, were able to
provide first aid and help extend hislife long enough so that his adult children
were able to make it to thehospital and say goodbye. Definitely, definitely
a tough moment for for all ofus. So this year again as this
(05:12):
is the fourth annual. Now yes, twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two,
twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, this Saturday, April April twenty
seventh, And I guess this isnot open to the public unless they happen
to be a combat veteran. Andif they are, how could they contact
you to put And if they're abike ride how can they contact you?
(05:33):
So you know, we we wesay this is this is a comment.
It's Motorcycle Association only in guests.We've had one gentleman show up the last
two years who happens to live inGreat Barrington night I believe in and you
know what we're We're not going toturn you away if you want to come
out and support and honor one ofour war fighters who who managed to come
(05:58):
back from the war. But youknow there's no longer with us. Yeah,
you away. Let's let's let's honorour many and women, regardless of
whether we agree with the conflicts.Let's honor our women who have gone and
done the country s bidding. Soyou guys are going to pay a real
tribute this Saturday. It's absolutely It'sabout a fifty mile loop and you end
(06:21):
up, I believe, back inthe Briarcliffe Motel and you have a lunch
and a memorial ceremony and it soundslike a great day. I hope that
the weather is good for you outthere in the Berkshires. I have no
idea about that, but the mostimportant thing is to remember and honor the
memory of Glenn Sall. So Ijust wanted to say, Mike, thank
you for joining us tonight, andwe wish the best of luck, you
(06:44):
know best, Thank you, andhope everyone's safe and sound on Saturday and
for many many motorcycle runs to come. Thank you. Thank you, Mike,
absolutely, thank you, Dan,Thanks very much. Bye bye.
Okay, when we get back.Jay Weilllet from w b Z News is
going to join us. I thinkit might be the first time with head
Jay on the show, and we'regoing to talk about something that should interest
all of us, and that islive beer sidings. Not talking about at
(07:08):
a Zoo, talking about in rentThem? Coming back on Nightside. Now
back to Dan Ray live from theWindow World Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
All right, we're going to talkwith Jay will Let. Jay.
I'm not sure if you've joined usor this year your debut on Nightside,
(07:29):
but welcome nonetheless. How are youtonight? Hey, good evening, Dan,
Yeah, longtime listener, first timecar. It's great to hear.
Thanks for having me. I likethat. We ever got to get the
rod of applause for their debut.So were you out and about today?
In rent Them? I guess weget some bear signings and rent them and
(07:49):
air. I've looked at some ofthe video. Those are real bears.
They weren't Yogi and Boo boo goright ahead. Yes, So I was
in the studio and we were gettingall types of input from people across the
commonwealth. Really excited people just tosee these these predators, these omnivores out
(08:11):
and about poppling around. We sawreports and rents on the animal control offices
there were inundated with calls, excitedpeople, people who might not be aware
of you know, what to doaround a bear and kind of the safety
precautions there as well. So weknow what you do around account of Jay,
I know what you do around thebeer. You do nothing, you
(08:31):
get away exactly. Yeah. Thenumber one piece of advice we give people
is just you're not confront a bear. It's yeah, yeah. The only
beer I would like to be aroundis when the Chicago Bears played the Patriots
and get a couple of tickets outthere and enjoy the football game. So
(08:52):
is this unusual? Is it earlyor are we right on time? Is
this like the swallows returning to Capistranoand the bears are come out of hibernation
here in eastern Massachusetts. Yeah,so it's in years past, It's happened
before for Renthem. It's typically midApril is when we start to see these
bears kind of start to move outof their dens. But this is certainly
(09:16):
a new development in terms of recentyears, and credit to mass Wildlife they
have so much information online and spokenwith them in the past two on our
show, just talking about you know, what to do around these black bears,
and these are the black bears we'retalking about. They have this kind
of expanding territory and what we're seeingand part of the reason why a lot
(09:39):
of media attention is being given tothese black bears is because they're starting to
trek into eastern neighborhoods that they don'ttypically venture into. You know, this
early on, so you know,mid April, we typically expect them to
be around Worcester County, Middlesex County. Seeing them in Norfolk on rent them
(10:00):
is kind of an interesting development thisearly, long early on for me certainly
certainly that this comes with you know, they don't go unnoticed. You get
all these videos, you get thosephotos like we got today. Just today,
we had a listener sending a videofrom air of black bear coming up
the property and what you know younoticed in that video and you can see
(10:24):
it on our w's news radio socialsis the bear kind of hobbles up and
you can kind of make out abird feeder in the front lawn and that's
the thing that they telling your AnimalControl a police they'll tell you you got
to lock those away. As soonas you hear a black bear in the
neighborhood, you're gonna want to lockaway those bird feeders, those garbage can
(10:46):
lids, all that stuff, becausethey have excellent, excellent sniffers and they
can find it from a mile away, and they're hungry. They're coming straight
out of naps, so you know, picture how you are coming out of
a slumber, and you know youneed that food and water today. What's
really amazing is that if they dogo into hibernation, and I guess they
(11:07):
do, that, they have theirplaces where they can spend the winter.
I mean many New England who spendthe winter in Florida, the snowbirds.
But the guys, these guys andgals stay in their dens. It would
be really interesting to know if thesame beers go to the same dens every
year, or if they move intodifferent places. I don't think we have
(11:31):
many caves here, but obviously they'reable to secure themselves to hide away,
and I guess no one's gonna botherthem anyway. They are ferocious creatures.
I gotta tell you, I wasin the Stone Zoo jay I was in
the back area a few years ago, got a little bit of a behind
the scenes tour and I was walkingdown this little corridor which is very narrow.
(11:54):
I mean it was about one personwide, and I went by a
cage, but the bear was inthe cage. The only thing that was
open was I don't know, onefoot by one foot, and as I
turned, I literally am looking ata bear nose to nose, almost nose
to nose. He didn't say anything, he didn't know anything, and I
(12:16):
know he couldn't get me, butit gave me a heart attack. It
was like, I would have beennice if they said, hey, be
careful, there's a beer behind thatwall there. So I can't imagine what
it must be like to look outyour kitchen window some morning and notice some
beer, you know, prowling aroundyour backyard. Have you had a chance
to talk to any of the Ilistened to your report obviously, and I
(12:41):
watched it and the video is fabulous. Have you talked to any of the
people who took that video and whattheir sense was when they saw the bear
enter the neighborhood? Yeah, sowe you know, we got those videos
from listeners and they sent along youknow, just kind of their reaction,
which was you know, filming thebear from across the street from a safe
(13:01):
distance, we should add, andnot trying to draw attention or anything,
but just kind of you know,it is a shocking experience to see,
you know, up boards of asix hundred pound beast coming through. No
qualms about coming right up to yourwindows and your bird feeders, trash cans.
