January 9, 2025 • 42 mins
- Guests include Travis Walker, Lisa Boler, James Guzman, Robert Root, and Sissy McInnis.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good afternoon. All right, my name is Debbie Bridgman and
I am filling in for Roy West on the Roy
West Radio Show right here on KLB. I am five sixty.
We've got a great show lined up today. We're going
to be talking to the United Way, We're going to
be talking to Embracing Freedom. We'll hear a little bit
about the Salvation Army and what they're doing to help
people prepare for this winter weather. And we're talking Dancing
(00:26):
with the Stars. So we've got a full show today,
so buckle up and get ready to go. We're kicking
it off today with my friend Travis Walker, who is
with the United Way of Beaumont in North Jefferson County.
Good morning, Good afternoon. Hey, how are you doing doing great?
So before we kind of get started, Travis, you're relatively
new to the United Way, so just briefly kind of
(00:48):
you know, what is your role there and you know,
tell us a little bit about the United Way.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Absolutely well, my name is Travis Walker.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm the director of Community Relations at the United Way
of Beaumont and Lord Jefferson County. I get the pleasure of,
you know, managing all of our relationships in the community
and making sure that we're having a positive presence in
the community and making sure that if people want to
be connected, they have the opportunity to be connected because
the Unitedway is doing a lot of great work. What
(01:16):
we do is we go out into the community and
we fundraise, and we raise as much money as we
can so that we can turn around and help.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Fund twenty local nonprofits.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
In these twenty local nonprofits, we fund thirty six of
their programs, and their programs help people in Jefferson County
in the areas of health, education, or financial stability, and
so we're making a tremendous.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Impact in those three areas. Last year, we were able
to give nine.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Hundred and twelve thousand dollars to our twenty local nonprofits.
And we're excited about it because we like to say
give where you live, right. We want our people to
know that when you get to the United Way Beaumont,
your money is staying here and it's making a tremendous
impact in our community.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And what people I don't think understand sometimes is just
the process and that there are you know that there's
a process. You know for the twenty agencies that the
United Way helps it's not just each year pick and choose.
I mean, it is a process, so kind of go
through how does an agency become involved with the United Way,
how are they like one of the agencies, and kind
(02:27):
of what is the process for them to get some
of the funds that you're raising.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, yeah, it's as it's been explained to me, it's
really kind of a marriage. When when an agency comes
on board, it's meant to be a long term relationship.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Like I said, they have to be.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Applying a program that falls into those three categories health,
financial stability, or education.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It has to fall into one of those three.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
It can't be a new nonprofit, it has to be
at least three years old. So there's a tremendous application process,
which we like to say adds another layer of accountability.
These are established nonprofits that are doing incredible work in
our community, really well known, several of them are, and
so it's really a process. And then just to go
(03:14):
a step further on that accountability piece, there's what's called
the allocations process. And so we have a both board
members and community members that come together. They meet with
every single nonprofit, all twenty of our nonprofits, and they
go through their application process, their financials, what they're applying for,
(03:36):
how they can help, how they're doing. And so we
add that additional layer so that our donors know, hey,
the money that you're giving us is going exactly where
you wanted to go, and it's being utilized well, and
it's being monitored by within the organization. But also an
additional layer being the United Way of Boumont and so
(03:58):
there's a lot of accountability. There's a lot of process
in there, and all of that is to make sure
that the donors know your money's going where it needs
to go and it's staying here.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
And I think just for clarity, I am on the
board for the United Way, so I do know a
little bit about what goes on and it is I mean,
there's a lot of checks and balances. It's a huge board.
You know, some organizations have smaller boards, but there are
a lot of people holding the United Way accountable for
everything that's going on. One of my favorite things that
(04:29):
the United Way does, of course is the book vending
machines which are in every single Beaumont ISD elementary campus.
And the machines are there provided by the United Way,
and then sponsors help with filling the machines with the books,
and I love how students they earn tokens and it
could be good grades, it could be you did something
(04:51):
nice for a classmate, you know, perfect attendance, like so
many ways for kids to earn a token and get
a book to keep and take home, because we forget
there's a lot of children, I mean seventy five percent
they go to boma ISD that that are economically disadvantaged
and they don't have books at home. So it's a
really cool thing. I absolutely love the project. I was
(05:14):
at boma ID when the machines came and I was
like chasing down the trucks as they were being dropped off.
And to see the kids and to see their faces
light up when they get to you know, get a
book and take it home, it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yes, that's a great program. That's a great program. We
have another great program that's happening right now that I'm
really excited to talk about. It's a brand new initiative
that is starting off really strong, and it's called our
Ladies in Red Campaign. Our Ladies in Red Campaign is
an ambassador fundraising campaign. We've got some incredible women that
(05:51):
have signed on that have said the United United Way mission.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Is really important to us.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
What they're doing in the community is really important to us,
and we want to help. And so we've got seventeen
women that have answered the call and said yes, I
want to raise money for the United Way, and we're
off to a great start and so we're really really excited.
I'd love to just take a moment to shout out
the women that have signed on.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
We've got any howe.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Ashley Washburn, Barbara Wilson, of course, deb Bridgeman, Elizabeth Tatum,
Fabiana Baum, Jennifer Birch, Genny Angelo, Jenny Botham, Kelsey Crawford,
LaDonna Sherwood, Haley, Lisa Prejeene, Mica Dobbs, Patrina Agger, Sophie Hurley,
Tito and Tish Cornell. And so we've got just an
(06:38):
incredible lineup of women for this first annual Ladies in
Red campaign and we couldn't be more excited. And I know,
and you know as well, there's nothing more powerful than
a woman with a mission, and we're so excited to
just be a piece of these women's mission for the
year of twenty twenty five. So really really exciting stuff.
(07:00):
And encourage everybody to head over to the website. You
can go to UWVMT dot org and you'll it'll be
pretty pretty easy to get to and pick an ambassador
and help get to their goal.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
They each have a.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Goal of three thousand dollars and so we're really excited
and honored to be a part of their mission for
this year.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well I'm excited. I mean, I'm already encouraging people all
the time to give where you live and support the
United Ways. So now i just have a bigger goal
and mission. But yeah, I've already had a couple of donors,
so I'm feeling feeling pretty good. Of course, launch party
was on Thursday, so that was kind of cool to
(07:43):
see everybody there and lots of red in the room,
of course. And now the campaign goes through February third.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
February third, eleven fifty nine pm. Okay, that's the cutoff,
and then we've got empty bowls the next day, February fourth,
and so we'll have a big announcement of the top
three ladies in red and then the total campaign amount
of how much we were able to raise with this
campaign will announce both of those things at empty Bowls
(08:11):
and then tickets will be will be starting to sell
pretty soon and you can head over to our social
media to see announcements about that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
So just briefly the Empty Balls, I mean, since tickets
are about to go on sale for that, you know,
and it's gotten so big. This is the third year
that now you have to move to a bigger venue.
So a little bit about empty Balls.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, yeah, we're really excited.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
We're going over to the Beaumont Event Center, beautiful space.
The Empty Bowls started three years ago. A local artist
hand crafts these bowls and Greg Blushmi does a fabulous
job in hand crafting these bulls at the Art Studio,
and then we've had community members go out and classrooms
(08:55):
go to the Art Studio see that space sometimes for
the first time, and paint these bowls. So they're hand
crafted by Greg Buschami and they're hand painted by different
community members and so really cool. And then we come
together on February fourth for lunch and we get the
bulls that we painted and we have lunch together and
(09:19):
enjoy that fellowship. And this is of course a fundraiser
for the United Way of Beaumont.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And it's like you said, it's grown year over year.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Just it was.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
It was previously held at Del Papa Distributing, and then
we moved over to the Beaumont Event Center, and so
we're really excited about Empty Bowls.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's going to be on February fourth.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Again, it's a lunch fundraiser, so during the day and
so you can hop out of the office and get
some lunch with us.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Well, I think, I think personally the funny thing about
empty Bowls is that that first year, I really had
perfected the perfect bowl when I went to paint mine,
and I wanted that bowl. So I got to the
event like right when it started because I wanted my bowl.
And last year I had a partner bowl that I
had painted and it was lost. I ended up getting
(10:06):
a great bawl. But but yeah, at the last board
meeting it was announced that they found those missing balls,
So I want my ball.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
I can just imagine you walking around for an hour
trying to find this ball.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
It was, I mean, and everybody knew. They were, Like
even even Karen Husband's the executive director for Unit Away.
