November 15, 2023 • 24 mins
4DWN Skate park, art, music, and food redistribution to those in need. Check out how professiional skaters are providing a safe space for kids to skate and fostering sustainable health and wellness thorugh zero waste food cultivation and redistribution.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Welcome to Advocacy in Motion. I'myour host, Tommy Finn, and we're
here every week to give a visionand a voice to nonprofit organizations and individuals
making a difference in our communities.And before I introduce my guest today,
I want to say thank you toour presenting sponsor, Niagara Conservation. Niagara
has allowed us to visit with somany nonprofit organizations and we know they will
(00:30):
continue to do so in the future. We want to tell you about their
new products, their cost saving,money saving, water saving products, and
here's my partner, Trishia Milwaukee,the publisher of Youth Sports to Day,
to tell you all about them.Thanks Tommy, and thanks Niagara for your
continuing support of nonprofit organizations. Ifyou want to get the ultimate experience in
(00:51):
cleaningness and comfort without breaking the bankand transform your bathrooms, Niagara from toilets
to bedets, Niagara has the perfectsolution for any bathroom project. Niagra's award
winning products not only outperformed competitors,but they also out design them. Thanks
to innovations like stealth technology, Niagrasproducts can use half as much water as
the competitors, providing you with asolution that will help the environment and save
(01:15):
you money. Shop now on Amazonor home depot dot com. My guest
today is Theresa Taminia. That right. She is the director of outreach and
Programming for a very unique organization.I really really love this group, Four
Down. It's a service driven communitywith unique multifacet facilities and programs. You
(01:40):
combine skate, skate park, art, music, and food into one great
community service. Tell us about fourDown. Oh absolutely. First of all,
thank you, thank you so much. So four Down, Yeah,
very exciting. It is fifty thousandsquare feet of skate park. It's indoor
(02:00):
and outdoor, it's recreational, freeto the public. So we have the
only fifteen foot vert ramp in Dallas, and that's pretty unique in itself because
Mike Crumb built that from the groundup. So he is a professional skater,
(02:20):
just skated with Tony Hawk recently lastJune and then again just even more
recent than that. And he andRob Cahill, who is also a professional
skater, different kind of skating.He does what it's known as street skating,
and Mike is vert ramp skating.So Mike flies in the air and
Rob flies closer to the ground.But both of those two The gentlemen came
(02:45):
together about eight years ago and openedup the skate park with the idea that
they were going to serve the skatecommunity and have them come in and just
saw that there was a greater needand looked outward and thought what could they
do as skater to accomplish, youknow, a bigger impact on things.
(03:05):
That led to some environmental social justicethings that happened. Of course, we
all learned and did a lot throughthe pandemic, and that brought us to
where we are today, which isyou know, Teresa knocking on the gates
one day and saying, Hey,what's what's this all about? So starting
from a skate park and I knowthere's more there than just a skate park.
(03:28):
I know it's a safe place afterschool, other record activities, some
things you do there. Tell usabout that before we talked a little bit
more about the rest of the product. Sure, So the safe spot,
Yeah, so skate culture has comea long way and there's been some significant
changes recently, meaning there are womenin you know, skateboards, and the
safe space came from the idea ofmaking sure that we're all about good,
(03:52):
healthy choices and choices are one ofour biggest you know, that's a big
component with us. We want youto choose to do the things that you
want to do. We don't wantto tell anybody what to do. We
just you know, we wanna giveyou the the choices. But when you're
at four down, it is ahealthy place. So our partners such as
Phoenix and and you know, WholeFoods and people like that are because you
(04:15):
know, we choose to do thingsin a safe no weapons environment, no
smoking, you know, there's nodrugs and alcohol. All of it is
the space that you can come andyou know, we're in a food desert.
We're in a recreational desert. We'rein a desert where we are right
at the seven five two two six. We're in downtown Dallas, So getting
(04:38):
to us, you're gonna pass by. It's not gonna be pretty when you're
passing to get through our gates.But once you come through those gates,
you know, yeah, you're gonnayou know, we have Byron's fridge where
you can it's right on the stageand you can anyone can go into that
fridge with no questions asked, andthere are healthy snacks and food and some
sweet treats and there too. Allright, now you've combine that with art,
(05:02):
music and food. How did thatcome about? I, you know,
next to food rescue. This ismy second favorite part to talk about.
I get excited about that part.So it started out because the cold
storage itself, which is my domain, that's where I come into as director
(05:23):
of outreaching Engagement. I get togo out and tell people about the cold
storage. But on the cold storage, the Eagle Scouts actually came in and
it's a forty foot container and it'sten by forty so there's ten feet of
chalkboarding space to enter into the coldstorage. That has served as this beautiful
(05:44):
welcoming mural, you know. Andso we've had these great artists, whether
they be unrepresented or just up andcoming, you know, artists that come.