You know, they fear nothing untilyou know, something unusual happens.
(13:24):
That's when you know, if theysee anything unusual, something that looks a
little off, they tend to kindof walk the other way, which is
why, you know, Mass Wildlifeand a lot of officials recommend you just
stay out of their way, lockup what you can. You can kind
of think of them as just akind of a walking disaster passing through like
(13:46):
a passing storm, so you cankind of just kind of knock things down
and let them pass. But yeah, just one other important rule to remember
when a bear comes into your neighborhoodover that matter, in your backyard,
no selfies, you know, Iknow everybodylies. Don't approach the beers.
Would you mind just holding the stillfor a couple of minutes' a light to
(14:07):
get this great on the on theChristmas card next next December, I don't
know. Jay, thanks so muchfor joining us. It's it's great to
get you on the show. Andany night that you're available and you got
a story that's of interest, welove to again this first hour. It
can be a big news story.It can be a story. It surely
was a big news story to thepeople in Aaron Rantham, that is for
(14:28):
sure. What do they do?My last question, did Wildlife tell you
since they've been out now early it'smid April, okay, a little early,
maybe on time to the beers Basicallyyou know, get a little bit
of food, you know, fromthe bird feeder or whatever, and then
go back into the woods and they'renot seen again until next year. Or
does this mean that they're going tobe in the neighborhood for the summer.
(14:50):
Well, I think we're going tosee more and more calls like this.
We're gonna see more and more videos. Certainly last year we were I can
tell you I was personally covering alot of this. We saw bears and
Bridgewater. You know, this issomething they're expanding eastward and they will go
where the food is. And partof the reason why that you know,
(15:11):
Mask Wildlife wants everyone to lock downthose bird feeders is that the bears really
become a problem and they become accustomedto feeding off of humans. So if
there's no food, and if there'sno reason for them to stick around in
your in your neighborhood or in yourlawn, they'll just pass right through and
they'll go to their natural means ofyou know, eating, which is berries
(15:33):
and fish and all types of thingsthat you know, bears either omnivores,
but they will eat anything if youleave it out. So that's really the
recommendation here. I do expect we'llsee more as the summer goes on,
though, because they're going to getmore active. Jay. Well, let
thank you very much for Warned isForearmed. Pay attention to what Jay had
to say. Jay, Thanks,thanks again, and we will we'll talk
(15:54):
to you against soon, I hope. Thank you very much anytime, Absolute
pleasure. Thanks for having me.Ben right back at you. Thanks Jay,
and we come up. We're goingto talk about an event coming up
at a Senior center in Newton,which I think you're going to really like.
It's entitled Minis with a Mission.We're not talking about mini skirts here,
okay, We're talking about little animals, donkeys and ponies. It's a
(16:18):
cute story coming right up. Andthen later on I'm going to talk about
food insecurity here in Massachusetts, ofall places, where a wealthy state,
and yet there's still a lot ofpeople who do have food in security in
Massachusetts, according to the program managerof Food for Free. We'll be back
on Nightside right after the news atthe bottom of the hour. My name
is Dan Ray. You listen tow BZ Boston ten thirty on the AM
(16:41):
AM dial WBZ Boston's news radio.You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on
WBZ Boston's news Radio. All right, let's get right back to our next
guest. We're going to talk withJustin Green. Justin sent me an email
just a few days ago, andI was pretty intrigued by it, I
(17:03):
must admit, and Justin tell usabout this Minis with a Mission. What's
it all about? Oh, thankyou for taking my call and letting me
have this chance to talk about myevent. Minions with the Mission is a
nonprofit where they have miniature horses andminiature donkeys and they go to spread cheer,
(17:23):
They go to senior centers, libraries, they go to Salem State on
the first day of school to welcomethe students, and everyone seems to love
the minis. You can't ride them, but you get to hug them,
brush them, feed them, andit's a lot of just fun. Now,
(17:45):
justin understanding, is you work asa mail carrier right? Yes,
I've worked the past twenty three yearsout of Newtonville, and there was my
way to give back to the Newton'sa very nice community and I wanted to
say like a little thank you,and I thought this would be a fun
(18:06):
way to do it. So whatyou do is I understand it is next
month, it's May twenty eighth.I believe you take the mini horses and
the mini donkeys to the Senior Centerin Newton And this is the third year
you have been doing this. Correct. Yes, it's at the Highe Community
Center in the Newton Highlands, Okay. And if the people don't know it,
(18:30):
the high Community Center is a wonderfulplace. They've show movies and concerts
either every Friday or Saturday night duringthe whole summer and it's free. So
how does the Senior center in Newton. Is that the same location or are
those the seniors center now is located. They're getting a new one built,
(18:51):
so right now their location is inthe Newton Highlands and right down the street
the high Community Center, which isowned by the city, has a big
field, so it's wonderful. There'sa lot of packing and the minis get
to mow the lawn, eating allthe glass farm. Oh that's great.
And you, if I'm not mistaken, told me that as a child.
(19:15):
Uh, this really goes back toyour youth. You used to attend a
summer camp program and some of thefield trips that were involved. We're going
to like a rodeo, and that'swhere you kind of fell in love with
with animals. And now you're bringingit full full circle and sharing your love
(19:37):
of these again. Many horses andmany donkeys with folks here who are on
your on your mail road. It'sa great story. Yes, I was
very fortunate. I went to awonderful school, the Washington DC Children's Hospital
for this for the school for thespeech and hearing impaired. I could only
see four three words when I wasfour years old, and they did a
(20:02):
wonderful job teaching me to speak.And my favorite trip was a trip to
the rodeo. And I found outthat my summer camp teacher passed away,
so I thought what better way tohonor her memory than to bring the rodeo
to Massachusetts. I can't afford arodeo, but I can't afford minis with
(20:22):
the mission and people, it wasso exciting. The last the second year
we did it A Lota's Seedmen,the wonderful activities director for the Senior Center
came up to me all smiled andsays, justin this is the biggest turnout
event we've ever had my tenure doingthis Senior Center. So that was wonderful.
(20:47):
That's great, So tell us aboutthe day. So it's going to
run I guess from about eleven thirtyto twelve thirty. Is is it open
to the public or is it justfor the sage? Yes, it's open
to the public all ages. Iask the people if they'd like to come
to just call a Lana the activitiesdirector at six one seven seven nine six
(21:11):
one six seven zero, just togive them give them a heads up.
