December 14, 2025 • 34 mins
Segment 1: Salvation Army in El Paso, TX
.
Did you know that a majority of the bell ringers you see at the Salvation Army Red Buckets are volunteers, or that volunteers bring in more donations than paid ringers?
.
Amber Banda interviews Joanna Estrada, Director of Development for the Salvation Army. Listen to learn about what they do and who they help, and more importantly, how YOU can help this holiday season!
.
Signing up is super easy. Just go to online and choose one of their 40 locations, then choose either a 4 hour am or pm shift for any day of the week, (except Sunday). Best part is that you can split your shift with friends! Volunteer as a friend group, work group, non-profit, family, etc.
.
For more information and to volunteer, go to salvationarmyelpaso.org
_____________________________________________________________________
Segment 2: Learn about the Paso Del Norte Trail!
.
Amber Banda interviews Jana Renner, Senior Program Officer for the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation. Listen to learn about this 70 mile county-wide multi-use trail! Learn what the community wants most out of this trail, where current parts of the trail are located, and what the future holds for this PDN "hike and bike."
.
The Texas Transportation Commission just approved more than $31 million in Transportation Alternatives which will help fund 2 major segment of the trail, giving more access major destinations in El Paso including the El Paso Zoo, Magoffin Home, Fox Plaza, and more.
.
In addition to giving more pedestrian accessibility, Jana and Amber also talk about the benefits of this unified, multi-use trail across EP County including walking outdoors, creating more events, and you also get some behind the scenes as to how this trail all comes together.
.
For more information visit pasodelnortetrail.org
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAY AT 8AM! Follow Amber Banda, 96.3 KHEY Country, Power 102.1 or Sunny 99.9 on Instagram and/or Facebook for pictures of our guests and leave a comment. Be a part of the good going on in our community!
.
Did you know that a majority of the bell ringers you see at the Salvation Army Red Buckets are volunteers, or that volunteers bring in more donations than paid ringers?
.
Amber Banda interviews Joanna Estrada, Director of Development for the Salvation Army. Listen to learn about what they do and who they help, and more importantly, how YOU can help this holiday season!
.
Signing up is super easy. Just go to online and choose one of their 40 locations, then choose either a 4 hour am or pm shift for any day of the week, (except Sunday). Best part is that you can split your shift with friends! Volunteer as a friend group, work group, non-profit, family, etc.
.
For more information and to volunteer, go to salvationarmyelpaso.org
_____________________________________________________________________
Segment 2: Learn about the Paso Del Norte Trail!
.
Amber Banda interviews Jana Renner, Senior Program Officer for the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation. Listen to learn about this 70 mile county-wide multi-use trail! Learn what the community wants most out of this trail, where current parts of the trail are located, and what the future holds for this PDN "hike and bike."
.
The Texas Transportation Commission just approved more than $31 million in Transportation Alternatives which will help fund 2 major segment of the trail, giving more access major destinations in El Paso including the El Paso Zoo, Magoffin Home, Fox Plaza, and more.
.
In addition to giving more pedestrian accessibility, Jana and Amber also talk about the benefits of this unified, multi-use trail across EP County including walking outdoors, creating more events, and you also get some behind the scenes as to how this trail all comes together.
.
For more information visit pasodelnortetrail.org
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAY AT 8AM! Follow Amber Banda, 96.3 KHEY Country, Power 102.1 or Sunny 99.9 on Instagram and/or Facebook for pictures of our guests and leave a comment. Be a part of the good going on in our community!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to al Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host, Amberbanda, and today back in the station. Although
it has been a while, my hair was black, you
said last time you saw me. I have Joanna Estrada,
director of development for the Salvation Army here in al Paso. Joanna,
thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Amber, thank you for having me here.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Of course, welcome back the Salvation Army. A lot of
people are very familiar with this organization around the holidays,
but of course you all the fundraisers all year long.
But before we get into that, the Salvation Army, what
is this organization and what does it do for the community.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, the Salvation Army has been an Opasso since eighteen
ninety eight, ok so for over one hundred and twenty
five years. We are dedicated to helping our neighbors in need,
and this really means that our programs evolve with whatever
is the need in the community right now. For the
last few decades, our biggest goals are to concentrate on
(01:22):
food and shelter and also homeless prevention, and this is
really where our focus is. Everything at the Salvation Army
is the ministry. So we're always wanting to help people
who come to our doors and have an open door
policy and be able to give them the help that
they need.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So the Salvation Army, because when I think of it,
it's kind of like, you know, you think of this
organization and you don't really think of a brick and mortar,
But is there actually like a building where people can
go to to get help. Here an apostle for the
Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yes, the main office is located at forty three hundred
East Paisano that is across from the coliseum.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Okay, And so again you're saying that you focus on
the different needs of the community at the time, and
because I always figured it was more just about food
and security and providing clothing, are there other aspects that
you help people with yes.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
So our shelter has a capacity of about one eighteen
and that our shelter is one of the few family
shelters in Opasso, so we focus mostly on families, although
we do accept single men and single women as well.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Okay okay. So in other words, the funds that you
raise with this volunteer opportunity that we're going to talk
about right now, as well as the different ones throughout
the year, they go towards running that shelter, providing food
for people that have food in security, providing clothing and
essentials for those families.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yes, and also homeless prevention, which we do through case management.