For example, the last artist wehad was Dora brought Plenty. She's
from the Indian tribe. She's oneof the she's a one hundred and ninety
ninth survivor of the boarding school childrenof the Indian nation. And she this
(06:09):
beautiful mural that she put up.And again they do this all in chalk.
And so that's an example. Wehave an entire art room that's dedicated
to installations and anyone who wants todo an exhibit. But it's a huge
part of what we do. That'samazing. I know there was a documentary
done recently. Can you tell usabout that? That's pretty heartwarming from what
(06:31):
I've seen. So, yeah,the documentary definitely close to my heart because
there was so much going on whilethat documentary was being made, and you
know, it's one of those thingskind of like kind of like high school
or like your children. You youknow, you look back on it and
you think, oh, my goodness, you know, remember us then,
(06:53):
you know, and so it's verynostalgic for me, and you know,
but the documentary is focused on RobKill and his journey and how the skateboard
kind of came to be where heand Rob both Mike both hailed from.
And then it lets you know,it kind of gives you this introduction to
(07:14):
Zion is part of the Tatiana's project, and his auntie was killed while he
was there, and it was ona no knock warrant where she thought,
let me look outside my window andsee what's going on, and it was
the police and she was shot.So Zion is a big part of that
because that's he's been part of ourthe four Down family for a long long
(07:35):
time. But of course, withall of this swirling around this young boy
he's twelve now, he just youknow, this became kind of his foundation
and home. And so that isa big part of what you see skate
culture intersecting into that social impact partand what it is that they do on
(07:57):
that, and it is the beginningof the food rescue story and how it
came to be. So well,you mentioned the food rescue story and food
distribution, which is your tell ushow that works. Yeah, so food
(08:18):
rescue. Okay, so food rescueworks that you So Sunday morning, you
would come in nine o'clock and amwe start, We set up the food
happened. The rescue part happens allweek. So in other words, in
my car right now, there aretwo hundred and fifteen cases of to go
(08:41):
salads and you know, and weget this amazing food. So it started
out with the thought that I didn'twant those two hundred and fifteen cases to
go to the landfill. I don'twant those to go to the garbage because
there's nothing wrong with them. They'rebeautiful. They're absolutely beautiful. And we
put that together. We said,all right, give me one store at
(09:03):
Whole Foods, and now we havesix, and we said give me one
farmer. Whether you have one tomatoor if you have a ton, you
know, literally bring it to us. Because that forty foot cold storage is
how we're able to maintain that andkeep this program going, is the fact
that we have the food come inthrough the cold storage and there we can
(09:24):
store it. And that's a hugethat's an issue for all of agriculture right
now. One is finding those whowant to do the work of agriculture,
of farming and become farmers, andthe next one is the storing process.
So we're able to do that andthen on Sunday, everyone knows that that
food will go out into the community. So it used to be called Sunday
(09:46):
Service and it was me and I'mpretty sure I kidnapped one of my other
girlfriends, told her I was goingto brunch. We did not go to
brunch, and we started to dothis work. Now it's grown and we
do it Sundays, Monday Tuesday,and both Sunday and Wednesday we have distributions
(10:07):
and that goes out. We're upto about three hundred and plus families every
week. We have over sixty differentorganizations that we collaborate with that we either
deliver to or get food from.And yeah, it's becoming full circle and
it's growing to the fact to thepoint where we're ready to see if we
(10:28):
can make this's We already know thatwe want it to be duplicated. So
this is going to be something.We're already doing it in Fort Worth and
we want to save we can doit in Denton, and we want to
say we can do it to Richardson. So this is all fresh food,
Oh my goodness. So it isall fresh food in the sense that nothing
is past prime, is what wecall it. So, yes, we
(10:50):
get the fresh produce we get straightfrom the farmers, we get whatever over
it that they have, and thenwe also get fresh food from the whole
food community. But we have what'scalled a to go food section and those
are those prepackaged like but it willbe I mean, it will be keema,
you know, it'll be Spinachquiesha's,it'll be fresh parmesan, it'll be
(11:11):
marinated olives. So it's this foodthat the community that we're serving it to,
don't ever get exposed to much lessor able to go and buy.
They don't have these stores. We'reliterally in a food desert, meaning that
there are no grocery stores within accessiblerange of them getting to and then being
able to purchase this type of food. So I'm able to expose them to
(11:33):
this healthy food that gets them askingquestions of how do I cook it,
what do I do with it?And then we go from there, just
me being able to be invited toyour dinner table so that I can see
what other resources are needed and thendirect you towards that. That's an honor
for me. We'll come back tothis many times. But tell us how
people can get in touch with you, how they can help, how they
(11:56):
can become part of the program.Absolutely, four down and it's the number
four, and then DWN dot org. Four down dot org is the website
and you can go on there tovolunteer. Those messages come directly to Mike,
directly to me, directly to Robso we do see those and that
(12:18):
is definitely a way to come.You can always show up on Sundays at
four Down Downtown On twenty six thirtythree, Farris Street. But you can
show up on Sundays at nine o'clockand we're quick and you know, jump
right in, jump right in.We go all the way till noon.