Everyone's and every everyone would have accessto be able to to to actually interact
directly with the animals as I understandhow how many creatures do you think will
be We hope to bring two miniaturedonkeys and two miniature horses. And it's
(21:37):
really all I emphasize is that theminis are the stars of the show.
I don't introduce I don't say aword or Mary Anne Hortman, who runs
the program. He brings them andtells the people the mini's names. Then
the minis take over. People justget in line, and people very good
(22:00):
at knowing that the people behind them, and they pet them, and they
get selfies with them, and allI tell the people the only question I
ask anyone is to pet the miniaturedonkey and then pet the miniature horse and
see which one they like better.Because the donkey's furs, the ham is
(22:22):
a lot, it's coarse. Veryyeah, well, the horses are very
fine. And what's the reaction ofthe senior citizens. I mean, obviously
it's a great day for them toget out and about the weather hopefully is
going to cooperate in late May.I think you've got a pretty good chance
of having good weather from your experiencefor the first couple of years. I
(22:45):
bet you the seniors really loved usas an opportunity. Oh, it's one
of people. Everyone's all smiles.And one woman asked me, she says,
how's this happening? And I toldher, I said, I paid
for it. No, seriously,how is this going on? I said?
She said, why would you dothat? And I said, you're
(23:06):
having fun? She said yes.Did they look like they're having fun?
Yes, I said to everyone's havingfun. I said, that's money well
spend. I said, most timeswe're so busy we don't have any more
fun. I said, it's niceto have fun for an hour. It's
not going to solve all your problems, but for an hour, forget about
everything and be like a trial.Will at recess have fun? Yeah,
(23:29):
that's the point. I was wonderingif it if it began to look to
the seniors, if all of asudden they felt like they were little kids
again. If you know what I'msaying, that they were able to sort
of think back, flash back totheir own childhood, and we got in
(23:52):
that. That's the best thing thatthe Minis with the Mission has ever done
is they went to Brockton brock thethe farms up in Ipswich, Brocton's a
distance away. But we heard abouta World War Two veteran who grew up
with a donkey and he missed thepresence of being near a donkey. And
(24:12):
a nurse at the hospital thea hospitalknew about Minis with the Mission, so
she called the Mary Anne Hortman,who runs the program, saying, this
World War two veteran wants to meeta donkey, and she said, were
on it, and they drove downthe next day and he was so happy.
(24:33):
Unfortunately he passed away the next week, but he really did die with
a smile. And that's the biggestthing that we try to do. That
is a great story. Well,justin Green you are you're delivering the mail,
but you're delivering smiles and great memoriesand thank you. And I also
(24:53):
want to tell the people to leavethe wallets in the car. I'm not
doing this as a fun for theminies, for the Minis with the Mission.
I mean, if they go homeand they want to donate, that'd
be great, but all we wantthem to I'm funding this. I just
want them to have fun. I'mnot looking to raise money. Just have
(25:14):
fun and that's all that matters.Well, Justin Thanks very much again.
You have served that community as amail carrier for many for many years and
you're doing a great service for themwith Minis with the mission. Thanks so
much for joining us, and we'llhopefully talk again. Thank you, justin
thank you. You're very welcome.All right, there were so many good
(25:37):
people in the world, and thisis really an opportunity to highlight some people
who are doing good. And whenwe talk with our next guest, Jennifer
Pecto, she's the program manager ofFood for Free, local nonprofit based in
Somerville, we're talking about people who, even in a state like Massachusetts,
have food insecurity, and we'll explainwhy, we'll explain what Food for Free
(26:03):
is doing about it. I thinkyou'll enjoy listening to Jennifer Pechtol. And
then after that and after the nineo'clock news, we will get to the
issues of the day. And we'regoing to start off right after the nine
o'clock news talking about this very bizarrescene on Marlborough Street in the Back Bay,
the heart of the Back Bay,two a m. On Sunday morning.
Just you know, a few daysago, people drag racing, racing
(26:25):
up and down one way streets,the wrong way, doing adonants with their
cars and spinning around and peeling offdangerous situation. Roads were blocked off.
At two in the morning, wewill be talking with Sharon Durkin, who's
the city council that's re district,about what can be done to make sure
something that this never happens again.We'll get to all of that, I
(26:48):
promise, and we'll talk also witha psychologist and as psychiatrist I should say,
doctor Jeffrey Lieberman of Columbia University duringthe ten hour and we're back on
Nightside right after this. Now backto Dan Ray live from the Window World
nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio. All right, we live in Massachusetts.
(27:14):
I'm sure many of you who arelistening live in other states, but
Massachusetts is one of the more affluentstates in the country. Well educated,
great universities, wonderful medical facilities throughoutour area. We have great sports teams
just of course, have beautiful seashore. We have mountains in New Hampshire and
(27:36):
Vermont and Maine where people can skiin the winter time, change of seasons.
It is one of the most beautifulplaces in the world to live.
From many perspectives, But one perspectivethat we need to be paying more attention
to is the whole question of foodinsecurity for everyone here in Massachusetts and in
New England with us as Jennifer Pectel, she's the program manager of Food for
Free. We have interviewed people fromFood for Free before. Jennifer, I'm
(28:00):
not sure if you've been our guestsbefore, but welcome to Night's side.
Either way, how are you tonight? I'm well, thank you then,
this is my first time speaking withyou. Thanks very much. Welcome,
welcome, welcome, welcome. SoI guess the question that a lot of
people are going to have in theirmind right now is how can anyone in
Massachusetts go to bed hungry at night? Our family supports of food pantry down
(28:23):
on Cape Cod called the Family FoodPantry, Family Pantry of Cape Cod,
and we have the Boston Food Bankhere in Greater Boston. I think everyone
is aware of that. But thesestatistics of one in three Massachusetts households facing
food and security, one point eightmillion people, it's almost overwhelming to believe
(28:49):
it. Tell us about it.Oh, that's right, Dan, That
number one in three household is froma report put out by the Greater Boston
Food Bank last year. And asyou know, I mean, it is
a lovely place. But we havea very diverse population here in Massachusetts,
and you know, food insecurity issomething that affects people all across the country
(29:11):
and including here in our commonwealth.And you know, it's something that from
you know, any family can befacing that you know, maybe food is
one of the things when they're tryingto stretch their budget, is something that
they're skimping on. And unfortunately that'ssomething that happens more often than we'd like
(29:32):
to think. Well, I reada report today that basically acknowledged that food
prices everything has got more expensive inthe last few years, and food prices
are up almost six percent in justin the year twenty twenty three alone.