And that's clients from outside who may be facing eviction
and they're seeking help with rent or utility. Oh and
so we are able to help them whenever we have
funding available for that, and it's one of our bigger programs.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Oh okay okay. And do you work with any other
organizations in all passol.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
So we do partner with other agencies in Opasso as needed,
especially with the Homeless Coalition. We're always trying to coordinate
with other agencies. If a family comes to the Salvation
Army today and we don't have space for them. Then
we want to help help them find where there is
space available.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, Okay, that sounds good. So again the Salvation Army.
And I completely forgot it just slipped my mind that
when you're out there and you see like people ringing
the bell with the red buckets, that is the Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Correct, Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, and yeah I remember seeing you know, movies that
are classic now and they've had they've had that for
for a long time now, like you said in our
pass so it's been here for over one hundred and
twenty five years. So I mean there's they're doing something right.
So with that being said, you are in need of volunteers, volunteers,
especially around this time of the season. Can you tell
(04:03):
the listening audience, So you were telling me earlier what
do these what are these volunteers going to be doing,
and what are you going to be doing with the funds?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yes, so all of the funds that are raised in
the Red Kettle campaign stay here and I'll pass. So
I always like to explain that upfront from the beginning,
so that everyone knows this is not a fundraiser for
somewhere else, This is for l Passo to be invested
in our community to help our neighbors and need local
families and crisis.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
I love them.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
And volunteering for the Red Kettle is going to help
with food and shelter and any other assistance programs that
we have.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And so volunteering, you're looking for people to volunteer to
actually ring the bells.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Correct, Yes, that's true, and ringing the bell this might
be new for some people, but this is you know,
this can be the start of a family tradition. So
ringing the bell, you know that when you're participating in this,
you're what you're actually doing is not just standing in
front of a store ringing a bell. You're actually actively
helping raise funds for food and shelter, essential programs that
(05:06):
can make a huge impact on someone's life.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
See. And I was always under the impression that all
of the people that were ringing the bell were paid
by the Salvation Army, but you kind of clarified that
a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit
about how some of the people are paid and who
you hire to do to ring the bell?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, So we have a mix of employees and volunteers,
with over twelve hundred volunteer slots for this season, just
for beller ringing, just for bowering, not even counting other
volunteer projects. It is impossible for us to get all
of those slots filled by volunteers. And this is a
crucial campaign and a very important fundraiser for our programs.
(05:49):
So we do seek out volunteers, volunteers and employees, and
the majority of the people that you see ringing the
bell will be employees, and we get most of our
volunteers participating on Saturdays.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Okay, and you had mentioned that the people that were
being paid, they were elderly people.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
People who participate in the bell ring campaign generally the
ones who are going to be most interested in the opportunity.
They might be elderly, it might be somebody on a
fixed income or just visiting for the holiday, and what
they're really looking for is something short term to have
a little bit of extra spending money. And we will
be hiring throughout the season. But one of the reasons
(06:29):
that we're always seeking volunteers especially is because even with employees,
we don't have enough. If we look at only one group,
we won't be able to, you know, raise the necessary funds.
And it's by having votes. So anybody who wants to volunteer,
they will. They'll essentially be raising more money, right and
they'll be making a big impact.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
And that was interesting about how you said that people
that do ring the bell, that are volunteers actually tend
to bring in more money. And again you know this
the sal is the Salvation Army is a nonprofit. So
nonprofits need two things. They need money and volunteers. So,
like you said, this is a really great opportunity for
people to come volunteer one hour, four hours. We're gonna
(07:12):
get into that a little bit more, but first I
just want to reintroduce Joanna Estrada, director of Development for
the Salvation Army. So let's get into a little bit
of the logistics if someone wants to volunteer, So how
long would their shift be and how how does it
how does it look?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
So a volunteer shift for the Red Cattle is a
four hour shift. This is for an individual. Many groups
will do the full eight hour shift. I think that
when you volunteer as a group, it's a lot easier
because you can split your shifts and most people will
end up volunteering for one hour.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Okay, So say, for example, it's me and three of
my friends. So there's four of us we take on.