There's always skating weather permitting, there'syou know, anytime I tell you,
(12:39):
everybody says, well they'll be skating. There's always if the doors are open,
we can skate. So yeah,well you've got a lot going on.
To tell us a little bit aboutyour structure and your staff and volunteers.
How do all this come together?How does this work? Okay?
So the newer part of this wasthat it was always built so that it
(13:01):
could be a workforce solution. Itwas always built that there would be jobs
created out of this. And sofor the food rescue, how it works
is we there's myself and then Ihave four captains underneath me. They each
take a component of this. Sothere's transportation, that's how the food gets
to four down and then how it'sdistributed out to the families, and that
(13:26):
is a whole section in itself.Very proud of that. We now work
with you know, Phoenix Mobility,and we have an app so that you
can just go right onto the appas a volunteer. Choose your roots.
It's smart rooted out and so youknow, that took some doing and that
was quite a thing for us tobe able to do, but we did
(13:46):
it and it was great. Andthen so that I'm very proud of we.
You know, so we do deliver, but it's just too very specific.
There's a criteria for that. Otherwise, as a family, if you
need us as a family, ifyou need us, come on Sundays at
ten thirty and line up and noquestions asked. We just ask how many
(14:09):
are in your family, and weput it in your truck. Yeah,
so much so. The captains underneathhave that. We have administration who takes
care of all of the back endwork of making sure that we control data
and things like that. And thenour volunteer coordinator and communications officer who goes
out and talks to the organizations thatwe either receive from or give out too.
(14:31):
And then all of that cool.You know, all of those captains
underneath them have interns. And thenagain these are all things that I used
to do by myself, but thankfullynow I've gotten these can they are amazing,
They are amazing. And then everyfirst Sunday of the month, we
do a larger celebration, and sothat's my favorite part. So I'm very
(14:52):
hands on about the first celebration.First Sunday. Okay, very good.
Let me take another break here andone of our other sponsors and we'll come
back and we'll talk about more waste. People can help and get involved in
some things you're doing going forward.But I want to thank Piranha Haven Energy
Wellness and Gifts for the Soul.This is a wonderful spiritual gift shop in
downtown Richardson, and this holiday seasonis mightbe a good place to stop in
(15:18):
and look for those gifts that reallywill be remembered. Parana Haven, you'll
find a collected collection of local andimported items from free trade villages. You'll
find jewelry, art from local artists, and a wide assortment of crystals,
incense, and sage. So it'sa great gift shop and you can also
give yourself the gift of wellness.Energy wellness improves stress and anxiety, reduces
(15:43):
physical pain, and improves the qualityof sleep. So check out Piranha Haven
pr na haven dot com to bookyour energy healing sessions and see all the
wonderful gift items. So Thank youPana Haven for all your support. All
Right, now, tell us someof the challenges you guys have faced in
(16:04):
getting to where you are now.I know it's been a growth period.
It has been a growth Oh mygoodness, has it been a growth We
We are growing like crazy and uh, you know, anytime that happens,
that's a challenge, right, Imean ye. So we have uh a
(16:25):
a hybrid format right now where wehave for profits are on So we have
Dive Costal, which is a restaurant. We have turn Compost, we have
the skate Point shop as Point SkateShop, and and all of these things
are swirling around this nonprofit part,this social impact part, and so it
(16:47):
is a challenge. It's a challengeto be able to protect that part.
It's it's a it's a you know, if you look at it as a
good thing, if you look atit as that kind of challenge where you
wake up and you go, okay, I'm ready for this. I want
to do this. It's not easy. It's a muscle that needs to be
exercise. I'm sore, I'm overit, but you know, you still
(17:08):
want to get in and do thatevery day. But it is a challenge,
you know. I mean, youknow, it's it's that thing where
you have this benefit around you andyou want to take hold of it,
meaning that I have these for profitsthat are swimming around and you want to
be able to say, hey,I want to knock on the door and
(17:29):
say, you know, can Iborrow a cup of sugar? You know
what I mean. But as anonprofit, you are the only one that
you know, you don't bring inrevenue that way. So you have to
always be conscious of the fact thatyou can't keep going to your neighbors and
asking them for a cup of sugar, because after a while, you got
to learn how to buy your own. And we've done that from the beginning.