She was like, mabbe, I don't know where your ball is,
but that's okay. We have found the balls and it's
really great. It's it's another great event that the United
Way does to help raise awareness and funds, and you know,
(10:41):
you guys are doing so much for the community give
where you live. Just to kind of wrap it up,
if somebody would like to donate, you know, if they
want to do for the Ladies and Red, if they
want to come to Empty Balls, but if they just
want to go online, can they do that?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
You can use that same website I threw out earlier,
you WBM dot org. If you'd like to just give
to the United Way, there's a way to do that.
If you want to give specifically to the Ladies in
Red campaign, it's on that main page. You can click
that Ladies in Red in and it'll redirect you to
the correct website. So definitely several options there. Give it
straight to us or give to the Ladies in Red campaign,
(11:18):
same website UWBMT dot org.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Awesome, well, Travis, thank you for everything that you do
with the United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County.
And we're really excited about the Ladies in Red campaign,
the Empty bowls and just the United Way in general.
We are just so appreciative and just love everything that
the United Way does for Southeast Texas and for Beaumont.
(11:42):
And you know, you guys just keep going with great ideas.
We love it and very active on social too.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yes, definitely definitely head over follow us on a way
of Beaumont in North Jefferson County.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
We'd love to have you. We post as much as
we can.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
All right, thank you Travis for joining us. Thank you,
and we'll be right back with the Roy West Radio Show.
And then look at us.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You did very well. Was that your first time? Oh no, okay,
because that was you did fasto.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
This and we're back with the Roy West Radio Show
on a M five sixty k l v I. I
am Debbie Bridgeman sitting in for Roy West, and we
have got two more guests on the show and we're
going to be talking about Embracing freedom, so please welcome
Brittany de la Garza and Hannah Padilla.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Hello, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
All right, So, basically, for anyone that doesn't know about
Embracing Freedom, they might have heard about Harvest House at
one point, and you guys changed the name, so kind
of why did you guys change the name.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
So It's been in the talks for quite some time now.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Whenever people heard of Harvest House, they thought we were
either a church or they thought maybe we gave food
to homeless people because I had Harvest in the name,
and so we really just wanted to change our name
to really reflect who we are and what we do
and give us a name that actually gives hope to survivors.
So embracing Freedom, We're hoping that when they come into
(13:21):
our services, that's exactly what they'll do and they'll experience
is freedom from their past and the situations they've been in.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
So basically, and that's what I want to talk about,
is you know, embracing freedom. What kind of services do
you guys provide? And of course we're talking mostly about
child sex trafficking, so kind of talk a little bit
about the history of that and what you guys do
to help.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Absolutely, so we offer advocacy and education services. So what
that will look like is we offer case management. Whenever
there is a recovery, we are on call for twenty
four seven response. We also provide prevention intervention with at
risk youth, so you know, we are working to prevent
as well, which is another aspect of it. And we
(14:06):
also are always just providing the basic needs or survivors
are needing access to so we get as many resources
as we can, and we really are approaching this with
a holistic, you know, way to tackle the child sex
trafficking that we're facing.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So and I know you guys have talked at Spindle
top Rotary before and a little bit about the background
of sex trafficking, but I remember you guys talking about
how I tend going right through Beaumont. It's a really
you know, this is happening more than we want to
think that it.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Is, absolutely and also a lot of the community is
not aware that it's not just the interstate trafficking that
happens between different towns or states, like we are facing
trafficking with our own community, with our own community members
being the perpetrators. So you know, this isn't of course
like to scare anyone in our community, but there are
(14:58):
people that we come across that you know, our community
members sometimes or people of prominence, and they use that
to their advantage, and so you know, we want to
raise awareness that's not just an out of state problem,
it's very much in our community.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
So I know of being a nonprofit. You guys do
rely on you know, donations and support. You have a
big event coming up to raise some funds. Tell us
about your big gala.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yes, we do so.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
The Embracing Freedom seventh Annual Gala, I can't believe we've already.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Had seven was so amazing.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
So it's going to be on January twenty first, this month,
and it's going to be at the Elegante Hotel and
the doors open at five point thirty and the event
actually starts at six o'clock and it's going to be amazing.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
We have a survivor speaker. Her name is Rachel Fisher.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
This is our second year in a row to have
a survivor speaker, so we're really excited because we get
to hear her story of her tragic past and how
she turned that into a future of hope and healing.
So that's great and so we're excited to have her.
We're also going to have Hunter Courts and he's going
to have live music. We had him last year. He's phenomenal.
We're going to have a live auction, a live dessert auction,
(16:13):
and then we're going to have a silent auction as well.
And then people will also come to this gala and
hear more about embracing freedom, who we are and what
we do. And it's really just a big launch as
well of our new name and our new branding. So
we're really excited.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And so the funds that are going to be raised
from this event, what are how are you guys going
to use those?
Speaker 5 (16:33):
So the funds that we will raise at our gala
is going to go towards our advocacy services, and it's
going to help us to continue do the work that
we do in our community. You know, we've seen our
numbers grow in the past year of how many kiddos
that we're serving, and that's been amazing, and that's been
due to all the donations that we got last year.
So we're able to continue serve and help these kiddos.
(16:55):
So the funds that we will have will help us
grow even further. We can get more advocates, we can
get more staff members to help tackle the issue of
child sex trafficking right here in our community.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So how can people attend? Where do they go to
get tickets?
Speaker 5 (17:10):
So we do have tickets available and I believe we
have one sponsorship available, So there is one table available
and we have individual tickets available on our website.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
So if you go to.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Embracingfreedombmt dot com, you can go on the first page
and just click buy a ticket. There are one hundred
and fifty dollars and registration is going to be open
until the day of the gala, so tickets can be
purchased anytime.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Nice. So let's talk a little bit more about human
sex trafficking. Now, I know January is National Human Trafficking
Prevention Month. What are some common misconceptions about human trafficking
that you guys need to address.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
So, you know, human trafficking is such a complex issue,
but specifically with child sex trafficking, there's a lot of myths,
a lot of misinformation sometimes on the media, and so
we're working to bring awareness to the fact that not
every child is kidnapped. A lot of times exploitation can
happen in person with someone that they know. Oftentimes traffickers
(18:12):
are not strangers. Are there people that they may already
have a relationship with, or an adult that's around that
may be close to the family. And then also it
doesn't require transportation. You know, some of the myths around
that is that it has to be something that crosses
a border or a state line.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
And you know, as I.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
Said earlier, we often see these are own community members
and can it can even happen with their kido's still
living at home. So that's why it's so important to
raise awareness and get involved in any way you can.
Of course, you can go to our website if you
need ways to volunteer or get in touch.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And when you talk about children, like what are some
of the ways that you guys like participate with Beaumont
ISD or other schools or churches, Like, how are you
guys able to you know, reach some of these kids
and let them know there's an avenue for help.
Speaker 7 (18:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
But the really cool thing is that with our wide
service range, you know, we're serving all six counties here
in Southeast Texas, so you know, we've gone to Buna,
we have relationships with bilmon ICDPA, i SD, and so
through our educational programs that we start from middle school
onto high school, we're able to reach these kiddos and
give them tools to prevent, how to recognize possibly a trafficker,
(19:22):
how to help their friends, and so you know, we
to do all of this in an age appropriate way
to make sure that they know they have the resources
they need to protect themselves.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
I guess you guys do come across children that they're
just so scared to say anything.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
Absolutely, you know, it's it's part of that grooming process
that traffickers will you know, get them in a mental manipulation,
you know, kind of talk to them in a way
that makes them feel like they cannot get the help
they need. And so, you know, part of the process
of the healing and recovery is making sure they know
(19:57):
they can reach out any time we offer services.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Even if they leave, they can come back, so.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
We're always there for them. And when you say any time,
so you guys have a twenty four to seven crisis
response team. So what has that impact been on the community.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
So we see that, you know, people are not aware
that this is something that you know, it can happen
at any hour, any time of the day, and so
we're always wanting to be available. And so the impact
we see from that is that sometimes our advocates will
you know, maybe have to go to the hospital at
like two am to help with the recovery. And so
you know, we are able to offer more services that way,
(20:36):
you know, we're not limited to your typical you know,
eight to five timeline, and so having those twenty four
to seven services is able to offer a more wide
range to victim services. Wow, well, we appreciate you guys
being in Southeast Texas.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
How can anyone that's listening to the show today, you know,
how can they learn more about events and initiatives that
you guys have throughout the year.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Right, So on our website that again is embracingfreedombmt dot com.