I take on the four hour shift. I can do
one hour, another person can do hour two and then
our Is that how it would work?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yes, so your shift might be from ten am to
two pm and that would cover the four hours.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Okay? And how what does the shift look like? Is
it from nine to five or how does that work?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
It's usually ten to ten to about.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Six, okay, ten to six? And how many locations are
there where you need bell ringers?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
We have over forty locations that will approve of the
Salvation Army having a Red kettle there, and so those
are our partners for the campaign, but we are not
able to fill up all the locations. We do have
locations on east side, west side, central, northeast, basically every
area of Olpasso we have a Red kettle there. So
(08:41):
it's very flexible for volunteers. They can decide which location,
what side of town, what hours, what date?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Oh? Okay, yeah, because I usually see them outside of
Bell Basset Mall or outside of Walgreens. And I have
noticed that I've seen less and less each year. Is
that because you're getting less and less volunteers.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yes, And also when we have less volunteers and less employees,
we're really seeing less of both, which means we have
more locations that are that are open and available, but
you know, we don't have someone to place there for
the fundraiser. So every year we're having less and less.
And what we do is if we only have a
few bell ringers for that day, then we want to
(09:24):
you know, prioritize any location that tends to bring in more.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Right, right, And you know, with with volunteering, with this again,
you can get a group of people. It could be like,
like you said, a really good tradition to start and
with all of those locations, like you said, if someone
if there's one that's not filled and they're just not
able to make to make money at that location, so
they don't even bring out the red bucket, they're right.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
That's correct. So the red kettle has to be manned.
It's one of other requirements.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
And how big of an impact does this fundraiseror the
what did you call it, the red kettle, yes, the
Red ca campaign, the red Kettle campaign. How big of
an impact does the red Kettle campaign make on the
funds raised for the Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
The Red Kettle campaign. A successful Red Kettle campaign could
support about twenty five thirty percent of operations for the year.
So it is crucial funds. And when you look at
you know, nonprofits, nonprofits run on donations, they run on fundraisers.
There isn't really any other support that can be coming
(10:28):
in regularly, and so campaigns like these that are annual
and recurring, they're really the backbone of our finances and
it's where where our funding really relies.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Right, So this is a huge chunk of the money
that you raised throughout the year, again to go towards
the programs you were talking about earlier, to help families,
because it's not just you do accept men women, but
it's not just you know, for one gender or the other.
And again for the people that would like to volunteer,
are they do they come to multiple days?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Like?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
How does it?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Like?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
How does that work? I'm here, I want to volunteer.
What's my step?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
One?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Two, three, four, five?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Okay, great, yeah, I love it. This is an excellent question.
So your simple one two three steps is you can
either register online. You can visit Salvation Armylpasso dot org
and on the landing page. Right there is a link
that you can just click right on if you want
to volunteer, and at that link you can choose what
(11:27):
day you want to volunteer. Do you want the morning
shift or the afternoon shift? What location do you want?
So you get to pick from anything that's available, and
volunteers always have the first choice. So's it's a lot
more flexible than other volunteer opportunities. Because it is a
season long. Some volunteers will volunteer more than one day.
(11:47):
That's not super common, so I do encourage it anyone
who wants to volunteer. If you want to volunteer more
than one day, we would love that. We do have
volunteers from the Salvation Army Church that will volunteer multiple days,
but generally speaking, our volunteers will commit to one day.
Volunteer groups do sometimes commit to two days, especially if
(12:08):
it's a big group.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
And so say I have a group of four of us,
so you know, I'm part of the nonprofit Guardians of
the Children, and four of us bikers want to go volunteer.
When I go online to register, do I just register
as one person, bring them along to the location, or
do they all register or do register as a group.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
You would just register as a group, okay, but the
registration would be under guardians of the children and you
would also be the point of contact for that group.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay, okay. That's interesting. And I usually see a lot
of people that when they do ring the bell, they
are dressed as Santa. Is that a requirement?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
That is not a.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Requirement, But I love it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
If you want to, yes, if you want to be
a missus Claus, we'd love it. I definitely approve every
Christmas I dress as an l for the Salvation Army.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
We do a we participate in a youth soccer tournament
with Cobra Soccer Events and we have dresses an Elf.
Some of my coworkers are volunteers, are dressed up and
it is really fun. I think it really brings out
the Christmas spirit and people realize that volunteering or you know,
doing something and giving back with the community, that it
can be fun, It can be engaging, it can be creative.
(13:15):
It doesn't have to be boring. Yeah, some of our
volunteers that the Red Kettle will dress up. Many will not.