I know, when I go tothe grocery store, I've never been food
insecure, but when I go tothe grocery store, I look at so
(29:55):
many items that I know are moreexpensive today that they were just a few
years ago. And I assume thatcontributes it to somewhat. For people who
are on the edge and living frompaycheck to paycheck, they turn around and
they say, gee, you know, a dozen eggs cost now much more
(30:18):
than they were. Has that contributedto it as well, that's correct,
So that's definitely a contributing factor.And as you know, access to fresh,
healthy produce is one of the mainissues that's always existed in the realm
of food and security. People livingin food deserts that don't have access to
(30:38):
larger grocery stores or farmers' markets,and that's something that Food for Free we
really try to focus on in particular. So how can folks take advantage of
your program Food for Free? Whatdo they have to do? So our
particular program in terms of serving thecommunity is really working with our community partners.
(31:02):
So Food for Free is one ofthe oldest food rescue organizations in the
Commonwealth and I think even in thenation. And as part of that work,
we go to local grocery stores andplaces like freight farms that has excess
(31:25):
produce, excess food that for whateverreason, they're not going to be able
to utilize in their stores and theirprograms, and we take that and we
get it right out into the communityto low income housing sites, to community
food pantries, to schools, tovarious types of shelters and try to get
(31:47):
that food out into the community whereit can be used and not wasted.
Okay, So essentially it's not asif you have a location to which people
can go the family pantry on CapeCaud, they actually have a location where
people will drive to and can andcan pick up food. You get the
food and get it to locations withincommunities where there's as you said, that's
(32:10):
right. Yeah, we try toWe try to utilize our logistics and transportation
to really help help the smaller pantriesthat don't have the trucks, that don't
have the manpower to you know,go pick up an order from the food
bank or to you know, goto one of the larger you know,
it's easier for the larger stores towork with an organization like ours where we
(32:32):
can come and you know, pickup a truckload of food and then distribute
that amongst several smaller organizations more efficiently. But we do have a lot of
access for volunteers to come help ourprograms. You need volunteers, So how
can we always people get and getin touch with you folks? You're out
(32:52):
of Summerville, correct. We areour main packing and distribution facilities in Summerville,
but we also have one of ourprograms worked out of Biogen and Kendo
Square. They've graciously donated some kitchenspace to us. And if people want
to get involved with us, theycan go on our website food for free
dot org. They can email volunteersat food for Free dot org, or
(33:15):
they can call our main number atsix one seven eight zero two nine eight
eight zero and someone will connect themwith one of our volunteer coordinators. And
you've been involved in this, thiscause, this crusade, whatever you want
to call it, Jennifer, fora long time. How long have you
been doing this yourself? Me personally, actually, I've just been at super
(33:39):
Free for about a year. Icame most recently from the food service industry,
so this stills like a very naturalprogression to me to be able to
help get food, you know too, people who aren't able to access as
easily as going. One of thethings that I've always not understood is that
I know that restaurants sometimes have foodleft over, and certainly you hate to
(34:02):
think that food gets own away,but I think there's a lot of food
that has either become outdated or therestaurants you know, at some of the
higher end restaurants. Are you guysable to take advantage of some of those
those opportunities to gather food from someof these restaurants that you know, they're
not going to hang, They're notgoing to keep their food in the refrigerator
(34:23):
any longer than a certain number ofdays. Does that work out? Are
there restaurants that are helpful and supportiveof you as well? I hope some
are trying to. You know,for a lot of our food rescue we
work with a lot of corporate anduniversity cafeterias. Are Heat and Eats program,
which provides single serving microwave meals tocommunity college campuses. All of that
(34:46):
food comes from leftover, so,you know, say Harvard University has at
the end of their lunch shift foodleft over it they save that for us,
and then we turn that into individualmeals that we're able to give to
people who don't have the time orthe means to prepare those meals for themselves.
It sounds great, Jennifer, Thanksvery much, you've given it out
(35:07):
people. Just Food for Free dotorg will get you in touch, as
I think that's the website that youthat you suggested. Correct Food for free
dot org. That's right, andI'd like to highlight that today is food
Rescue Food Rescue Day, and we'rereally We've got some great social media out
there. Check us out. Ourpartnership with Freight Farms is being highlighted today.
(35:31):
So it's a really interesting organization.Sounds great, Jennifer, thank you
very much, appreciate your time.Congratulations Cape, have you good work.
Okay, when we get back,we're going to talk about a bizarre bizarro
bad behavior scene in back Bay thisSunday morning, and we're going to be
talking with Boston, going to betalking with Boston City Council Sharon Durkin,
(35:54):
who represents that community that is partof her district, and find out what
can be done to make real thanthat bizarre behavior is not repeated at any
time going forward. We'll be backto that side right after this
It's Dan Ray. I'm going Boston'snews radio Gore. We have launched to
follow tonight. We got four gradehours of Nightside coming up as well.
Beautiful day to day, a littlebit of rain late this afternoon. I'm
not sure about tomorrow, but Iget a feeling we maybe have finally turned
the corner on winter. At leastI hope so at least that's my feeling.
(00:22):
We'll see what happens. Good evening, everybody. My name's Dan Ray
and the host of Nightside here everyMonday through Friday night from eight until midnight,
and we will start off tonight withour Nightside News hour. A little
bit later on tonight at nine o'clock, we're going to talk about that bizarre
bad behavior in the Back Bay earlySunday morning, when drivers were racing up
(00:45):
and down Marble Street, which isa very skinny avenue one way street in
the Back Bay, one of thenicer sections of Boston, I mean,
really nice area. And we're goingto talk with a counselor Sharon Durkin about
that, and then we'll talk aboutroot causes a mental illness with doctor Jeffrey
(01:06):
Lieberman, Columbia University, a professor. He is a doctor as well as
a professor, a psychiatrist, andI think you're going to find it to
be very interesting. But we havefour topics for discussion and we are going
to start off with Mike King,who is the executive offer officer of a
group called the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Associationas they get ready for this weekend's fourth
(01:32):
Glenn's Run. It is to honora veteran who lost his life in a
motorcycle accident. Let's talk with Mikeand find out all about it. Mike,
Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir? I'm doing great.
Thank you, Dan. I reallyappreciate this opportunity to talk about CVA May
and what we did well. Youfolks are out in the Berkshires, and
(01:52):
I hope that occasionally our signal getsall the way out there and you guys
get a chance to listen to us. We thank you for reaching out.
So tell us about this one.This is the fourth annual. It's is
it a motorcycle race or a motorcyclerun? I've seen it both. It
is definitely not a race. Definitelynot a race. This is a run.