We've been self sufficient and we youknow four Downs has been self sufficient
(17:52):
about these things. But you dohave to be very creative about that,
and you have to be you know, consistent, and and you have these
captains, you have the structure,and you have all these things that you
want to keep accomplishing. But thenyou realize that when someone says, hey,
come and volunteer on a Sunday,that's one thing. But if someone
also you know again comes to youand they're calling you every day and saying,
(18:15):
hey, do you have something thenthat's a job, you know,
that's a job that's not so thechallenges are things that we are welcoming and
we're ready for. But as we'relearning and growing, we do see that
this is this is real life now, it's you know, and it's that
thing of careful what you ask for. This is what I said in the
(18:36):
beginning when I came in to forDown, was that I wanted it to
be sustainable. I wanted it tobe something that was on the level of
not just being taken seriously, butcreated the kind of impact that meant something.
And in order to do that,you do have to accept the challenge,
you know, accept the challenge ofgrowing from just an event that's really
(18:59):
cool and looking sexy on the outsideto you know, this is where the
work comes in. And you mentionednonprofit. Now, every nonprofit has to
find a way to balance between themission and raising funds and just has to
work that way. How do youfind that balance and how can people help
in helping you raise funds and gettingyou what you need going forward. One
(19:25):
of my favorite questions and least favoritequestions I know, but it's necessity it
absolutely is, and I have youknow, I have proudly with the same
pride that I would have in tellingyou that we feed three hundred families a
week. That's the same pride thatI lay out that we need help in
(19:47):
being able to do that. Noone wants to see me do that by
myself, you know, and Iwouldn't want to see any one person do
that by themselves. Every single personout there who helps, either because they
show up on Sunday or because theygive a dollar, you know. So
it's it's for the bags that wegive. The bags equal for a family
(20:10):
of two, those bags are aboutyou know, two hundred and fifty dollars
they come to for that whole thingfor but we charge. What we would
ask is that if you donated fivedollars, you knew that you were feeding
that family of two for that okay, again the quality of food, you
know, but giving that money orgiving that time, if you want to
come down and volunteer, I havevolunteer opportunities you can, you know,
(20:34):
whether it's back house, you know, back of the house things as far
as administration or direct impact and helpingto bag up that food. But if
it's just the fact that you don'thave time to do that, and you
can write a check. Thank you, please do that. Go to the
four down dot org site and makesure you put in there this is for
(20:55):
food rescue and you know give absolutelyyou mentioned fort Worth, Knitton whatever those
are your goals? What are whatis the future for down? Where would
you like to see it go?How far? So we have this growth,
as I said, and the communitycorner of four Down, because it
(21:17):
does have all this spectacular shiny objectswe've got, you know, we've got
skater boys flying in the air.All is great, right, So the
community Corner, I would love tosee that be completely developed and finished.
I would love to see that thecold storage, which you know is struggling
right now needs an upgrade, isjust it's funded, and that the all
(21:42):
of the programming that runs through therehas enough volunteers and resources that it just
happens. We have students from fourto eleven, and then students in the
middle school and students in high schoolthat come and learn about these things.
We help everybody from domestic violence victims, you know. So I would love
(22:03):
to see that in two years weare sitting here talking with you and I'm
telling you about our victories and ourcelebration of our you know, families that
have graduated from those who came therebecause they needed help, all the way
to you know now they're business ownersand they're part of our for profit,
nonprofit hybrid program. Well, that'sexactly what we want to We want to
(22:26):
see you grow and see if wecan help in some way. We've had
a lot of questions. You cantell me what I've missed. This is
your story. Tell me what youwant our audience to know that we might
not have talked about that you reallyfeel it's important for them to know.
Okay. I think one of theimportant things is that diversity that we talk
about. It is there when wesay all are welcome, that is a
(22:49):
truth we've had you know, theDallas Police Department we have a no weapons
rule, but we do have youknow, the Dallas Police format all the
way to you know, social justicepeople on mini levels, Tatiana's Project being
one of them, who are arean intricate part of like what we do.
(23:10):
So when we say that it's asafe space, we're not just talking
about you know, guns and violence. We're talking about coming. So many
people call for down a healing spaceand I know that for me personally.
You know, I lost my sonon November fifth, and I can tell
you that you know, I gothere in twenty eighteen he you know,
(23:33):
a year after he passed, andI, without trying, have not been
alone on November fifth because every timewe have this amazing event, you know,
we have something and all I haveto do is just show up.
All I have to do is justbe. So I want people to know
that about four down that is thatis terrific. And we shortly hope that
(23:56):
people will listen and help and showup on Sunday and involved and help you
fulfill those goals. Yeah, thankyou. I want to thank you so
much for being here. And Iwant to thank our sponsors Piranha Haven Energy
Wellness and Gifts for the souls ofthis holiday season, keep them in mind.
And to Niagara Conservation for all thehelp they do with affordable housing.
(24:18):
They provide cost saving plumbing products tothe volunteers of America Oaks Project in the
Oakcliffe District, saving them a lotof money on water cost. So thank
you to Niagara and to Parana Haven, and thank you again for joining us
and letting us tell your story.Yeah, absolutely, thank you so much.