It is not a requirement, so you do not have
to be Santa or an elf or anything, but yus.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
It is an option.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Some of the families, their children play instruments and they
will bring their their trumpets and they'll play Christmas music.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
So we see that a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I think.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Also Thursday nights at Sam's Diana, you'll see volunteers there
with their instruments in the evening.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
That is so cool. If you're volunteering, do you have
to stand, say you're doing an hour, or can you
bring a chair?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
If you are a volunteer, we encourage you to stand,
but we always have some people that may need a chair,
and of course that's always an option.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yes, okay, and again this is a tradition that has
been going on for a long time. I would really
hate to see this, you know go away. I'm going
to go and see with radio. A lot of my
you know remotes are on the weekend and stuff. It's
very busy around the holidays. But I would love to
do something like this, especially with the group. Now. My
last question is if there was a high school student
that wants to go volunteer in the afternoon or on
the weekends, does discount towards their credits that they have
(14:18):
to earn for volunteering.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Absolutely. Oh, we actually have some volunteers from Franklin High
School that will be participating, and we always encourage schools
to be able to do it because I know the
students already need to complete their volunteer hours. Yeah, so yes,
this absolutely would count, right.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And if you do it as a group, and say
you do it like outside Basset Center Mall, you can go,
you know, a group of teer readers, put a sign up,
you know, cheer yeah, and est some money. Then afterward
go inside to your shopping get some food and you know,
it's a really fun day. That's amazing. So, Joanna, is
there anything else that you would like to tell the
listening audience.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Well, I guess I just want to say that when
you volunteer for the Salvation Army, you you're changing somebody's life.
So you're not just collecting change in the kettle. What
you're doing is having a very active impact and very immediate,
very immediate. We're always in need of funds, so if
you want to volunteer with the Salvation Army for the
Red Kettle or for something else going on in the
(15:14):
holiday season, you can just reach out to us visit
our website. You can call us at the main office
nine one five five four four nine to eight eleven,
or visit our website and we'll be able to work
something out for schools. I think our goal for next
year is definitely going to be to want to do
a competition with different schools or different bands and kind
of make it, you know, one day set aside for
(15:37):
something like that, because I think the competitive element as
well during Christmas season is something that is always very
exciting for us to see.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I'm sure you know, knowing you for a couple
of years now, that you would all be open to
working on some kind of fundraiser event, you know, work
out the logistics and that we really need and like
you said, you're helping many, many families. So again, all
of that information will be posted on Sunday ninety nine
point nine, ninety six point three k Hey Country and
Power No. Two point one, Instagram and Facebook. If you're
(16:06):
listening through the free iHeart app, that uh information will
be posted in the description of the podcast Alpaso Public
Forum on the iHeartRadio podcast. Again. Salvation Armyalpaso dot org
for more information, especially get that group together go volunteer,
Go do your good deed for the year. Johanna, thank
you so much for being here with us today. Thank you.
(16:33):
Welcome to the Al Paso Public Forum. I am your host,
Amberbanda and today we have Jana Renner, Senior Program Officer
for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. Jana, thank you
for talking with us today.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Of course, so the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. Before
we get into talking about the Paso the North that
always trips me up, Baso, the Paso del Norte Trail,
I saw a Mexican. Your position is Senior Program officer
for the for the Health Foundation. What does that entail?
What does that involve?
Speaker 4 (17:06):
So I oversee a couple of initiatives at the Health Foundation.
We have initiatives primarily in health prevention or not health
prevention and health prevention right and the promotion of health.
And so I manage our Physical Activity Initiative, which includes
(17:28):
the Passatal Narte Trail work we're beginning and initiative and
Aging Healthy Aging and I'll be overseeing that starting next year.
And our Healthy Kids Initiative that where we fund after
school programs in the city to give more opportunities for
kids to participate in after school program.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
We definitely need more of that, not just for their health,
but for the parents to be able to pick them
up a little bit later. I'm like, yeah, that's great
that you want to do esports and jump rope club
because that means I get an extra hour at home
well for sure.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
And also so it's important that kids have a safe
place to be, yeah, when their parents are working, So
it's really important for them to have those safe places.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
And let me know when you start adding in botox
and filler to the healthy aging, because man, I already
get that. I'm not sure, I'll I'm not sure it's
the aesthetics. Is that high on the list. But anyway,
So the Paso del Norte trail, I have heard of it.
I believe I did an interview on it about a
little over a year ago, but so much has changed
since then. So this is a seventy mile multi use trail,
(18:30):
right that is the goal. And the pr that I
recently received said that the Texas Transportation Commission approved more
than thirty one million dollars in transportation alternatives to fund
two major segments of the Paso the Paso del Norte Trail.