There's different ways the community can get involved. They can
reach out to us to get an engagement an awareness event,
and Brittany can come out and she can speak, and
then you can also click on our resource tab to
learn more about trafficking and actually what it looks like
(21:23):
in our area. We also have our statistics that are
local of how many kids that we have served, their age,
their race. All the information is on our impact report
from twenty twenty four already. So our website is a
really great hub with all the information you need to
know about us, what we're doing, and how to get involved.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Perfect All right, Well, we just got a couple more
seconds left. One more time. The gala is January twenty
first at the Mcmlagante Hotel. How can people get.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Tickets Embracing Freedom bmt dot com. You can go purchase
your ticket. They're one hundred and fifty and they're going
to be on sale until January twenty first.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
All right, fantastic Hannah and Brittany. Thank you so much
for being on the show.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Thank you for having me us.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Thank you, all right, and we'll be right back with
the Roy West Radio Show on AM five sixty klv I.
And we are back with the Roy West Radio Show
on AM five sixty k lv I. My name is
Debbie Bridgeman. I am the guest host today and we
have heard from the United Way, we have heard from
(22:27):
Embracing Freedom and our next guest is part of the
Salvation Army, Lieutenant James Gooseman. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 8 (22:36):
Hey, thanks for having me. I always enjoy coming back
onto the show and it's just been a blessing and
it's just again it's just great to have you guys
as well.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Wonderful well. Salvation Army does so much for our community.
We are so grateful and especially you know when it's
cold out a lot of people are going to be
relying on you. So just to kind of give a
little background. I mean some people we may only know
you guys as kettle ringers. We don't know, So give
a little background of the Salvation Army.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
Yeah, So the Salvation Army of Jefferson County, we recently
changed their name to the Salvation Army of Jefferson County, Texas,
just to kind of just show that just the wide
range of area that we serve. And so we not
only just serve in Beaumont, but also Port Arthur as
well too, and then surrounding cities as well. But the
(23:28):
Salvation Army has been here in Beaumont since nineteen oh
one and it has a rich history here with the
City of Beaumont and just partnering with different organizations and
more specifically the City of Beaumont as well too. But
we do numerous things. You know, we do daily feeding
(23:48):
to the community and to our shelter residents. We also
operate as shelter through in the sixty five days a
year and so that's for men, women and family. We
also do. We also have a Red Shield Youth Club
which is uh used to be the Boys and Girls Club,
(24:09):
but it's now called the Red Shield Youth Club, and
so we serve UH youth within our after school program
and then we also have a summer day camp. We
also do social services with rental and utility assistant for
both Beaumont and Port Arthur. We we have different programs
for men and women, whether it be Bible Study or
(24:31):
UH Women's Fellowship, Men's Fellowship, and so we do a
ride range of stuff here. And but I think one
of the things that we are most known for is
that we have a shelter and our shelter operates, you know,
for those that are are experiencing homelessness and are needing
a place to you know, just rest ahead, find some
(24:53):
warmth or or even in summertime, find some some some
cool relief. And so but yeah, that's a little bit
of what we do here at the Salvation.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Army, just a little bit. And I'm assuming, I mean,
you guys will take donations anytime, but how can somebody
help you guys financially to help with all these services
that you're providing.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
Yeah, of course, So you know, we have several fundraisers
that we do throughout the year. One that's most known
to everyone is our Red Kettle campaign where we ring
the bells in front of every Walmart Kroger's store locations,
and so that's one of our biggest fundraisers. But you know,
throughout the year, you know, the need is always there
(25:36):
for donations to help with different programs, fund different things
that we do. And so people can either make a
donation in person or mail the donation to the Salvation Army.
Our address is twenty three fifty ten East Beaumont, Texas
(25:56):
seven seven seven zero three. And you know, if there's
a particular interest that you guys have, whether it be
you know that you want your donation to be specific
to our youth or be pacific to our feeding program
or whatever the case may be, you know we're able
to make that happen. But like I said, you know,
(26:19):
they can either come drop off check or cash to
the Salvation Army or they can mail it to our
mailing addressed I just mentioned earlier. But there's also opportunities
to volunteer. You know, I know not everyone has the
ability to give resources, but they have the ability to
(26:41):
give her their time, and so there's many options to
volunteer as well too.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I love that and now with the cold weather that
is here. Do you guys have just a limited number
of beds? Do you have more beds when the weather's
this cold? Like? How do you guys kind of handle
the cold weather?
Speaker 8 (27:00):
So when we handle the cold weather, uh, you know,
we are fortunate that we have great partners like some
other plays, uh, and so we have you know, kind
of talked with them to kind of put out an
ideal schedule per se, if you want to say. And
so normally we operate our shelter from from five pm
(27:20):
to uh seven am, and then after seven am we
were closed. But we've done these cold weathers and even
during the hot weathers we will we will extend that.
And so we worked with some other place where they've
extended their day center uh to I think they normally
closed it like three or three thirty. I'm not really,
I can't remember, but they've extended it to five. So
(27:44):
that way, that way when we open, they close, and
that way, you know, the homeless population will not have
you know, they won't be stuck out in the cold
for too long. And so and then we've extended our
morning hours to accommodate to to accommodate them and so
we extended it to ten AM to help the homeless
(28:07):
population again not be out in the cold. And so,
but yeah, there's many different ways to you know, volunteer
with that within that, you know, and so you know,
you can we always need help people with feeding or
with with helping with the cooking, you know. You know,
there are you know options of maybe kind of helping
(28:29):
with just you know, being a monitor per se if
you want to call it, you know, just kind of
you know, just making sure you know everything you know,
running smoothly and whatnot. And so I mean right now
we currently have h shelter monitors, shelter personnel that will
help make sure you know, everything's being facilitated correctly.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
So do you guys accept any kind of like, like
I know, the goodwill you can drop off you know,
clothing and items. Do you guys accept clothing?
Speaker 8 (28:59):
Yeah, yeah, so we can accept clothing.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (29:02):
Here at the Salvation Army main location off of I ten,
we do have a clothing closet here, you know, and
so stuff that we will bring over to the shelter
will be you know kind of like jackets and then
blankets and stuff like that, you know. And so I
(29:22):
did forget to mention one thing that you did ask earlier.
So we do expand our shelter during these times. Uh
so we do have a certain amount of beds available.
But but during these times you know, where we have
like a freeze overnight, we do take in everyone, and
so we we do have cots. But if we run
(29:45):
out of cots, you know, you know, we just you know,
we try to do the best that we can and
and then just have people sleep on the floor, you know.
So you know, so we'll have you know, we have
extra blankets on hand, extra pillows on hand, just to
make sure that you know, everyone's comfortable.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
So well, you guys definitely are a blessing for people
that want to come there. Let's say, you know, you
mentioned the homeless population. How I mean, I guess there's
city transportation that would drop them off.
Speaker 8 (30:11):
Yeah, yeah, they can either take a city transportation or
you know, you know, find a ride out there. You know,
I know that the especially late at night, we have
been blessed by Beaumont Police Department. You know, they will
help transport some of these people to our shelter, you know,
(30:32):
and you know it's you know, if you know, if
Beaumont Police Department sees you know that you are out
there by yourself, you know, freezing, and they'll last if
you want to, you know, go to the shelter and
and they'll actually assist and bring them over to the shelter.
And so but yeah, I mean we were The shelter
is located at ten ninety four McFadden Avenue, just you know,
(30:53):
just downtown and uh and so anyone that needs, you know,
kind of get out of the cold weather and well,
you know, it's a place to lay their heads and
we're available to them overnight.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Well we've just got a couple of seconds left. But
I did want to ask, do you feel that your
population of people coming to you guys for aid has
increased in the last couple of years.
Speaker 8 (31:18):
I think so, I think they have increased. But I
think I think with different partnership and collaboration with different organization,
I think we're I think we're making strides and you know,
getting these people back on their feets and you know,
and being productive members of you know, of our community.
You know, whether it be you know, helping them with
(31:40):
job search or jobs or finding them in an apartment
or you know, a house and so uh but yeah,
I mean, you know, the homeless is always going to
be there, and so I think it's important for us
to make sure that we try to you know, navigate
them out of that.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So yeah, all right, and one more time, how can
people donate?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Just real quick?
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Do you have a website? And you also your address
for mailing?
Speaker 8 (32:03):
Yeah, so our mailing address is twenty three fifty I
ten East, Beaumont, Texas seven seven seven zero three, or
you can go online at Southern USA dot Salvation Army
dot org slash Jefferson County.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
All right, James Guzman, thank you so much for being
a part of the show.
Speaker 8 (32:21):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
And thank you for the Salvation Army for everything that
you guys do as well.
Speaker 8 (32:26):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
All right, we'll be right back with the Roy West
Radio Show on AM five sixty klv I. And we're
back to the Roy West Radio Show on AM five
sixty klv I. My name is Debbie Bridgeman. I am
your guest host for mister Roy West. And now we
are talking about Dancing with the Stars and we have
(32:49):
got one of the couples competing in the event this year,
Robert Root and Sissy mckinnis, Hey, how are you guys doing.