All right, thank you
Welcome to Advocacy in Motion. I'myour host, Tommy Finn, and we're
here every week to give a visionand a voice to nonprofit organizations and individuals
making a difference in our communities.And before I introduce my guest today,
I want to say thank you toour presenting sponsor, Niagara Conservation. Niagara
has allowed us to visit with somany nonprofit organizations and we know they will
(00:30):
continue to do so in the future. We want to tell you about their
new products, their cost saving,money saving, water saving products, and
here's my partner, Trishia Milwaukee,the publisher of Youth Sports to Day,
to tell you all about them.Thanks Tommy, and thanks Niagara for your
continuing support of nonprofit organizations. Ifyou want to get the ultimate experience in
(00:51):
cleaningness and comfort without breaking the bankand transform your bathrooms, Niagara from toilets
to bedets, Niagara has the perfectsolution for any bathroom project. Niagra's award
winning products not only outperformed competitors,but they also out design them. Thanks
to innovations like stealth technology, Niagrasproducts can use half as much water as
the competitors, providing you with asolution that will help the environment and save
(01:15):
you money. Shop now on Amazonor home depot dot com. My guest
today is Theresa Taminia. That right. She is the director of outreach and
Programming for a very unique organization.I really really love this group, Four
Down. It's a service driven communitywith unique multifacet facilities and programs. You
(01:40):
combine skate, skate park, art, music, and food into one great
community service. Tell us about fourDown. Oh absolutely. First of all,
thank you, thank you so much. So four Down, Yeah,
very exciting. It is fifty thousandsquare feet of skate park. It's indoor
(02:00):
and outdoor, it's recreational, freeto the public. So we have the
only fifteen foot vert ramp in Dallas, and that's pretty unique in itself because
Mike Crumb built that from the groundup. So he is a professional skater,
(02:20):
just skated with Tony Hawk recently lastJune and then again just even more
recent than that. And he andRob Cahill, who is also a professional
skater, different kind of skating.He does what it's known as street skating,
and Mike is vert ramp skating.So Mike flies in the air and
Rob flies closer to the ground.But both of those two The gentlemen came
(02:45):
together about eight years ago and openedup the skate park with the idea that
they were going to serve the skatecommunity and have them come in and just
saw that there was a greater needand looked outward and thought what could they
do as skater to accomplish, youknow, a bigger impact on things.
(03:05):
That led to some environmental social justicethings that happened. Of course, we
all learned and did a lot throughthe pandemic, and that brought us to
where we are today, which isyou know, Teresa knocking on the gates
one day and saying, Hey,what's what's this all about? So starting
from a skate park and I knowthere's more there than just a skate park.
(03:28):
I know it's a safe place afterschool, other record activities, some
things you do there. Tell usabout that before we talked a little bit
more about the rest of the product. Sure, So the safe spot,
Yeah, so skate culture has comea long way and there's been some significant
changes recently, meaning there are womenin you know, skateboards, and the
safe space came from the idea ofmaking sure that we're all about good,
(03:52):
healthy choices and choices are one ofour biggest you know, that's a big
component with us. We want youto choose to do the things that you
want to do. We don't wantto tell anybody what to do. We
just you know, we wanna giveyou the the choices. But when you're
at four down, it is ahealthy place. So our partners such as
Phoenix and and you know, WholeFoods and people like that are because you
(04:15):
know, we choose to do thingsin a safe no weapons environment, no
smoking, you know, there's nodrugs and alcohol. All of it is
the space that you can come andyou know, we're in a food desert.
We're in a recreational desert. We'rein a desert where we are right
at the seven five two two six. We're in downtown Dallas, So getting
(04:38):
to us, you're gonna pass by. It's not gonna be pretty when you're
passing to get through our gates.But once you come through those gates,
you know, yeah, you're gonnayou know, we have Byron's fridge where
you can it's right on the stageand you can anyone can go into that
fridge with no questions asked, andthere are healthy snacks and food and some
sweet treats and there too. Allright, now you've combine that with art,
(05:02):
music and food. How did thatcome about? I, you know,
next to food rescue. This ismy second favorite part to talk about.
I get excited about that part.So it started out because the cold
storage itself, which is my domain, that's where I come into as director
(05:23):
of outreaching Engagement. I get togo out and tell people about the cold
storage. But on the cold storage, the Eagle Scouts actually came in and
it's a forty foot container and it'sten by forty so there's ten feet of
chalkboarding space to enter into the coldstorage. That has served as this beautiful
(05:44):
welcoming mural, you know. Andso we've had these great artists, whether
they be unrepresented or just up andcoming, you know, artists that come.