But before we get into the those two major segments
and the funding and all the fun stuff, can you
(18:51):
explain to the listening audience, what is the Paso del
Norte Trail? Sure?
Speaker 4 (18:56):
So, so, like you said, it's right now. It's a
vision for a connected seventy mile trail that goes from
what is now the River Park Trail that starts in
the Upper Valley, that goes along the Rio Grande River
all the way to Torneo, and it'll be all connected
throughout the county. And we did the master plan for
(19:20):
this trail in twenty seventeen and it involved a lot
of stakeholder input. We did community public meetings, we did
a community survey and got a lot of input into
what people want to see on trails. And so we
once that master plan was completed, we didn't want it
(19:42):
to sit on the shelf. We wanted the vision to
keep on, keep on with the momentum, and so we
have continued to bring the major stakeholders, you know, the county,
the city, the MPO, City of Socorro, City of soulm
Park together so we can can continue to focus on
getting funding for these trail segments. It's kind of a
(20:06):
slow process, but you know, seventy miles is a lot
of mind.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, you're trying to cover the whole county and then
some sure yes. And so from what I've heard and
from what you told me, it sounds like this is
something that the people have wanted. I'm curious when when
they had these meetings and you ask like, what is
something you'd want to see on these trails hike and bike.
I like the way you put it, what were like
some of the common things that people wanted to see
with it.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
So I think one of the things people are concerned
about here is safety. You know, El Paso until recently
didn't have a lot of safe trails that are away
from traffic for people to move from place to place,
either for recreation or for what we call active transportation,
which is when you're like, instead of getting in my
car and going to the store, I can use this
(20:51):
trail to walk there, I can use this sidewalk even
There are a lot of communities that don't have connected
sidewalks even and so people are really concerned about their
safety about you know, if they're are intersections, are they
clearly marked, our car is going to slow down for them,
but also things like lighting. You know, we're really lucky
and I'll pass so that you know, our summers are
(21:13):
really hot. But in the evening we can go out. Yeah,
after it's dark and it's we can have a pleasant walk,
but you know, is there sufficient lighting so people feel safe.
And then more recently we've heard because of how hot
it's getting in the summer, you know, we really need
those shade structures in place and we have sufficient canopy
(21:34):
so that you know, it's a little bit cooler when
people choose to be out on the trails.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
The shade makes a crazy difference. I know everyone if
you lived here in All Pass, so if you're new
to all Pasa, you're going to find out. When I
was at the Thanksgiving Day Pride not too long ago,
we were in the sunside, right, and so we were
just like, oh, like I was pouring water down my
daughter's neck and on the other side they were all
bundled up. They were on the side of the shade.
So the shade makes a big difference. And again this
is the input that you're getting from the community to
help make this th Northe trail a success. I mean,
(22:02):
I love it. We talked a little bit earlier. I
went out, I went to Rome for a honeymoon, and
a good thing is you can walk to the groceries,
you can walk there, you can walk there. So this
is going to be something that really is connecting the
whole al Paso County. And we'll get into a little
bit of the benefits of just moving more, which I
mean a lot of people know, right, But we'll get
into that in a little bit. But before that we talked.
(22:23):
I mentioned earlier the Texas Transportation Commission approved more than
thirty one million dollars in transportation alternatives to fund two
major segments of the Pasto than Northe Trail, the City
of al Paso segment and the al Paso County segment.
Can we talk a little bit more about those two
segments individually. The City of al Paso segment, where is
(22:44):
that going to be more or less and what is
it going to give more access to?
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Sure So the city recently completed a small segment on
Magoffin from San Antonio to Cotton. So the part that's
going to be funded, we'll pick that up and street
on the Goffin, go to Piadris, go down to Paisano
and go and end at the zoo. Oh, there's currently
(23:09):
a funded segment that will connect the zoo to Fox
Plaza and so in about five years what we'll have
is a connected segment from Magoffin to Fox Plaza. And
you know that's a very populated part of the city.
People cross the bridge all the time, and our pedestrians
(23:29):
and need safe paths to walk. So we're really excited
about this section because it's very urban, a lot of
people are going to be using it.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
And again it's going to give more access to the
Magoffin Home, which is a beautiful historic site, the zoo
of course, and then like you said, Fox Plaza. I
was just there the other day for Halloween buying some contacts,
and yes, it is very very populated. And then there's
also the al Paso County segment. Can you tell us
a little bit more about that one, where it will
be and what historic or cultural spots that one's going
(23:57):
to give more access.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Sure, so we're really excited about this one too. Actually
it starts on Secoro Road in SoCoRo and will go
to San Alli's, So you know, a lot of people
are sant Ali's been getting a lot of like press
lately about all the stuff they have going on there
and their plaza, and they're really trying to draw attention
to the missions. This won't go to the missions, but
(24:20):
it will get you to San Alli and then it'll
go up to Clint but it will also connect Eventually,
the county is currently working on some segments that will
connect Tornio to Fabans and so eventually that whole county
section from Socorro to Tornillo will be complete. I think
there's just one more segment that's unfunded that will need
to be funded, hopefully in the next couple of years,
(24:42):
and we'll have a complete segment out in the county.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Wow, I wonder how many steps that is? Like if
you went and took your step tracker and just once
it's finished, it's a lot of steps. Right. Yeah, it's
going to be maybe like a maybe you can create
events there like wakathons or five k's or something like that.