We're doing great.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Doing really well? So just real briefly, if each one
of you can kind of say where you work and
how you got involved with Dancing with the Stars, Robert,
we'll kick it off with you.
Speaker 9 (33:11):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 10 (33:12):
So I'm an attorney here at the Girmer Law Firm
in Beaumont, and it's really not that impressive how I
got involved. The attorney on the others wall side of
the wall for me is involved in Junior League and
just ask me to participate, and I figured it sounded
kind of fun.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, what about you, Sissy.
Speaker 7 (33:29):
So I am the broker owner of Royalty Ranch in
real estate. I'm located here in Salsby, small town, just
little boottique brokerage that loves serving my community. And Regina Miller,
she is also from the Salsby area and she serves
on the Junior League. So she's actually the one who
called and kind of roped me into this. So you
(33:52):
guys are are one of the couples.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
I guess there's eight couples total, and you guys will
be competing on March seventh at the Beaumont Civic Center.
But again it's it's mostly a fundraiser for the Junior
League of Beaumont. So you guys have had a practice
session or two how's it going or one?
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Yeah, so we did.
Speaker 7 (34:14):
We had right before Christmas. We decided that we tried,
you know, we needed to try and kick some practice
moves off.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
And we did.
Speaker 7 (34:21):
We got familiar with just you know, what we were
choosing kind of the route that we were going. And
we had one practice. So but we do have some
practices coming up and scheduled for January. We know that
we've got to turn up the heat a little bit.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Okay, are you guys doing more of just like a
popular dance or a country dance or are are we are?
Speaker 7 (34:43):
We?
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Oh, it's a secret, okay, okay, well we don't want.
Speaker 7 (34:47):
To go that way then, so we have been told
to say as least as possible when it comes to
what we are going to showcase on March seventh, so
everybody will just have to come and find out.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
It's a big Oh boy, Well, I know this is
a huge fundraiser for the Junior League of Beaumont. They've
been doing this for several years, do either one of
you watch Dancing with the Stars on.
Speaker 9 (35:11):
TV embarrassed to say, I've never seen the show so ironic,
So we're finding.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Out something new here.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
I know it.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
I know.
Speaker 7 (35:24):
Well, my daughter is actually a competitive dancer. Now, she
did not get her moves from her mother. She is
one and one and individually chosen.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
To be a dancer.
Speaker 7 (35:35):
But she is very familiar with it. She actually has aspired.
She says, Mom, one day, I'm going to be on
Dancing with the Stars. So, yeah, we're very familiar with
the show in our household.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Well, I will say personally, I'm not allowed to call
my mom on Monday nights because she's watching her show.
But you know, once they win each season, they have
some of the professional dancers go out on the road
and they may have one of the celebrities that'll be there,
like as An MC. And so for Christmas last year
(36:07):
they were in Sugarland, Texas. It was like last March
or something. So that was my mom's surprise. And the
dancing is so good. Oh so I always just really
for all the couples in Southeast Texas that are competing,
my heart goes out to you because it's it's a
big it's a big deal for sure. Yeah, so it's
(36:29):
Sissy is your daughter, I'm gonna be kind of helping
you guys with choreography, or you do have a professional
choreographer that's helping we do.
Speaker 7 (36:38):
Actually, our professional choreographer is my daughter's dance teacher.
Speaker 8 (36:42):
Nice.
Speaker 7 (36:42):
So that's kind of fun, you know, So we're you know,
we're familiar with her. I'm familiar with her. Robert's just
met her. But it's kind of fun going in, you know,
with someone that you know, when you trust, and it
seems to work a little bit easier that way when
you've got a relationship built so.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Nice. So, Robert, I guess are all the attorneys there
at Germer and Gertz, are they going to be coming
out and supporting you and cheering.
Speaker 10 (37:06):
You on as many as all? It seems like every
kind of walk down the hall, I get questioned about it.
You know, they want to know what I've learned at
the dance lessons, and yeah, they're very excited.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
They probably want to see what you're going to be wearing,
because you're going to have to be sparkily.
Speaker 9 (37:23):
Well, I think a couple of them are pretty interested
in that too.
Speaker 8 (37:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Well, it's always a fun event and the Junior League
of Beaumont does so much for our community and they
have several fundraisers. They did one just recently and I
guess it was November, but it was a lang Yap
luncheon that was really cool. It was all pastels like Christmas,
but it was all pastels. It was so pretty and
they had people that came out and not only were
(37:50):
you eating something, but they had the chefs on stage
showing you how to cook the meals you were eating
if you were hosting a holiday party or something like that.
So it was a really cool, fun RaSE that they do.
And I know, like I said, I know, Dancing with
the Stars might possibly be their biggest that they do.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
I think it is.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
So now I know there's there's the competition, but they're
in there also maybe like the fan favorite competition as well.
Speaker 10 (38:16):
There is so you can, uh you know, win two ways.
One by raising the most money which it goes to
a great cause. That's a great way win, or being
the fan favorite act the actual event. So the only
people that can vote for you are the people who
actually show up.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Okay, so you guys are not only having to learn
new dance moves, but you're going to be out encouraging
people to come to the event. Yes, yeah, yes, correct, awesome, awesome,
Well I bet you guys are excited but a little nervous,
but excited.
Speaker 8 (38:49):
Both.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (38:51):
Yeah, a little bit of both.
Speaker 10 (38:52):
Trying to make sure everything is pulled off seamlessly and
it goes well.
Speaker 9 (38:55):
So there's a little bit of stakes to it.
Speaker 7 (38:57):
I think the common goal is just not to make
ourselves look foolish.
Speaker 9 (39:02):
I wasn't going to say it, but that's what I
was thinking.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Yeah, well I said it for you because I knew
what you were thinking.
Speaker 7 (39:07):
Yeah. I think that we're just like, okay, we are
not dancers, but it is for a great cause, and
so we're going to go out and just do the
best that we can to be prepared as possible and uh,
just you know, just go out there and kill.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
It and have fun, have fun.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Yeah, that's what it's all about. Well, we've got we're
about to wrap up, but can Robert, You've got the
website pulled up. How can people get tickets to support
this event?
Speaker 10 (39:32):
Yeah, so you can go to the Junior League of
Beaumont's website. And there's a drop down list fundraisers and
you'll see dancing with the Stars there. You can buy
tickets or pay for a sponsorship there, and we encourage
people to give us give them our name when you
do it, so that we can win this competition.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
All right. So Robert Root and Sissy McKennis. What what
couple number are you?
Speaker 9 (39:57):
We are a couple number one.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Oh well, there you go, number one. You need to remember,
all right. And the big event is coming up Friday,
March seventh at the Beaumont Civic Center. You know, a
great fundraiser for the Junior League of Beaumont, but also
a lot of fun and I bet you guys are
going to have a blast.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
We look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
We do wonderful. Well, thanks for being a part of
the show. We appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
You guys have a great day, all right, and we'll
be right back at the Roy West Radio Show right
here on klv I AM five sixty. Welcome back to
the Roy West Radio Show right here on klv I
AM five sixty. That's a wrap, folks, we had a
great show. My name is Debbie Bridgeman. I am filling
in for Roy West. We kicked off the show with
(40:45):
Travis Walker with the United Way of Beaumont in North
Jefferson County. He was talking about all that they're doing
for this area and the Ladies in Red fundraising campaign.
You can go to UWBMT dot org and make a
donation to your favorite lady.
Speaker 8 (41:01):
I'm one of them.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
It's going to be a great event and we're hoping
to raise a lot of money for the United Way
of Beaumont in North Jefferson County. We also talked to
Brittany and Hannah. Did you know the January is National
Human Trafficking Prevention Month? While they're out there with this
new organization was Harvest House. It is now Embracing Freedom
and they're helping children in Southeast Texas and spreading awareness.
(41:25):
Their big event and gala fundraiser is on the way
January twenty first at the mcm Elegonte Hotel. You can
get tickets at embracingfreedombmt dot com. We also talked to
Lieutenant James Gooseman. He's with the Salvation Army. It's cold
outside and thank goodness for the Salvation Army helping those
that are less fortunate in our area, and we just
(41:46):
talked with Sissy McKennis and Robert Root. Dancing with the
Stars coming up on March seventh at the Civic Center,
big fundraiser for the Junior League of Beaumont. You can
see there's tons of ways to help out all these
great organizations right here in Southeast Texas. So give where
you live and keep supporting all of our local nonprofit agencies.
(42:07):
Thank you again to mister West for having me sit
in for him, and I will see you next time.