(02:15):
So just a little background on CBMA. The comment Veterans Motorcycle Association has
been around for over twenty years now. We rooted out, or kind of
separate out of the Veterans of ForeignWars motorcycle. They had a group of
motorcyclists and so forth. And youknow, like any organizations, sometimes you
(02:35):
have differences an opinion and so forth, and there was a split. It
started out honestly in Massachusetts is thesecond state in the Union to have a
chapter of CBNA. That's why weare a chapter two decks three. We
missed the boat by about three days. Our application made it three days after
Kentucky, which is the first stateto have a chapter. And we'll tell
(02:57):
us tell us most of Botany,tell us about the run, because okay,
this is what I want to talkabout. This is coming up this
Saturday on a What is it thisSaturday? If I'm not mistaken, give
me it is Saturday. So duringthe height of COVID in twenty twenty,
we did our best thing of socialdistancing. I mean, how better can
you social distance and motorcycle ride?You know. So we were out in
(03:20):
a great beautiful day. It wasa beautiful day of riding until it wasn't
in Southern Berkshire County. My wifeand I who happens to be our public
relations officer, we were leading aride throughout southern Berkshire County and we got
outside of the Briar Courf Roadside Hotelwhere we conduct this run out of and
(03:43):
Glenn, who is a Navy veteranof Desert Shield Dosure Storm. He was
a Navy corman for lack of abetter term, in medic who have boots
in the ground supporting Marines and DesertShield Desert Storm. He had a stroke
while riding, went down around twopm on that Saturday, the last Saturday
in April. Ended up dying aroundmidnight that night. But he died doing
(04:06):
what he loved, which was ridingmotorcycles and being with people who had a
common understanding of a very complex thingof being in combat combat, and we
did not many people get to sharethat experience. So I can understand why
you have such a camaraderie fraternity.How old was Glenn when he passed?
(04:29):
I wish I could give you anexact age. So he was he was
if he was in Iraq and allof that in nineteen ninety one. He's
in the mid late fifties. Andand you know, fortunately we a lot
of our population are currently first responders, whether they're law enforcement, firefighters,
(04:49):
or paramedics. So you know,we our folks who were there were able,
like in the in the in thereat the moment, were able to
provide first aid and help extend hislife long enough so that his adult children
were able to make it to thehospital and say goodbye. Definitely, definitely
a tough moment for for all ofus. So this year again as this
(05:12):
is the fourth annual. Now yes, twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two,
twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, this Saturday, April April twenty
seventh, And I guess this isnot open to the public unless they happen
to be a combat veteran. Andif they are, how could they contact
you to put And if they're abike ride how can they contact you?
(05:33):
So you know, we we wesay this is this is a comment.
It's Motorcycle Association only in guests.We've had one gentleman show up the last
two years who happens to live inGreat Barrington night I believe in and you
know what we're We're not going toturn you away if you want to come
out and support and honor one ofour war fighters who who managed to come
(05:58):
back from the war. But youknow there's no longer with us. Yeah,
you away. Let's let's let's honorour many and women, regardless of
whether we agree with the conflicts.Let's honor our women who have gone and
done the country s bidding. Soyou guys are going to pay a real
tribute this Saturday. It's absolutely It'sabout a fifty mile loop and you end
(06:21):
up, I believe, back inthe Briarcliffe Motel and you have a lunch
and a memorial ceremony and it soundslike a great day. I hope that
the weather is good for you outthere in the Berkshires. I have no
idea about that, but the mostimportant thing is to remember and honor the
memory of Glenn Sall. So Ijust wanted to say, Mike, thank
you for joining us tonight, andwe wish the best of luck, you
(06:44):
know best, Thank you, andhope everyone's safe and sound on Saturday and
for many many motorcycle runs to come. Thank you. Thank you, Mike,
absolutely, thank you, Dan,Thanks very much. Bye bye.
Okay, when we get back.Jay Weilllet from w b Z News is
going to join us. I thinkit might be the first time with head
Jay on the show, and we'regoing to talk about something that should interest
all of us, and that islive beer sidings. Not talking about at
(07:08):
a Zoo, talking about in rentThem? Coming back on Nightside. Now
back to Dan Ray live from theWindow World Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
All right, we're going to talkwith Jay will Let. Jay.
I'm not sure if you've joined usor this year your debut on Nightside,
(07:29):
but welcome nonetheless. How are youtonight? Hey, good evening, Dan,
Yeah, longtime listener, first timecar. It's great to hear.
Thanks for having me. I likethat. We ever got to get the
rod of applause for their debut.So were you out and about today?
In rent Them? I guess weget some bear signings and rent them and
(07:49):
air. I've looked at some ofthe video. Those are real bears.
They weren't Yogi and Boo boo goright ahead. Yes, So I was
in the studio and we were gettingall types of input from people across the
commonwealth. Really excited people just tosee these these predators, these omnivores out
(08:11):
and about poppling around. We sawreports and rents on the animal control offices
there were inundated with calls, excitedpeople, people who might not be aware
of you know, what to doaround a bear and kind of the safety
precautions there as well. So weknow what you do around account of Jay,
I know what you do around thebeer. You do nothing, you
(08:31):
get away exactly. Yeah. Thenumber one piece of advice we give people
is just you're not confront a bear. It's yeah, yeah. The only
beer I would like to be aroundis when the Chicago Bears played the Patriots
and get a couple of tickets outthere and enjoy the football game. So
(08:52):
is this unusual? Is it earlyor are we right on time? Is
this like the swallows returning to Capistranoand the bears are come out of hibernation
here in eastern Massachusetts. Yeah,so it's in years past, It's happened
before for Renthem. It's typically midApril is when we start to see these
bears kind of start to move outof their dens. But this is certainly
(09:16):
a new development in terms of recentyears, and credit to mass Wildlife they
have so much information online and spokenwith them in the past two on our
show, just talking about you know, what to do around these black bears,
and these are the black bears we'retalking about. They have this kind
of expanding territory and what we're seeingand part of the reason why a lot
(09:39):
of media attention is being given tothese black bears is because they're starting to
trek into eastern neighborhoods that they don'ttypically venture into. You know, this
early on, so you know,mid April, we typically expect them to
be around Worcester County, Middlesex County. Seeing them in Norfolk on rent them
(10:00):
is kind of an interesting development thisearly, long early on for me certainly
certainly that this comes with you know, they don't go unnoticed. You get
all these videos, you get thosephotos like we got today. Just today,
we had a listener sending a videofrom air of black bear coming up
the property and what you know younoticed in that video and you can see
(10:24):
it on our w's news radio socialsis the bear kind of hobbles up and
you can kind of make out abird feeder in the front lawn and that's
the thing that they telling your AnimalControl a police they'll tell you you got
to lock those away. As soonas you hear a black bear in the
neighborhood, you're gonna want to lockaway those bird feeders, those garbage can
(10:46):
lids, all that stuff, becausethey have excellent, excellent sniffers and they
can find it from a mile away, and they're hungry. They're coming straight
out of naps, so you know, picture how you are coming out of
a slumber, and you know youneed that food and water today. What's
really amazing is that if they dogo into hibernation, and I guess they
(11:07):
do, that, they have theirplaces where they can spend the winter.