That'd be really cool if you're just tuning in. We
have here Jenna Renner, Senior program officer for Baso del
Norte Health Foundation. We're talking about the Paso del Norte Trail,
(25:08):
which is the goal seventy mile multi use trail. So again,
twenty one miles of this Baso del Norte Trail are complete.
Thirty one are funded for development or for construction. So
right now, with the twenty one miles that have been completed,
where is it mostly located?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
So mostly it's in the segment I talked about earlier
along the river in the Upper Valley that's been there
for about twenty years, and that's really what kind of
got people interested in, like can we expand this, can
we go further? So it's a beautiful trail on the river,
you know, lots of trees, it's very out in nature,
and a lot of people use that one. And then
(25:48):
our other major segment is the PLAA Drain Trail, which
starts at a Scatta Day Park and goes to Capistrano Park.
And this one is really well, this one's close to
my heart because the Health Foundation instructed the part, the
part from a Scottage Park to Riverside High School. But
there are a lot of schools there along this trail.
It's embedded in a neighborhood in neighborhoods and so a
(26:12):
lot of people have access to this trail to go,
you know, to walk to school. There's some churches along
the way. There are multiple parks, so families who are
interested in going to the park could hop on the
trail and walk to the park. And so it connects
a lot of recreation and in schools and things like
(26:32):
that for families. And so it's really a great trail,
I think.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
And so this might be a little bit a silly
question of me, but this is specifically for pedestrians or
like bicycles and hike and bike. There's not really for vehicles.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
That's correct. So that the both of these trails are
off the road. The PLA drain trail does have some
you have to cross the street in some places because
it is in the neighborhood. But it is off the
street and protected from traffic. And it's just for yes,
pedestrians and bicycles.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And it's it's marked so people know that they are
on part of the past the trail. Okay. And just
to clarify, Paso, they'll not at the trail dot org.
Can people go there to see where they can you know,
go and walk on the.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Trail, yes, okay, that website we're updating it right now.
But there are particularly the two trails I just talked about,
there are maps of that trail to tell you where
they are in the city, and there will be information
about like where you can park if you want to,
you know, start in the middle of a trail, or
and kind of what what's near the what's near the trail?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
And are all of these trails like bicycle friendly? Are
there only certain parts.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
All of them? Yes, you can ride your bike on
on all of them.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Awesome. Yeah, for people that are, like you said, active transport,
maybe they're using it more for you know, getting to
work or school or whatever the case is. Now, when
we spoke off air, you had you know, you were
talking about the different parts of the trails and they
had different names. Different trails had different names. How do
you come up with the names? Like how does that?
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Like?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (28:03):
So it's funny, it hasn't been super intentional yet. Well, no,
I don't want to say it like that. I think
the the ply A Drain Trail people always like, why
did you name it the ply A Drain Trail. It's
because it's on the ply A Drain.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Okay, okay, And you know the River.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Park trails on the on the river, and then the
county segments have specific names that are specific to kind
of where they are. To the ones out that are
being constructed by the county right now are the Alamo
Alto Trails, and that means I'm not quite sure what
the significance are of that is, but it's significant to
that part of the county. And then we're actually going
(28:43):
to we still bring our I mentioned earlier stakeholders together
and we are going to start looking at as these
trail segments come online, like what what kind of name
should we call them, so that you know, if you
want to meet a friend on a part of the
trail when it's all constructed, yeah, you can say let's
meet at the Malta Trail and Fathans or and people
(29:03):
will know what that means. So that's something we're going
to be working on in this next year.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And before we go into some of the obvious and
maybe not so obvious benefits of having this type of trail,
you had mentioned something really cool that was part of
one of the trails that was in a neighborhood, and
you got the neighborhood, the kids involved, can you tell
a listening audience that with that is sure.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
So you know, people don't always think about putting art
on trails or you know how that could make the
trail more inviting it, but it is. And when we
were developing the Plier Drain trail, we really wanted to
involve the community and we also wanted to add some
art just to kind of make it a little bit
more inviting. And so we worked with Creative Kids, which
(29:42):
is a nonprofit here in town. Been on the show, yeah, So,
and they worked with schools along the trail to develop
kind of a tow mosaic that is across different I
think they're a quarter of a mile apart on the
trail and so they the kids design helped design it,
and then we sent the tiles off and had them
(30:02):
fabricated and they're embedded and so the kids each tile
set one school had you know, artistic input into what
was on the trail. Cool and so, and there's just
a lot of deep ways you can get the community
involved in. I think they want to be involved in
making sure that you know, it continues to be maintained
(30:23):
and they're still you know, usable and pretty and.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, exactly aesthetics do matter. And with that being said,
we'll go into the benefits, but I do want to
mention that when I asked you earlier about the aesthetics
of the trails, you wanted it to kind of conform
to where they're at, you know, so it's not like
an eyesore doesn't stick out. But you also want to
make sure that people know that this is the POSTO
the North the Trail, proud to walk it in, I'll pass.