It's the Roy West Radio Show right here on AM
five sixty klv. I have a great weekend.
Good afternoon. All right, my name is Debbie Bridgman and
I am filling in for Roy West on the Roy
West Radio Show right here on KLB. I am five sixty.
We've got a great show lined up today. We're going
to be talking to the United Way, We're going to
be talking to Embracing Freedom. We'll hear a little bit
about the Salvation Army and what they're doing to help
people prepare for this winter weather. And we're talking Dancing
(00:26):
with the Stars. So we've got a full show today,
so buckle up and get ready to go. We're kicking
it off today with my friend Travis Walker, who is
with the United Way of Beaumont in North Jefferson County.
Good morning, Good afternoon. Hey, how are you doing doing great?
So before we kind of get started, Travis, you're relatively
new to the United Way, so just briefly kind of
(00:48):
you know, what is your role there and you know,
tell us a little bit about the United Way.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Absolutely well, my name is Travis Walker.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm the director of Community Relations at the United Way
of Beaumont and Lord Jefferson County. I get the pleasure of,
you know, managing all of our relationships in the community
and making sure that we're having a positive presence in
the community and making sure that if people want to
be connected, they have the opportunity to be connected because
the Unitedway is doing a lot of great work. What
(01:16):
we do is we go out into the community and
we fundraise, and we raise as much money as we
can so that we can turn around and help.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Fund twenty local nonprofits.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
In these twenty local nonprofits, we fund thirty six of
their programs, and their programs help people in Jefferson County
in the areas of health, education, or financial stability, and
so we're making a tremendous.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Impact in those three areas. Last year, we were able
to give nine.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Hundred and twelve thousand dollars to our twenty local nonprofits.
And we're excited about it because we like to say
give where you live, right. We want our people to
know that when you get to the United Way Beaumont,
your money is staying here and it's making a tremendous
impact in our community.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And what people I don't think understand sometimes is just
the process and that there are you know that there's
a process. You know for the twenty agencies that the
United Way helps it's not just each year pick and choose.
I mean, it is a process, so kind of go
through how does an agency become involved with the United Way,
how are they like one of the agencies, and kind
(02:27):
of what is the process for them to get some
of the funds that you're raising.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, yeah, it's as it's been explained to me, it's
really kind of a marriage. When when an agency comes
on board, it's meant to be a long term relationship.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Like I said, they have to be.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Applying a program that falls into those three categories health,
financial stability, or education.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It has to fall into one of those three.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
It can't be a new nonprofit, it has to be
at least three years old. So there's a tremendous application process,
which we like to say adds another layer of accountability.
These are established nonprofits that are doing incredible work in
our community, really well known, several of them are, and
so it's really a process. And then just to go
(03:14):
a step further on that accountability piece, there's what's called
the allocations process. And so we have a both board
members and community members that come together. They meet with
every single nonprofit, all twenty of our nonprofits, and they
go through their application process, their financials, what they're applying for,
(03:36):
how they can help, how they're doing. And so we
add that additional layer so that our donors know, hey,
the money that you're giving us is going exactly where
you wanted to go, and it's being utilized well, and
it's being monitored by within the organization. But also an
additional layer being the United Way of Boumont and so
(03:58):
there's a lot of accountability. There's a lot of process
in there, and all of that is to make sure
that the donors know your money's going where it needs
to go and it's staying here.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
And I think just for clarity, I am on the
board for the United Way, so I do know a
little bit about what goes on and it is I mean,
there's a lot of checks and balances. It's a huge board.
You know, some organizations have smaller boards, but there are
a lot of people holding the United Way accountable for
everything that's going on. One of my favorite things that
(04:29):
the United Way does, of course is the book vending
machines which are in every single Beaumont ISD elementary campus.
And the machines are there provided by the United Way,
and then sponsors help with filling the machines with the books,
and I love how students they earn tokens and it
could be good grades, it could be you did something
(04:51):
nice for a classmate, you know, perfect attendance, like so
many ways for kids to earn a token and get
a book to keep and take home, because we forget
there's a lot of children, I mean seventy five percent
they go to boma ISD that that are economically disadvantaged
and they don't have books at home. So it's a
really cool thing. I absolutely love the project. I was
(05:14):
at boma ID when the machines came and I was
like chasing down the trucks as they were being dropped off.
And to see the kids and to see their faces
light up when they get to you know, get a
book and take it home, it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yes, that's a great program. That's a great program. We
have another great program that's happening right now that I'm
really excited to talk about. It's a brand new initiative
that is starting off really strong, and it's called our
Ladies in Red Campaign. Our Ladies in Red Campaign is
an ambassador fundraising campaign. We've got some incredible women that
(05:51):
have signed on that have said the United United Way mission.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Is really important to us.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
What they're doing in the community is really important to us,
and we want to help. And so we've got seventeen
women that have answered the call and said yes, I
want to raise money for the United Way, and we're
off to a great start and so we're really really excited.
I'd love to just take a moment to shout out
the women that have signed on.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
We've got any howe.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Ashley Washburn, Barbara Wilson, of course, deb Bridgeman, Elizabeth Tatum,
Fabiana Baum, Jennifer Birch, Genny Angelo, Jenny Botham, Kelsey Crawford,
LaDonna Sherwood, Haley, Lisa Prejeene, Mica Dobbs, Patrina Agger, Sophie Hurley,
Tito and Tish Cornell. And so we've got just an
(06:38):
incredible lineup of women for this first annual Ladies in
Red campaign and we couldn't be more excited. And I know,
and you know as well, there's nothing more powerful than
a woman with a mission, and we're so excited to
just be a piece of these women's mission for the
year of twenty twenty five. So really really exciting stuff.
(07:00):
And encourage everybody to head over to the website. You
can go to UWVMT dot org and you'll it'll be
pretty pretty easy to get to and pick an ambassador
and help get to their goal.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
They each have a.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Goal of three thousand dollars and so we're really excited
and honored to be a part of their mission for
this year.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well I'm excited. I mean, I'm already encouraging people all
the time to give where you live and support the
United Ways. So now i just have a bigger goal
and mission. But yeah, I've already had a couple of donors,
so I'm feeling feeling pretty good. Of course, launch party
was on Thursday, so that was kind of cool to
(07:43):
see everybody there and lots of red in the room,
of course. And now the campaign goes through February third.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
February third, eleven fifty nine pm. Okay, that's the cutoff,
and then we've got empty bowls the next day, February fourth,
and so we'll have a big announcement of the top
three ladies in red and then the total campaign amount
of how much we were able to raise with this
campaign will announce both of those things at empty Bowls
(08:11):
and then tickets will be will be starting to sell
pretty soon and you can head over to our social
media to see announcements about that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
So just briefly the Empty Balls, I mean, since tickets
are about to go on sale for that, you know,
and it's gotten so big. This is the third year
that now you have to move to a bigger venue.
So a little bit about empty Balls.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, yeah, we're really excited.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
We're going over to the Beaumont Event Center, beautiful space.
The Empty Bowls started three years ago. A local artist
hand crafts these bowls and Greg Blushmi does a fabulous
job in hand crafting these bulls at the Art Studio,
and then we've had community members go out and classrooms
(08:55):
go to the Art Studio see that space sometimes for
the first time, and paint these bowls. So they're hand
crafted by Greg Buschami and they're hand painted by different
community members and so really cool. And then we come
together on February fourth for lunch and we get the
bulls that we painted and we have lunch together and
(09:19):
enjoy that fellowship. And this is of course a fundraiser
for the United Way of Beaumont.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And it's like you said, it's grown year over year.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Just it was.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
It was previously held at Del Papa Distributing, and then
we moved over to the Beaumont Event Center, and so
we're really excited about Empty Bowls.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's going to be on February fourth.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Again, it's a lunch fundraiser, so during the day and
so you can hop out of the office and get
some lunch with us.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Well, I think, I think personally the funny thing about
empty Bowls is that that first year, I really had
perfected the perfect bowl when I went to paint mine,
and I wanted that bowl. So I got to the
event like right when it started because I wanted my bowl.
And last year I had a partner bowl that I
had painted and it was lost. I ended up getting
(10:06):
a great bawl. But but yeah, at the last board
meeting it was announced that they found those missing balls,
So I want my ball.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
I can just imagine you walking around for an hour
trying to find this ball.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
It was, I mean, and everybody knew. They were, Like
even even Karen Husband's the executive director for Unit Away.
She was like, mabbe, I don't know where your ball is,
but that's okay. We have found the balls and it's
really great. It's it's another great event that the United
Way does to help raise awareness and funds, and you know,
(10:41):
you guys are doing so much for the community give
where you live. Just to kind of wrap it up,
if somebody would like to donate, you know, if they
want to do for the Ladies and Red, if they
want to come to Empty Balls, but if they just
want to go online, can they do that?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (10:56):
You can use that same website I threw out earlier,
you WBM dot org. If you'd like to just give
to the United Way, there's a way to do that.