I mean many New England who spendthe winter in Florida, the snowbirds.
But the guys, these guys andgals stay in their dens. It would
be really interesting to know if thesame beers go to the same dens every
year, or if they move intodifferent places. I don't think we have
(11:31):
many caves here, but obviously they'reable to secure themselves to hide away,
and I guess no one's gonna botherthem anyway. They are ferocious creatures.
I gotta tell you, I wasin the Stone Zoo jay I was in
the back area a few years ago, got a little bit of a behind
the scenes tour and I was walkingdown this little corridor which is very narrow.
(11:54):
I mean it was about one personwide, and I went by a
cage, but the bear was inthe cage. The only thing that was
open was I don't know, onefoot by one foot, and as I
turned, I literally am looking ata bear nose to nose, almost nose
to nose. He didn't say anything, he didn't know anything, and I
(12:16):
know he couldn't get me, butit gave me a heart attack. It
was like, I would have beennice if they said, hey, be
careful, there's a beer behind thatwall there. So I can't imagine what
it must be like to look outyour kitchen window some morning and notice some
beer, you know, prowling aroundyour backyard. Have you had a chance
to talk to any of the Ilistened to your report obviously, and I
(12:41):
watched it and the video is fabulous. Have you talked to any of the
people who took that video and whattheir sense was when they saw the bear
enter the neighborhood? Yeah, sowe you know, we got those videos
from listeners and they sent along youknow, just kind of their reaction,
which was you know, filming thebear from across the street from a safe
(13:01):
distance, we should add, andnot trying to draw attention or anything,
but just kind of you know,it is a shocking experience to see,
you know, up boards of asix hundred pound beast coming through. No
qualms about coming right up to yourwindows and your bird feeders, trash cans.
You know, they fear nothing untilyou know, something unusual happens.
(13:24):
That's when you know, if theysee anything unusual, something that looks a
little off, they tend to kindof walk the other way, which is
why, you know, Mass Wildlifeand a lot of officials recommend you just
stay out of their way, lockup what you can. You can kind
of think of them as just akind of a walking disaster passing through like
(13:46):
a passing storm, so you cankind of just kind of knock things down
and let them pass. But yeah, just one other important rule to remember
when a bear comes into your neighborhoodover that matter, in your backyard,
no selfies, you know, Iknow everybodylies. Don't approach the beers.
Would you mind just holding the stillfor a couple of minutes' a light to
(14:07):
get this great on the on theChristmas card next next December, I don't
know. Jay, thanks so muchfor joining us. It's it's great to
get you on the show. Andany night that you're available and you got
a story that's of interest, welove to again this first hour. It
can be a big news story.It can be a story. It surely
was a big news story to thepeople in Aaron Rantham, that is for
(14:28):
sure. What do they do?My last question, did Wildlife tell you
since they've been out now early it'smid April, okay, a little early,
maybe on time to the beers Basicallyyou know, get a little bit
of food, you know, fromthe bird feeder or whatever, and then
go back into the woods and they'renot seen again until next year. Or
does this mean that they're going tobe in the neighborhood for the summer.
(14:50):
Well, I think we're going tosee more and more calls like this.
We're gonna see more and more videos. Certainly last year we were I can
tell you I was personally covering alot of this. We saw bears and
Bridgewater. You know, this issomething they're expanding eastward and they will go
where the food is. And partof the reason why that you know,
(15:11):
Mask Wildlife wants everyone to lock downthose bird feeders is that the bears really
become a problem and they become accustomedto feeding off of humans. So if
there's no food, and if there'sno reason for them to stick around in
your in your neighborhood or in yourlawn, they'll just pass right through and
they'll go to their natural means ofyou know, eating, which is berries
(15:33):
and fish and all types of thingsthat you know, bears either omnivores,
but they will eat anything if youleave it out. So that's really the
recommendation here. I do expect we'llsee more as the summer goes on,
though, because they're going to getmore active. Jay. Well, let
thank you very much for Warned isForearmed. Pay attention to what Jay had
to say. Jay, Thanks,thanks again, and we will we'll talk
(15:54):
to you against soon, I hope. Thank you very much anytime, Absolute
pleasure. Thanks for having me.Ben right back at you. Thanks Jay,
and we come up. We're goingto talk about an event coming up
at a Senior center in Newton,which I think you're going to really like.
It's entitled Minis with a Mission.We're not talking about mini skirts here,
okay, We're talking about little animals, donkeys and ponies. It's a
(16:18):
cute story coming right up. Andthen later on I'm going to talk about
food insecurity here in Massachusetts, ofall places, where a wealthy state,
and yet there's still a lot ofpeople who do have food in security in
Massachusetts, according to the program managerof Food for Free. We'll be back
on Nightside right after the news atthe bottom of the hour. My name
is Dan Ray. You listen tow BZ Boston ten thirty on the AM
(16:41):
AM dial WBZ Boston's news radio.You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on
WBZ Boston's news Radio. All right, let's get right back to our next
guest. We're going to talk withJustin Green. Justin sent me an email
just a few days ago, andI was pretty intrigued by it, I
(17:03):
must admit, and Justin tell usabout this Minis with a Mission. What's
it all about? Oh, thankyou for taking my call and letting me
have this chance to talk about myevent. Minions with the Mission is a
nonprofit where they have miniature horses andminiature donkeys and they go to spread cheer,
(17:23):
They go to senior centers, libraries, they go to Salem State on
the first day of school to welcomethe students, and everyone seems to love
the minis. You can't ride them, but you get to hug them,
brush them, feed them, andit's a lot of just fun. Now,
(17:45):
justin understanding, is you work asa mail carrier right? Yes,
I've worked the past twenty three yearsout of Newtonville, and there was my
way to give back to the Newton'sa very nice community and I wanted to
say like a little thank you,and I thought this would be a fun
(18:06):
way to do it. So whatyou do is I understand it is next
month, it's May twenty eighth.I believe you take the mini horses and
the mini donkeys to the Senior Centerin Newton And this is the third year
you have been doing this. Correct. Yes, it's at the Highe Community
Center in the Newton Highlands, Okay. And if the people don't know it,
(18:30):
the high Community Center is a wonderfulplace. They've show movies and concerts
either every Friday or Saturday night duringthe whole summer and it's free. So
how does the Senior center in Newton. Is that the same location or are
those the seniors center now is located. They're getting a new one built,
(18:51):
so right now their location is inthe Newton Highlands and right down the street
the high Community Center, which isowned by the city, has a big
field, so it's wonderful. There'sa lot of packing and the minis get
to mow the lawn, eating allthe glass farm. Oh that's great.