(30:48):
So now you know, you, being the senior program officer
for BASO the Health Foundation, what are the benefits of
a trail like this county wide?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
So the benefits, the health benefits or the reason we're
involved in this process, and that's one of the reasons
that we thought it was so important to be one
of the stakeholders in this important project. You know, movement
is so important to our health, and our lifestyle has
gotten very sedentary over the past I don't even know
(31:19):
how many years, and the more we sit, the more
you know, it's detrimental to our health unfortunately. Yeah, and
so there's a lot of research out there that shows
that the close if you live close to a trail,
you're you're more likely to use it. And so our
thought was, let's get a trail. Let's get more trails
(31:42):
in the city where people are closer, and they'll you know,
they'll think, you know, I can go out for ten minutes,
and ten minutes is great.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Yeah you don't. We didn't really build these.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
A lot of people you know, who are runners and
avid bikers use the tree and we're really happy about
that because we want them to have safe places to exercise.
But really we were thinking about the people that don't
think when they get up in the morning. The first
things not like oh I should go out and go
for a run. It's like, you know, I feel okay today,
I think I could go for a quick walk. I
have time, or you know, the trail connects to that school.
(32:21):
Why don't I walk my child to school rather than
getting in the car and driving a short distance to
drop them off. Let's let's start walking to school. And
so it's really about looking at how we can change
behaviors and just start incorporating movement little by little into
people's lifestyles exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
And even if the trail isn't like right outside your
front door, like you said, you go to a friend's house,
you go drop your kid off at school, you go
to work. The trails nearby, and not only the benefits
of walking, but walking outside has huge benefits, right the
vitamin D. And you think, oh, well, we're we live
in the desert. Yeah, you're probably not going to stay
outside a lot because of that. But if you can
do you know, a little walk on the trail for that,
(32:58):
you know, in the morning or in the eve, that
has a huge amount of benefits because you cannot separate
the physical from the mental and vice versa. So right now,
with people's stress levels going all over the place, you know,
a walk outside, like you said, for ten minutes can
do wonders. So, Jenna, before we finish here, I want
to ask you, is there anything else that you would
like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
I would just encourage people just to pick up on
the thread you were just talking about. I would encourage
people to get out on the trails. You know, there
there's parking if you don't live near the trail. But
in addition to the passatal Nte trail, the city has
some trails. There's some trails out in the mountains that
are really beautiful. You know, go out and just experience them,
(33:41):
and like Amber said, you'll feel better mentally and you know,
just getting outside just as wonders. So I would just
encourage everyone to go out and see kind of what
what's the big deal about the Passatal Late Trail.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I'm definitely going to check them out again. You can
go to Paso del Rail dot org for more information
and again, you know, get outside. It will even especially
on the days where you don't want to just do
it for a little bit, you'll seek you to benefit. Janet,
thank you so much for talking with us today. Thank
you for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio L Passo. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to Epforum at iHeartMedia dot com
or call us at nine one five three five one
five four zero zero. Tune in again next week for
(34:33):
another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding program
was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio L Passo.
Welcome to al Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host, Amberbanda, and today back in the station. Although
it has been a while, my hair was black, you
said last time you saw me. I have Joanna Estrada,
director of development for the Salvation Army here in al Paso. Joanna,
thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Amber, thank you for having me here.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Of course, welcome back the Salvation Army. A lot of
people are very familiar with this organization around the holidays,
but of course you all the fundraisers all year long.