If you want to give specifically to the Ladies in
Red campaign, it's on that main page. You can click
that Ladies in Red in and it'll redirect you to
the correct website. So definitely several options there. Give it
straight to us or give to the Ladies in Red campaign,
(11:18):
same website UWBMT dot org.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Awesome, well, Travis, thank you for everything that you do
with the United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County.
And we're really excited about the Ladies in Red campaign,
the Empty bowls and just the United Way in general.
We are just so appreciative and just love everything that
the United Way does for Southeast Texas and for Beaumont.
(11:42):
And you know, you guys just keep going with great ideas.
We love it and very active on social too.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yes, definitely definitely head over follow us on a way
of Beaumont in North Jefferson County.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
We'd love to have you. We post as much as
we can.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
All right, thank you Travis for joining us. Thank you,
and we'll be right back with the Roy West Radio Show.
And then look at us.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You did very well. Was that your first time? Oh no, okay,
because that was you did fasto.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
This and we're back with the Roy West Radio Show
on a M five sixty k l v I. I
am Debbie Bridgeman sitting in for Roy West, and we
have got two more guests on the show and we're
going to be talking about Embracing freedom, so please welcome
Brittany de la Garza and Hannah Padilla.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Hello, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
All right, So, basically, for anyone that doesn't know about
Embracing Freedom, they might have heard about Harvest House at
one point, and you guys changed the name, so kind
of why did you guys change the name.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
So It's been in the talks for quite some time now.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Whenever people heard of Harvest House, they thought we were
either a church or they thought maybe we gave food
to homeless people because I had Harvest in the name,
and so we really just wanted to change our name
to really reflect who we are and what we do
and give us a name that actually gives hope to survivors.
So embracing Freedom, We're hoping that when they come into
(13:21):
our services, that's exactly what they'll do and they'll experience
is freedom from their past and the situations they've been in.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
So basically, and that's what I want to talk about,
is you know, embracing freedom. What kind of services do
you guys provide? And of course we're talking mostly about
child sex trafficking, so kind of talk a little bit
about the history of that and what you guys do
to help.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Absolutely, so we offer advocacy and education services. So what
that will look like is we offer case management. Whenever
there is a recovery, we are on call for twenty
four seven response. We also provide prevention intervention with at
risk youth, so you know, we are working to prevent
as well, which is another aspect of it. And we
(14:06):
also are always just providing the basic needs or survivors
are needing access to so we get as many resources
as we can, and we really are approaching this with
a holistic, you know, way to tackle the child sex
trafficking that we're facing.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So and I know you guys have talked at Spindle
top Rotary before and a little bit about the background
of sex trafficking, but I remember you guys talking about
how I tend going right through Beaumont. It's a really
you know, this is happening more than we want to
think that it.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Is, absolutely and also a lot of the community is
not aware that it's not just the interstate trafficking that
happens between different towns or states, like we are facing
trafficking with our own community, with our own community members
being the perpetrators. So you know, this isn't of course
like to scare anyone in our community, but there are
(14:58):
people that we come across that you know, our community
members sometimes or people of prominence, and they use that
to their advantage, and so you know, we want to
raise awareness that's not just an out of state problem,
it's very much in our community.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
So I know of being a nonprofit. You guys do
rely on you know, donations and support. You have a
big event coming up to raise some funds. Tell us
about your big gala.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yes, we do so.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
The Embracing Freedom seventh Annual Gala, I can't believe we've already.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Had seven was so amazing.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
So it's going to be on January twenty first, this month,
and it's going to be at the Elegante Hotel and
the doors open at five point thirty and the event
actually starts at six o'clock and it's going to be amazing.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
We have a survivor speaker. Her name is Rachel Fisher.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
This is our second year in a row to have
a survivor speaker, so we're really excited because we get
to hear her story of her tragic past and how
she turned that into a future of hope and healing.
So that's great and so we're excited to have her.
We're also going to have Hunter Courts and he's going
to have live music. We had him last year. He's phenomenal.
We're going to have a live auction, a live dessert auction,
(16:13):
and then we're going to have a silent auction as well.
And then people will also come to this gala and
hear more about embracing freedom, who we are and what
we do. And it's really just a big launch as
well of our new name and our new branding. So
we're really excited.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And so the funds that are going to be raised
from this event, what are how are you guys going
to use those?
Speaker 5 (16:33):
So the funds that we will raise at our gala
is going to go towards our advocacy services, and it's
going to help us to continue do the work that
we do in our community. You know, we've seen our
numbers grow in the past year of how many kiddos
that we're serving, and that's been amazing, and that's been
due to all the donations that we got last year.
So we're able to continue serve and help these kiddos.
(16:55):
So the funds that we will have will help us
grow even further. We can get more advocates, we can
get more staff members to help tackle the issue of
child sex trafficking right here in our community.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So how can people attend? Where do they go to
get tickets?
Speaker 5 (17:10):
So we do have tickets available and I believe we
have one sponsorship available, So there is one table available
and we have individual tickets available on our website.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
So if you go to.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Embracingfreedombmt dot com, you can go on the first page
and just click buy a ticket. There are one hundred
and fifty dollars and registration is going to be open
until the day of the gala, so tickets can be
purchased anytime.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Nice. So let's talk a little bit more about human
sex trafficking. Now, I know January is National Human Trafficking
Prevention Month. What are some common misconceptions about human trafficking
that you guys need to address.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
So, you know, human trafficking is such a complex issue,
but specifically with child sex trafficking, there's a lot of myths,
a lot of misinformation sometimes on the media, and so
we're working to bring awareness to the fact that not
every child is kidnapped. A lot of times exploitation can
happen in person with someone that they know. Oftentimes traffickers
(18:12):
are not strangers. Are there people that they may already
have a relationship with, or an adult that's around that
may be close to the family. And then also it
doesn't require transportation. You know, some of the myths around
that is that it has to be something that crosses
a border or a state line.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
And you know, as I.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
Said earlier, we often see these are own community members
and can it can even happen with their kido's still
living at home. So that's why it's so important to
raise awareness and get involved in any way you can.
Of course, you can go to our website if you
need ways to volunteer or get in touch.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
And when you talk about children, like what are some
of the ways that you guys like participate with Beaumont
ISD or other schools or churches, Like, how are you
guys able to you know, reach some of these kids
and let them know there's an avenue for help.
Speaker 7 (18:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
But the really cool thing is that with our wide
service range, you know, we're serving all six counties here
in Southeast Texas, so you know, we've gone to Buna,
we have relationships with bilmon ICDPA, i SD, and so
through our educational programs that we start from middle school
onto high school, we're able to reach these kiddos and
give them tools to prevent, how to recognize possibly a trafficker,
(19:22):
how to help their friends, and so you know, we
to do all of this in an age appropriate way
to make sure that they know they have the resources
they need to protect themselves.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
I guess you guys do come across children that they're
just so scared to say anything.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
Absolutely, you know, it's it's part of that grooming process
that traffickers will you know, get them in a mental manipulation,
you know, kind of talk to them in a way
that makes them feel like they cannot get the help
they need. And so, you know, part of the process
of the healing and recovery is making sure they know
(19:57):
they can reach out any time we offer services.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Even if they leave, they can come back, so.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
We're always there for them. And when you say any time,
so you guys have a twenty four to seven crisis
response team. So what has that impact been on the community.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
So we see that, you know, people are not aware
that this is something that you know, it can happen
at any hour, any time of the day, and so
we're always wanting to be available. And so the impact
we see from that is that sometimes our advocates will
you know, maybe have to go to the hospital at
like two am to help with the recovery. And so
you know, we are able to offer more services that way,
(20:36):
you know, we're not limited to your typical you know,
eight to five timeline, and so having those twenty four
to seven services is able to offer a more wide
range to victim services. Wow, well, we appreciate you guys
being in Southeast Texas.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
How can anyone that's listening to the show today, you know,
how can they learn more about events and initiatives that
you guys have throughout the year.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Right, So on our website that again is embracingfreedombmt dot com.