For example, the last artist wehad was Dora brought Plenty. She's
from the Indian tribe. She's oneof the she's a one hundred and ninety
ninth survivor of the boarding school childrenof the Indian nation. And she this
(06:09):
beautiful mural that she put up.And again they do this all in chalk.
And so that's an example. Wehave an entire art room that's dedicated
to installations and anyone who wants todo an exhibit. But it's a huge
part of what we do. That'samazing. I know there was a documentary
done recently. Can you tell usabout that? That's pretty heartwarming from what
(06:31):
I've seen. So, yeah,the documentary definitely close to my heart because
there was so much going on whilethat documentary was being made, and you
know, it's one of those thingskind of like kind of like high school
or like your children. You youknow, you look back on it and
you think, oh, my goodness, you know, remember us then,
(06:53):
you know, and so it's verynostalgic for me, and you know,
but the documentary is focused on RobKill and his journey and how the skateboard
kind of came to be where heand Rob both Mike both hailed from.
And then it lets you know,it kind of gives you this introduction to
(07:14):
Zion is part of the Tatiana's project, and his auntie was killed while he
was there, and it was ona no knock warrant where she thought,
let me look outside my window andsee what's going on, and it was
the police and she was shot.So Zion is a big part of that
because that's he's been part of ourthe four Down family for a long long
(07:35):
time. But of course, withall of this swirling around this young boy
he's twelve now, he just youknow, this became kind of his foundation
and home. And so that isa big part of what you see skate
culture intersecting into that social impact partand what it is that they do on
(07:57):
that, and it is the beginningof the food rescue story and how it
came to be. So well,you mentioned the food rescue story and food
distribution, which is your tell ushow that works. Yeah, so food
(08:18):
rescue. Okay, so food rescueworks that you So Sunday morning, you
would come in nine o'clock and amwe start, We set up the food
happened. The rescue part happens allweek. So in other words, in
my car right now, there aretwo hundred and fifteen cases of to go
(08:41):
salads and you know, and weget this amazing food. So it started
out with the thought that I didn'twant those two hundred and fifteen cases to
go to the landfill. I don'twant those to go to the garbage because
there's nothing wrong with them. They'rebeautiful. They're absolutely beautiful. And we
put that together. We said,all right, give me one store at
(09:03):
Whole Foods, and now we havesix, and we said give me one
farmer. Whether you have one tomatoor if you have a ton, you
know, literally bring it to us. Because that forty foot cold storage is
how we're able to maintain that andkeep this program going, is the fact
that we have the food come inthrough the cold storage and there we can
(09:24):
store it. And that's a hugethat's an issue for all of agriculture right
now. One is finding those whowant to do the work of agriculture,
of farming and become farmers, andthe next one is the storing process.
So we're able to do that andthen on Sunday, everyone knows that that
food will go out into the community. So it used to be called Sunday
(09:46):
Service and it was me and I'mpretty sure I kidnapped one of my other
girlfriends, told her I was goingto brunch. We did not go to
brunch, and we started to dothis work. Now it's grown and we
do it Sundays, Monday Tuesday,and both Sunday and Wednesday we have distributions
(10:07):
and that goes out. We're upto about three hundred and plus families every
week. We have over sixty differentorganizations that we collaborate with that we either
deliver to or get food from.And yeah, it's becoming full circle and
it's growing to the fact to thepoint where we're ready to see if we
(10:28):
can make this's We already know thatwe want it to be duplicated. So
this is going to be something.We're already doing it in Fort Worth and
we want to save we can doit in Denton, and we want to
say we can do it to Richardson. So this is all fresh food,
Oh my goodness. So it isall fresh food in the sense that nothing
is past prime, is what wecall it. So, yes, we
(10:50):
get the fresh produce we get straightfrom the farmers, we get whatever over
it that they have, and thenwe also get fresh food from the whole
food community. But we have what'scalled a to go food section and those
are those prepackaged like but it willbe I mean, it will be keema,
you know, it'll be Spinachquiesha's,it'll be fresh parmesan, it'll be
(11:11):
marinated olives. So it's this foodthat the community that we're serving it to,
don't ever get exposed to much lessor able to go and buy.
They don't have these stores. We'reliterally in a food desert, meaning that
there are no grocery stores within accessiblerange of them getting to and then being
able to purchase this type of food. So I'm able to expose them to
(11:33):
this healthy food that gets them askingquestions of how do I cook it,
what do I do with it?And then we go from there, just
me being able to be invited toyour dinner table so that I can see
what other resources are needed and thendirect you towards that. That's an honor
for me. We'll come back tothis many times. But tell us how
people can get in touch with you, how they can help, how they
(11:56):
can become part of the program.Absolutely, four down and it's the number
four, and then DWN dot org. Four down dot org is the website
and you can go on there tovolunteer. Those messages come directly to Mike,
directly to me, directly to Robso we do see those and that
(12:18):
is definitely a way to come.You can always show up on Sundays at
four Down Downtown On twenty six thirtythree, Farris Street. But you can
show up on Sundays at nine o'clockand we're quick and you know, jump
right in, jump right in.We go all the way till noon.