And you, if I'm not mistaken, told me that as a child.
(19:15):
Uh, this really goes back toyour youth. You used to attend a
summer camp program and some of thefield trips that were involved. We're going
to like a rodeo, and that'swhere you kind of fell in love with
with animals. And now you're bringingit full full circle and sharing your love
(19:37):
of these again. Many horses andmany donkeys with folks here who are on
your on your mail road. It'sa great story. Yes, I was
very fortunate. I went to awonderful school, the Washington DC Children's Hospital
for this for the school for thespeech and hearing impaired. I could only
see four three words when I wasfour years old, and they did a
(20:02):
wonderful job teaching me to speak.And my favorite trip was a trip to
the rodeo. And I found outthat my summer camp teacher passed away,
so I thought what better way tohonor her memory than to bring the rodeo
to Massachusetts. I can't afford arodeo, but I can't afford minis with
(20:22):
the mission and people, it wasso exciting. The last the second year
we did it A Lota's Seedmen,the wonderful activities director for the Senior Center
came up to me all smiled andsays, justin this is the biggest turnout
event we've ever had my tenure doingthis Senior Center. So that was wonderful.
(20:47):
That's great, So tell us aboutthe day. So it's going to
run I guess from about eleven thirtyto twelve thirty. Is is it open
to the public or is it justfor the sage? Yes, it's open
to the public all ages. Iask the people if they'd like to come
to just call a Lana the activitiesdirector at six one seven seven nine six
(21:11):
one six seven zero, just togive them give them a heads up.
Everyone's and every everyone would have accessto be able to to to actually interact
directly with the animals as I understandhow how many creatures do you think will
be We hope to bring two miniaturedonkeys and two miniature horses. And it's
(21:37):
really all I emphasize is that theminis are the stars of the show.
I don't introduce I don't say aword or Mary Anne Hortman, who runs
the program. He brings them andtells the people the mini's names. Then
the minis take over. People justget in line, and people very good
(22:00):
at knowing that the people behind them, and they pet them, and they
get selfies with them, and allI tell the people the only question I
ask anyone is to pet the miniaturedonkey and then pet the miniature horse and
see which one they like better.Because the donkey's furs, the ham is
(22:22):
a lot, it's coarse. Veryyeah, well, the horses are very
fine. And what's the reaction ofthe senior citizens. I mean, obviously
it's a great day for them toget out and about the weather hopefully is
going to cooperate in late May.I think you've got a pretty good chance
of having good weather from your experiencefor the first couple of years. I
(22:45):
bet you the seniors really loved usas an opportunity. Oh, it's one
of people. Everyone's all smiles.And one woman asked me, she says,
how's this happening? And I toldher, I said, I paid
for it. No, seriously,how is this going on? I said?
She said, why would you dothat? And I said, you're
(23:06):
having fun? She said yes.Did they look like they're having fun?
Yes, I said to everyone's havingfun. I said, that's money well
spend. I said, most timeswe're so busy we don't have any more
fun. I said, it's niceto have fun for an hour. It's
not going to solve all your problems, but for an hour, forget about
everything and be like a trial.Will at recess have fun? Yeah,
(23:29):
that's the point. I was wonderingif it if it began to look to
the seniors, if all of asudden they felt like they were little kids
again. If you know what I'msaying, that they were able to sort
of think back, flash back totheir own childhood, and we got in
(23:52):
that. That's the best thing thatthe Minis with the Mission has ever done
is they went to Brockton brock thethe farms up in Ipswich, Brocton's a
distance away. But we heard abouta World War Two veteran who grew up
with a donkey and he missed thepresence of being near a donkey. And
(24:12):
a nurse at the hospital thea hospitalknew about Minis with the Mission, so
she called the Mary Anne Hortman,who runs the program, saying, this
World War two veteran wants to meeta donkey, and she said, were
on it, and they drove downthe next day and he was so happy.
(24:33):
Unfortunately he passed away the next week, but he really did die with
a smile. And that's the biggestthing that we try to do. That
is a great story. Well,justin Green you are you're delivering the mail,
but you're delivering smiles and great memoriesand thank you. And I also
(24:53):
want to tell the people to leavethe wallets in the car. I'm not
doing this as a fun for theminies, for the Minis with the Mission.
I mean, if they go homeand they want to donate, that'd
be great, but all we wantthem to I'm funding this. I just
want them to have fun. I'mnot looking to raise money. Just have
(25:14):
fun and that's all that matters.Well, Justin Thanks very much again.
You have served that community as amail carrier for many for many years and
you're doing a great service for themwith Minis with the mission. Thanks so
much for joining us, and we'llhopefully talk again. Thank you, justin
thank you. You're very welcome.All right, there were so many good
(25:37):
people in the world, and thisis really an opportunity to highlight some people
who are doing good. And whenwe talk with our next guest, Jennifer
Pecto, she's the program manager ofFood for Free, local nonprofit based in
Somerville, we're talking about people who, even in a state like Massachusetts,
have food insecurity, and we'll explainwhy, we'll explain what Food for Free
(26:03):
is doing about it. I thinkyou'll enjoy listening to Jennifer Pechtol. And
then after that and after the nineo'clock news, we will get to the
issues of the day. And we'regoing to start off right after the nine
o'clock news talking about this very bizarrescene on Marlborough Street in the Back Bay,
the heart of the Back Bay,two a m. On Sunday morning.
Just you know, a few daysago, people drag racing, racing
(26:25):
up and down one way streets,the wrong way, doing adonants with their
cars and spinning around and peeling offdangerous situation. Roads were blocked off.
At two in the morning, wewill be talking with Sharon Durkin, who's
the city council that's re district,about what can be done to make sure
something that this never happens again.We'll get to all of that, I
(26:48):
promise, and we'll talk also witha psychologist and as psychiatrist I should say,
doctor Jeffrey Lieberman of Columbia University duringthe ten hour and we're back on
Nightside right after this. Now backto Dan Ray live from the Window World
nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio. All right, we live in Massachusetts.