There's different ways the community can get involved. They can
reach out to us to get an engagement an awareness event,
and Brittany can come out and she can speak, and
then you can also click on our resource tab to
learn more about trafficking and actually what it looks like
(21:23):
in our area. We also have our statistics that are
local of how many kids that we have served, their age,
their race. All the information is on our impact report
from twenty twenty four already. So our website is a
really great hub with all the information you need to
know about us, what we're doing, and how to get involved.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Perfect All right, Well, we just got a couple more
seconds left. One more time. The gala is January twenty
first at the Mcmlagante Hotel. How can people get.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Tickets Embracing Freedom bmt dot com. You can go purchase
your ticket. They're one hundred and fifty and they're going
to be on sale until January twenty first.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
All right, fantastic Hannah and Brittany. Thank you so much
for being on the show.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Thank you for having me us.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Thank you, all right, and we'll be right back with
the Roy West Radio Show on AM five sixty klv I.
And we are back with the Roy West Radio Show
on AM five sixty k lv I. My name is
Debbie Bridgeman. I am the guest host today and we
have heard from the United Way, we have heard from
(22:27):
Embracing Freedom and our next guest is part of the
Salvation Army, Lieutenant James Gooseman. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 8 (22:36):
Hey, thanks for having me. I always enjoy coming back
onto the show and it's just been a blessing and
it's just again it's just great to have you guys
as well.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Wonderful well. Salvation Army does so much for our community.
We are so grateful and especially you know when it's
cold out a lot of people are going to be
relying on you. So just to kind of give a
little background. I mean some people we may only know
you guys as kettle ringers. We don't know, So give
a little background of the Salvation Army.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
Yeah, So the Salvation Army of Jefferson County, we recently
changed their name to the Salvation Army of Jefferson County, Texas,
just to kind of just show that just the wide
range of area that we serve. And so we not
only just serve in Beaumont, but also Port Arthur as
well too, and then surrounding cities as well. But the
(23:28):
Salvation Army has been here in Beaumont since nineteen oh
one and it has a rich history here with the
City of Beaumont and just partnering with different organizations and
more specifically the City of Beaumont as well too. But
we do numerous things. You know, we do daily feeding
(23:48):
to the community and to our shelter residents. We also
operate as shelter through in the sixty five days a
year and so that's for men, women and family. We
also do. We also have a Red Shield Youth Club
which is uh used to be the Boys and Girls Club,
(24:09):
but it's now called the Red Shield Youth Club, and
so we serve UH youth within our after school program
and then we also have a summer day camp. We
also do social services with rental and utility assistant for
both Beaumont and Port Arthur. We we have different programs
for men and women, whether it be Bible Study or
(24:31):
UH Women's Fellowship, Men's Fellowship, and so we do a
ride range of stuff here. And but I think one
of the things that we are most known for is
that we have a shelter and our shelter operates, you know,
for those that are are experiencing homelessness and are needing
a place to you know, just rest ahead, find some
(24:53):
warmth or or even in summertime, find some some some
cool relief. And so but yeah, that's a little bit
of what we do here at the Salvation.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Army, just a little bit. And I'm assuming, I mean,
you guys will take donations anytime, but how can somebody
help you guys financially to help with all these services
that you're providing.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
Yeah, of course, So you know, we have several fundraisers
that we do throughout the year. One that's most known
to everyone is our Red Kettle campaign where we ring
the bells in front of every Walmart Kroger's store locations,
and so that's one of our biggest fundraisers. But you know,
throughout the year, you know, the need is always there
(25:36):
for donations to help with different programs, fund different things
that we do. And so people can either make a
donation in person or mail the donation to the Salvation Army.
Our address is twenty three fifty ten East Beaumont, Texas
(25:56):
seven seven seven zero three. And you know, if there's
a particular interest that you guys have, whether it be
you know that you want your donation to be specific
to our youth or be pacific to our feeding program
or whatever the case may be, you know we're able
to make that happen. But like I said, you know,
(26:19):
they can either come drop off check or cash to
the Salvation Army or they can mail it to our
mailing addressed I just mentioned earlier. But there's also opportunities
to volunteer. You know, I know not everyone has the
ability to give resources, but they have the ability to
(26:41):
give her their time, and so there's many options to
volunteer as well too.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I love that and now with the cold weather that
is here. Do you guys have just a limited number
of beds? Do you have more beds when the weather's
this cold? Like? How do you guys kind of handle
the cold weather?
Speaker 8 (27:00):
So when we handle the cold weather, uh, you know,
we are fortunate that we have great partners like some
other plays, uh, and so we have you know, kind
of talked with them to kind of put out an
ideal schedule per se, if you want to say. And
so normally we operate our shelter from from five pm
(27:20):
to uh seven am, and then after seven am we
were closed. But we've done these cold weathers and even
during the hot weathers we will we will extend that.
And so we worked with some other place where they've
extended their day center uh to I think they normally
closed it like three or three thirty. I'm not really,
I can't remember, but they've extended it to five. So
(27:44):
that way, that way when we open, they close, and
that way, you know, the homeless population will not have
you know, they won't be stuck out in the cold
for too long. And so and then we've extended our
morning hours to accommodate to to accommodate them and so
we extended it to ten AM to help the homeless
(28:07):
population again not be out in the cold. And so,
but yeah, there's many different ways to you know, volunteer
with that within that, you know, and so you know,
you can we always need help people with feeding or
with with helping with the cooking, you know. You know,
there are you know options of maybe kind of helping
(28:29):
with just you know, being a monitor per se if
you want to call it, you know, just kind of
you know, just making sure you know everything you know,
running smoothly and whatnot. And so I mean right now
we currently have h shelter monitors, shelter personnel that will
help make sure you know, everything's being facilitated correctly.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
So do you guys accept any kind of like, like
I know, the goodwill you can drop off you know,
clothing and items. Do you guys accept clothing?
Speaker 8 (28:59):
Yeah, yeah, so we can accept clothing.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (29:02):
Here at the Salvation Army main location off of I ten,
we do have a clothing closet here, you know, and
so stuff that we will bring over to the shelter
will be you know kind of like jackets and then
blankets and stuff like that, you know. And so I
(29:22):
did forget to mention one thing that you did ask earlier.
So we do expand our shelter during these times. Uh
so we do have a certain amount of beds available.
But but during these times you know, where we have
like a freeze overnight, we do take in everyone, and
so we we do have cots. But if we run
(29:45):
out of cots, you know, you know, we just you know,
we try to do the best that we can and
and then just have people sleep on the floor, you know.
So you know, so we'll have you know, we have
extra blankets on hand, extra pillows on hand, just to
make sure that you know, everyone's comfortable.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
So well, you guys definitely are a blessing for people
that want to come there. Let's say, you know, you
mentioned the homeless population. How I mean, I guess there's
city transportation that would drop them off.
Speaker 8 (30:11):
Yeah, yeah, they can either take a city transportation or
you know, you know, find a ride out there. You know,
I know that the especially late at night, we have
been blessed by Beaumont Police Department. You know, they will
help transport some of these people to our shelter, you know,
(30:32):
and you know it's you know, if you know, if
Beaumont Police Department sees you know that you are out
there by yourself, you know, freezing, and they'll last if
you want to, you know, go to the shelter and
and they'll actually assist and bring them over to the shelter.
And so but yeah, I mean we were The shelter
is located at ten ninety four McFadden Avenue, just you know,
(30:53):
just downtown and uh and so anyone that needs, you know,
kind of get out of the cold weather and well,
you know, it's a place to lay their heads and
we're available to them overnight.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Well we've just got a couple of seconds left. But
I did want to ask, do you feel that your
population of people coming to you guys for aid has
increased in the last couple of years.
Speaker 8 (31:18):
I think so, I think they have increased. But I
think I think with different partnership and collaboration with different organization,
I think we're I think we're making strides and you know,
getting these people back on their feets and you know,
and being productive members of you know, of our community.
You know, whether it be you know, helping them with
(31:40):
job search or jobs or finding them in an apartment
or you know, a house and so uh but yeah,
I mean, you know, the homeless is always going to
be there, and so I think it's important for us
to make sure that we try to you know, navigate
them out of that.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So yeah, all right, and one more time, how can
people donate?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Just real quick?
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Do you have a website? And you also your address
for mailing?
Speaker 8 (32:03):
Yeah, so our mailing address is twenty three fifty I
ten East, Beaumont, Texas seven seven seven zero three, or
you can go online at Southern USA dot Salvation Army
dot org slash Jefferson County.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
All right, James Guzman, thank you so much for being
a part of the show.
Speaker 8 (32:21):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
And thank you for the Salvation Army for everything that
you guys do as well.
Speaker 8 (32:26):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
All right, we'll be right back with the Roy West
Radio Show on AM five sixty klv I. And we're
back to the Roy West Radio Show on AM five
sixty klv I. My name is Debbie Bridgeman. I am
your guest host for mister Roy West. And now we
are talking about Dancing with the Stars and we have
(32:49):
got one of the couples competing in the event this year,
Robert Root and Sissy mckinnis, Hey, how are you guys doing.