There's always skating weather permitting, there'syou know, anytime I tell you,
(12:39):
everybody says, well they'll be skating. There's always if the doors are open,
we can skate. So yeah,well you've got a lot going on.
To tell us a little bit aboutyour structure and your staff and volunteers.
How do all this come together?How does this work? Okay?
So the newer part of this wasthat it was always built so that it
(13:01):
could be a workforce solution. Itwas always built that there would be jobs
created out of this. And sofor the food rescue, how it works
is we there's myself and then Ihave four captains underneath me. They each
take a component of this. Sothere's transportation, that's how the food gets
to four down and then how it'sdistributed out to the families, and that
(13:26):
is a whole section in itself.Very proud of that. We now work
with you know, Phoenix Mobility,and we have an app so that you
can just go right onto the appas a volunteer. Choose your roots.
It's smart rooted out and so youknow, that took some doing and that
was quite a thing for us tobe able to do, but we did
(13:46):
it and it was great. Andthen so that I'm very proud of we.
You know, so we do deliver, but it's just too very specific.
There's a criteria for that. Otherwise, as a family, if you
need us as a family, ifyou need us, come on Sundays at
ten thirty and line up and noquestions asked. We just ask how many
(14:09):
are in your family, and weput it in your truck. Yeah,
so much so. The captains underneathhave that. We have administration who takes
care of all of the back endwork of making sure that we control data
and things like that. And thenour volunteer coordinator and communications officer who goes
out and talks to the organizations thatwe either receive from or give out too.
(14:31):
And then all of that cool.You know, all of those captains
underneath them have interns. And thenagain these are all things that I used
to do by myself, but thankfullynow I've gotten these can they are amazing,
They are amazing. And then everyfirst Sunday of the month, we
do a larger celebration, and sothat's my favorite part. So I'm very
(14:52):
hands on about the first celebration.First Sunday. Okay, very good.
Let me take another break here andone of our other sponsors and we'll come
back and we'll talk about more waste. People can help and get involved in
some things you're doing going forward.But I want to thank Piranha Haven Energy
Wellness and Gifts for the Soul.This is a wonderful spiritual gift shop in
downtown Richardson, and this holiday seasonis mightbe a good place to stop in
(15:18):
and look for those gifts that reallywill be remembered. Parana Haven, you'll
find a collected collection of local andimported items from free trade villages. You'll
find jewelry, art from local artists, and a wide assortment of crystals,
incense, and sage. So it'sa great gift shop and you can also
give yourself the gift of wellness.Energy wellness improves stress and anxiety, reduces
(15:43):
physical pain, and improves the qualityof sleep. So check out Piranha Haven
pr na haven dot com to bookyour energy healing sessions and see all the
wonderful gift items. So Thank youPana Haven for all your support. All
Right, now, tell us someof the challenges you guys have faced in
(16:04):
getting to where you are now.I know it's been a growth period.
It has been a growth Oh mygoodness, has it been a growth We
We are growing like crazy and uh, you know, anytime that happens,
that's a challenge, right, Imean ye. So we have uh a
(16:25):
a hybrid format right now where wehave for profits are on So we have
Dive Costal, which is a restaurant. We have turn Compost, we have
the skate Point shop as Point SkateShop, and and all of these things
are swirling around this nonprofit part,this social impact part, and so it
(16:47):
is a challenge. It's a challengeto be able to protect that part.
It's it's a it's a you know, if you look at it as a
good thing, if you look atit as that kind of challenge where you
wake up and you go, okay, I'm ready for this. I want
to do this. It's not easy. It's a muscle that needs to be
exercise. I'm sore, I'm overit, but you know, you still
(17:08):
want to get in and do thatevery day. But it is a challenge,
you know. I mean, youknow, it's it's that thing where
you have this benefit around you andyou want to take hold of it,
meaning that I have these for profitsthat are swimming around and you want to
be able to say, hey,I want to knock on the door and
(17:29):
say, you know, can Iborrow a cup of sugar? You know
what I mean. But as anonprofit, you are the only one that
you know, you don't bring inrevenue that way. So you have to
always be conscious of the fact thatyou can't keep going to your neighbors and
asking them for a cup of sugar, because after a while, you got
to learn how to buy your own. And we've done that from the beginning.