(27:14):
I'm sure many of you who arelistening live in other states, but
Massachusetts is one of the more affluentstates in the country. Well educated,
great universities, wonderful medical facilities throughoutour area. We have great sports teams
just of course, have beautiful seashore. We have mountains in New Hampshire and
(27:36):
Vermont and Maine where people can skiin the winter time, change of seasons.
It is one of the most beautifulplaces in the world to live.
From many perspectives, But one perspectivethat we need to be paying more attention
to is the whole question of foodinsecurity for everyone here in Massachusetts and in
New England with us as Jennifer Pectel, she's the program manager of Food for
Free. We have interviewed people fromFood for Free before. Jennifer, I'm
(28:00):
not sure if you've been our guestsbefore, but welcome to Night's side.
Either way, how are you tonight? I'm well, thank you then,
this is my first time speaking withyou. Thanks very much. Welcome,
welcome, welcome, welcome. SoI guess the question that a lot of
people are going to have in theirmind right now is how can anyone in
Massachusetts go to bed hungry at night? Our family supports of food pantry down
(28:23):
on Cape Cod called the Family FoodPantry, Family Pantry of Cape Cod,
and we have the Boston Food Bankhere in Greater Boston. I think everyone
is aware of that. But thesestatistics of one in three Massachusetts households facing
food and security, one point eightmillion people, it's almost overwhelming to believe
(28:49):
it. Tell us about it.Oh, that's right, Dan, That
number one in three household is froma report put out by the Greater Boston
Food Bank last year. And asyou know, I mean, it is
a lovely place. But we havea very diverse population here in Massachusetts,
and you know, food insecurity issomething that affects people all across the country
(29:11):
and including here in our commonwealth.And you know, it's something that from
you know, any family can befacing that you know, maybe food is
one of the things when they're tryingto stretch their budget, is something that
they're skimping on. And unfortunately that'ssomething that happens more often than we'd like
(29:32):
to think. Well, I reada report today that basically acknowledged that food
prices everything has got more expensive inthe last few years, and food prices
are up almost six percent in justin the year twenty twenty three alone.
I know, when I go tothe grocery store, I've never been food
insecure, but when I go tothe grocery store, I look at so
(29:55):
many items that I know are moreexpensive today that they were just a few
years ago. And I assume thatcontributes it to somewhat. For people who
are on the edge and living frompaycheck to paycheck, they turn around and
they say, gee, you know, a dozen eggs cost now much more
(30:18):
than they were. Has that contributedto it as well, that's correct,
So that's definitely a contributing factor.And as you know, access to fresh,
healthy produce is one of the mainissues that's always existed in the realm
of food and security. People livingin food deserts that don't have access to
(30:38):
larger grocery stores or farmers' markets,and that's something that Food for Free we
really try to focus on in particular. So how can folks take advantage of
your program Food for Free? Whatdo they have to do? So our
particular program in terms of serving thecommunity is really working with our community partners.
(31:02):
So Food for Free is one ofthe oldest food rescue organizations in the
Commonwealth and I think even in thenation. And as part of that work,
we go to local grocery stores andplaces like freight farms that has excess
(31:25):
produce, excess food that for whateverreason, they're not going to be able
to utilize in their stores and theirprograms, and we take that and we
get it right out into the communityto low income housing sites, to community
food pantries, to schools, tovarious types of shelters and try to get
(31:47):
that food out into the community whereit can be used and not wasted.
Okay, So essentially it's not asif you have a location to which people
can go the family pantry on CapeCaud, they actually have a location where
people will drive to and can andcan pick up food. You get the
food and get it to locations withincommunities where there's as you said, that's
(32:10):
right. Yeah, we try toWe try to utilize our logistics and transportation
to really help help the smaller pantriesthat don't have the trucks, that don't
have the manpower to you know,go pick up an order from the food
bank or to you know, goto one of the larger you know,
it's easier for the larger stores towork with an organization like ours where we
(32:32):
can come and you know, pickup a truckload of food and then distribute
that amongst several smaller organizations more efficiently. But we do have a lot of
access for volunteers to come help ourprograms. You need volunteers, So how
can we always people get and getin touch with you folks? You're out
(32:52):
of Summerville, correct. We areour main packing and distribution facilities in Summerville,
but we also have one of ourprograms worked out of Biogen and Kendo
Square. They've graciously donated some kitchenspace to us. And if people want
to get involved with us, theycan go on our website food for free
dot org. They can email volunteersat food for Free dot org, or
(33:15):
they can call our main number atsix one seven eight zero two nine eight
eight zero and someone will connect themwith one of our volunteer coordinators. And
you've been involved in this, thiscause, this crusade, whatever you want
to call it, Jennifer, fora long time. How long have you
been doing this yourself? Me personally, actually, I've just been at super
(33:39):
Free for about a year. Icame most recently from the food service industry,
so this stills like a very naturalprogression to me to be able to
help get food, you know too, people who aren't able to access as
easily as going. One of thethings that I've always not understood is that
I know that restaurants sometimes have foodleft over, and certainly you hate to
(34:02):
think that food gets own away,but I think there's a lot of food
that has either become outdated or therestaurants you know, at some of the
higher end restaurants. Are you guysable to take advantage of some of those
those opportunities to gather food from someof these restaurants that you know, they're
not going to hang, They're notgoing to keep their food in the refrigerator
(34:23):
any longer than a certain number ofdays. Does that work out? Are
there restaurants that are helpful and supportiveof you as well? I hope some
are trying to. You know,for a lot of our food rescue we
work with a lot of corporate anduniversity cafeterias. Are Heat and Eats program,
which provides single serving microwave meals tocommunity college campuses. All of that
(34:46):
food comes from leftover, so,you know, say Harvard University has at
the end of their lunch shift foodleft over it they save that for us,
and then we turn that into individualmeals that we're able to give to
people who don't have the time orthe means to prepare those meals for themselves.
It sounds great, Jennifer, Thanksvery much, you've given it out
(35:07):
people. Just Food for Free dotorg will get you in touch, as
I think that's the website that youthat you suggested. Correct Food for free
dot org. That's right, andI'd like to highlight that today is food
Rescue Food Rescue Day, and we'rereally We've got some great social media out
there. Check us out. Ourpartnership with Freight Farms is being highlighted today.
(35:31):
So it's a really interesting organization.Sounds great, Jennifer, thank you
very much, appreciate your time.Congratulations Cape, have you good work.
Okay, when we get back,we're going to talk about a bizarre bizarro
bad behavior scene in back Bay thisSunday morning, and we're going to be
talking with Boston, going to betalking with Boston City Council Sharon Durkin,
(35:54):
who represents that community that is partof her district, and find out what
can be done to make real thanthat bizarre behavior is not repeated at any
time going forward. We'll be backto that side right after this
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