We're doing great.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Doing really well? So just real briefly, if each one
of you can kind of say where you work and
how you got involved with Dancing with the Stars, Robert,
we'll kick it off with you.
Speaker 9 (33:11):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 10 (33:12):
So I'm an attorney here at the Girmer Law Firm
in Beaumont, and it's really not that impressive how I
got involved. The attorney on the others wall side of
the wall for me is involved in Junior League and
just ask me to participate, and I figured it sounded
kind of fun.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, what about you, Sissy.
Speaker 7 (33:29):
So I am the broker owner of Royalty Ranch in
real estate. I'm located here in Salsby, small town, just
little boottique brokerage that loves serving my community. And Regina Miller,
she is also from the Salsby area and she serves
on the Junior League. So she's actually the one who
called and kind of roped me into this. So you
(33:52):
guys are are one of the couples.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
I guess there's eight couples total, and you guys will
be competing on March seventh at the Beaumont Civic Center.
But again it's it's mostly a fundraiser for the Junior
League of Beaumont. So you guys have had a practice
session or two how's it going or one?
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Yeah, so we did.
Speaker 7 (34:14):
We had right before Christmas. We decided that we tried,
you know, we needed to try and kick some practice
moves off.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
And we did.
Speaker 7 (34:21):
We got familiar with just you know, what we were
choosing kind of the route that we were going. And
we had one practice. So but we do have some
practices coming up and scheduled for January. We know that
we've got to turn up the heat a little bit.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Okay, are you guys doing more of just like a
popular dance or a country dance or are are we are?
Speaker 7 (34:43):
We?
Speaker 1 (34:43):
Oh, it's a secret, okay, okay, well we don't want.
Speaker 7 (34:47):
To go that way then, so we have been told
to say as least as possible when it comes to
what we are going to showcase on March seventh, so
everybody will just have to come and find out.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
It's a big Oh boy, Well, I know this is
a huge fundraiser for the Junior League of Beaumont. They've
been doing this for several years, do either one of
you watch Dancing with the Stars on.
Speaker 9 (35:11):
TV embarrassed to say, I've never seen the show so ironic,
So we're finding.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Out something new here.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
I know it.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
I know.
Speaker 7 (35:24):
Well, my daughter is actually a competitive dancer. Now, she
did not get her moves from her mother. She is
one and one and individually chosen.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
To be a dancer.
Speaker 7 (35:35):
But she is very familiar with it. She actually has aspired.
She says, Mom, one day, I'm going to be on
Dancing with the Stars. So, yeah, we're very familiar with
the show in our household.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Well, I will say personally, I'm not allowed to call
my mom on Monday nights because she's watching her show.
But you know, once they win each season, they have
some of the professional dancers go out on the road
and they may have one of the celebrities that'll be there,
like as An MC. And so for Christmas last year
(36:07):
they were in Sugarland, Texas. It was like last March
or something. So that was my mom's surprise. And the
dancing is so good. Oh so I always just really
for all the couples in Southeast Texas that are competing,
my heart goes out to you because it's it's a
big it's a big deal for sure. Yeah, so it's
(36:29):
Sissy is your daughter, I'm gonna be kind of helping
you guys with choreography, or you do have a professional
choreographer that's helping we do.
Speaker 7 (36:38):
Actually, our professional choreographer is my daughter's dance teacher.
Speaker 8 (36:42):
Nice.
Speaker 7 (36:42):
So that's kind of fun, you know, So we're you know,
we're familiar with her. I'm familiar with her. Robert's just
met her. But it's kind of fun going in, you know,
with someone that you know, when you trust, and it
seems to work a little bit easier that way when
you've got a relationship built so.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Nice. So, Robert, I guess are all the attorneys there
at Germer and Gertz, are they going to be coming
out and supporting you and cheering.
Speaker 10 (37:06):
You on as many as all? It seems like every
kind of walk down the hall, I get questioned about it.
You know, they want to know what I've learned at
the dance lessons, and yeah, they're very excited.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
They probably want to see what you're going to be wearing,
because you're going to have to be sparkily.
Speaker 9 (37:23):
Well, I think a couple of them are pretty interested
in that too.
Speaker 8 (37:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Well, it's always a fun event and the Junior League
of Beaumont does so much for our community and they
have several fundraisers. They did one just recently and I
guess it was November, but it was a lang Yap
luncheon that was really cool. It was all pastels like Christmas,
but it was all pastels. It was so pretty and
they had people that came out and not only were
(37:50):
you eating something, but they had the chefs on stage
showing you how to cook the meals you were eating
if you were hosting a holiday party or something like that.
So it was a really cool, fun RaSE that they do.
And I know, like I said, I know, Dancing with
the Stars might possibly be their biggest that they do.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
I think it is.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
So now I know there's there's the competition, but they're
in there also maybe like the fan favorite competition as well.
Speaker 10 (38:16):
There is so you can, uh you know, win two ways.
One by raising the most money which it goes to
a great cause. That's a great way win, or being
the fan favorite act the actual event. So the only
people that can vote for you are the people who
actually show up.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Okay, so you guys are not only having to learn
new dance moves, but you're going to be out encouraging
people to come to the event. Yes, yeah, yes, correct, awesome, awesome,
Well I bet you guys are excited but a little nervous,
but excited.
Speaker 8 (38:49):
Both.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (38:51):
Yeah, a little bit of both.
Speaker 10 (38:52):
Trying to make sure everything is pulled off seamlessly and
it goes well.
Speaker 9 (38:55):
So there's a little bit of stakes to it.
Speaker 7 (38:57):
I think the common goal is just not to make
ourselves look foolish.
Speaker 9 (39:02):
I wasn't going to say it, but that's what I
was thinking.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Yeah, well I said it for you because I knew
what you were thinking.
Speaker 7 (39:07):
Yeah. I think that we're just like, okay, we are
not dancers, but it is for a great cause, and
so we're going to go out and just do the
best that we can to be prepared as possible and uh,
just you know, just go out there and kill.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
It and have fun, have fun.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Yeah, that's what it's all about. Well, we've got we're
about to wrap up, but can Robert, You've got the
website pulled up. How can people get tickets to support
this event?
Speaker 10 (39:32):
Yeah, so you can go to the Junior League of
Beaumont's website. And there's a drop down list fundraisers and
you'll see dancing with the Stars there. You can buy
tickets or pay for a sponsorship there, and we encourage
people to give us give them our name when you
do it, so that we can win this competition.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
All right. So Robert Root and Sissy McKennis. What what
couple number are you?
Speaker 9 (39:57):
We are a couple number one.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Oh well, there you go, number one. You need to remember,
all right. And the big event is coming up Friday,
March seventh at the Beaumont Civic Center. You know, a
great fundraiser for the Junior League of Beaumont, but also
a lot of fun and I bet you guys are
going to have a blast.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
We look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
We do wonderful. Well, thanks for being a part of
the show. We appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
You guys have a great day, all right, and we'll
be right back at the Roy West Radio Show right
here on klv I AM five sixty. Welcome back to
the Roy West Radio Show right here on klv I
AM five sixty. That's a wrap, folks, we had a
great show. My name is Debbie Bridgeman. I am filling
in for Roy West. We kicked off the show with
(40:45):
Travis Walker with the United Way of Beaumont in North
Jefferson County. He was talking about all that they're doing
for this area and the Ladies in Red fundraising campaign.
You can go to UWBMT dot org and make a
donation to your favorite lady.
Speaker 8 (41:01):
I'm one of them.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
It's going to be a great event and we're hoping
to raise a lot of money for the United Way
of Beaumont in North Jefferson County. We also talked to
Brittany and Hannah. Did you know the January is National
Human Trafficking Prevention Month? While they're out there with this
new organization was Harvest House. It is now Embracing Freedom
and they're helping children in Southeast Texas and spreading awareness.
(41:25):
Their big event and gala fundraiser is on the way
January twenty first at the mcm Elegonte Hotel. You can
get tickets at embracingfreedombmt dot com. We also talked to
Lieutenant James Gooseman. He's with the Salvation Army. It's cold
outside and thank goodness for the Salvation Army helping those
that are less fortunate in our area, and we just
(41:46):
talked with Sissy McKennis and Robert Root. Dancing with the
Stars coming up on March seventh at the Civic Center,
big fundraiser for the Junior League of Beaumont. You can
see there's tons of ways to help out all these
great organizations right here in Southeast Texas. So give where
you live and keep supporting all of our local nonprofit agencies.
(42:07):
Thank you again to mister West for having me sit
in for him, and I will see you next time.
It's the Roy West Radio Show right here on AM
five sixty klv. I have a great weekend.
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