We've been self sufficient and we youknow four Downs has been self sufficient
(17:52):
about these things. But you dohave to be very creative about that,
and you have to be you know, consistent, and and you have these
captains, you have the structure,and you have all these things that you
want to keep accomplishing. But thenyou realize that when someone says, hey,
come and volunteer on a Sunday,that's one thing. But if someone
also you know again comes to youand they're calling you every day and saying,
(18:15):
hey, do you have something thenthat's a job, you know,
that's a job that's not so thechallenges are things that we are welcoming and
we're ready for. But as we'relearning and growing, we do see that
this is this is real life now, it's you know, and it's that
thing of careful what you ask for. This is what I said in the
(18:36):
beginning when I came in to forDown, was that I wanted it to
be sustainable. I wanted it tobe something that was on the level of
not just being taken seriously, butcreated the kind of impact that meant something.
And in order to do that,you do have to accept the challenge,
you know, accept the challenge ofgrowing from just an event that's really
(18:59):
cool and looking sexy on the outsideto you know, this is where the
work comes in. And you mentionednonprofit. Now, every nonprofit has to
find a way to balance between themission and raising funds and just has to
work that way. How do youfind that balance and how can people help
in helping you raise funds and gettingyou what you need going forward. One
(19:25):
of my favorite questions and least favoritequestions I know, but it's necessity it
absolutely is, and I have youknow, I have proudly with the same
pride that I would have in tellingyou that we feed three hundred families a
week. That's the same pride thatI lay out that we need help in
(19:47):
being able to do that. Noone wants to see me do that by
myself, you know, and Iwouldn't want to see any one person do
that by themselves. Every single personout there who helps, either because they
show up on Sunday or because theygive a dollar, you know. So
it's it's for the bags that wegive. The bags equal for a family
(20:10):
of two, those bags are aboutyou know, two hundred and fifty dollars
they come to for that whole thingfor but we charge. What we would
ask is that if you donated fivedollars, you knew that you were feeding
that family of two for that okay, again the quality of food, you
know, but giving that money orgiving that time, if you want to
come down and volunteer, I havevolunteer opportunities you can, you know,
(20:34):
whether it's back house, you know, back of the house things as far
as administration or direct impact and helpingto bag up that food. But if
it's just the fact that you don'thave time to do that, and you
can write a check. Thank you, please do that. Go to the
four down dot org site and makesure you put in there this is for
(20:55):
food rescue and you know give absolutelyyou mentioned fort Worth, Knitton whatever those
are your goals? What are whatis the future for down? Where would
you like to see it go?How far? So we have this growth,
as I said, and the communitycorner of four Down, because it
(21:17):
does have all this spectacular shiny objectswe've got, you know, we've got
skater boys flying in the air.All is great, right, So the
community Corner, I would love tosee that be completely developed and finished.
I would love to see that thecold storage, which you know is struggling
right now needs an upgrade, isjust it's funded, and that the all
(21:42):
of the programming that runs through therehas enough volunteers and resources that it just
happens. We have students from fourto eleven, and then students in the
middle school and students in high schoolthat come and learn about these things.
We help everybody from domestic violence victims, you know. So I would love
(22:03):
to see that in two years weare sitting here talking with you and I'm
telling you about our victories and ourcelebration of our you know, families that
have graduated from those who came therebecause they needed help, all the way
to you know now they're business ownersand they're part of our for profit,
nonprofit hybrid program. Well, that'sexactly what we want to We want to
(22:26):
see you grow and see if wecan help in some way. We've had
a lot of questions. You cantell me what I've missed. This is
your story. Tell me what youwant our audience to know that we might
not have talked about that you reallyfeel it's important for them to know.
Okay. I think one of theimportant things is that diversity that we talk
about. It is there when wesay all are welcome, that is a
(22:49):
truth we've had you know, theDallas Police Department we have a no weapons
rule, but we do have youknow, the Dallas Police format all the
way to you know, social justicepeople on mini levels, Tatiana's Project being
one of them, who are arean intricate part of like what we do.
(23:10):
So when we say that it's asafe space, we're not just talking
about you know, guns and violence. We're talking about coming. So many
people call for down a healing spaceand I know that for me personally.
You know, I lost my sonon November fifth, and I can tell
you that you know, I gothere in twenty eighteen he you know,
(23:33):
a year after he passed, andI, without trying, have not been
alone on November fifth because every timewe have this amazing event, you know,
we have something and all I haveto do is just show up.
All I have to do is justbe. So I want people to know
that about four down that is thatis terrific. And we shortly hope that
(23:56):
people will listen and help and showup on Sunday and involved and help you
fulfill those goals. Yeah, thankyou. I want to thank you so
much for being here. And Iwant to thank our sponsors Piranha Haven Energy
Wellness and Gifts for the souls ofthis holiday season, keep them in mind.
And to Niagara Conservation for all thehelp they do with affordable housing.
(24:18):
They provide cost saving plumbing products tothe volunteers of America Oaks Project in the
Oakcliffe District, saving them a lotof money on water cost. So thank
you to Niagara and to Parana Haven, and thank you again for joining us
and letting us tell your story.Yeah, absolutely, thank you so much.
All right, thank you
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.