But before we get into that, the Salvation Army, what
is this organization and what does it do for the community.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, the Salvation Army has been an Opasso since eighteen
ninety eight, ok so for over one hundred and twenty
five years. We are dedicated to helping our neighbors in need,
and this really means that our programs evolve with whatever
is the need in the community right now. For the
last few decades, our biggest goals are to concentrate on
(01:22):
food and shelter and also homeless prevention, and this is
really where our focus is. Everything at the Salvation Army
is the ministry. So we're always wanting to help people
who come to our doors and have an open door
policy and be able to give them the help that
they need.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So the Salvation Army, because when I think of it,
it's kind of like, you know, you think of this
organization and you don't really think of a brick and mortar,
But is there actually like a building where people can
go to to get help. Here an apostle for the
Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yes, the main office is located at forty three hundred
East Paisano that is across from the coliseum.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Okay, And so again you're saying that you focus on
the different needs of the community at the time, and
because I always figured it was more just about food
and security and providing clothing, are there other aspects that
you help people with yes.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
So our shelter has a capacity of about one eighteen
and that our shelter is one of the few family
shelters in Opasso, so we focus mostly on families, although
we do accept single men and single women as well.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Okay okay. So in other words, the funds that you
raise with this volunteer opportunity that we're going to talk
about right now, as well as the different ones throughout
the year, they go towards running that shelter, providing food
for people that have food in security, providing clothing and
essentials for those families.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yes, and also homeless prevention, which we do through case management.
And that's clients from outside who may be facing eviction
and they're seeking help with rent or utility. Oh and
so we are able to help them whenever we have
funding available for that, and it's one of our bigger programs.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Oh okay okay. And do you work with any other
organizations in all passol.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
So we do partner with other agencies in Opasso as needed,
especially with the Homeless Coalition. We're always trying to coordinate
with other agencies. If a family comes to the Salvation
Army today and we don't have space for them. Then
we want to help help them find where there is
space available.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, Okay, that sounds good. So again the Salvation Army.
And I completely forgot it just slipped my mind that
when you're out there and you see like people ringing
the bell with the red buckets, that is the Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Correct, Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, and yeah I remember seeing you know, movies that
are classic now and they've had they've had that for
for a long time now, like you said in our
pass so it's been here for over one hundred and
twenty five years. So I mean there's they're doing something right.
So with that being said, you are in need of volunteers, volunteers,
especially around this time of the season. Can you tell
(04:03):
the listening audience, So you were telling me earlier what
do these what are these volunteers going to be doing,
and what are you going to be doing with the funds?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yes, so all of the funds that are raised in
the Red Kettle campaign stay here and I'll pass. So
I always like to explain that upfront from the beginning,
so that everyone knows this is not a fundraiser for
somewhere else, This is for l Passo to be invested
in our community to help our neighbors and need local
families and crisis.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
I love them.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
And volunteering for the Red Kettle is going to help
with food and shelter and any other assistance programs that
we have.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And so volunteering, you're looking for people to volunteer to
actually ring the bells.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Correct, Yes, that's true, and ringing the bell this might
be new for some people, but this is you know,
this can be the start of a family tradition. So
ringing the bell, you know that when you're participating in this,
you're what you're actually doing is not just standing in
front of a store ringing a bell. You're actually actively
helping raise funds for food and shelter, essential programs that
(05:06):
can make a huge impact on someone's life.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
See. And I was always under the impression that all
of the people that were ringing the bell were paid
by the Salvation Army, but you kind of clarified that
a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit
about how some of the people are paid and who
you hire to do to ring the bell?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, So we have a mix of employees and volunteers,
with over twelve hundred volunteer slots for this season, just
for beller ringing, just for bowering, not even counting other
volunteer projects. It is impossible for us to get all
of those slots filled by volunteers. And this is a
crucial campaign and a very important fundraiser for our programs.
(05:49):
So we do seek out volunteers, volunteers and employees, and
the majority of the people that you see ringing the
bell will be employees, and we get most of our
volunteers participating on Saturdays.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Okay, and you had mentioned that the people that were
being paid, they were elderly people.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
People who participate in the bell ring campaign generally the
ones who are going to be most interested in the opportunity.
They might be elderly, it might be somebody on a
fixed income or just visiting for the holiday, and what
they're really looking for is something short term to have
a little bit of extra spending money. And we will
be hiring throughout the season. But one of the reasons
(06:29):
that we're always seeking volunteers especially is because even with employees,
we don't have enough. If we look at only one group,
we won't be able to, you know, raise the necessary funds.
And it's by having votes. So anybody who wants to volunteer,
they will. They'll essentially be raising more money, right and
they'll be making a big impact.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
And that was interesting about how you said that people
that do ring the bell, that are volunteers actually tend
to bring in more money. And again you know this
the sal is the Salvation Army is a nonprofit. So
nonprofits need two things. They need money and volunteers. So,
like you said, this is a really great opportunity for
people to come volunteer one hour, four hours. We're gonna
(07:12):
get into that a little bit more, but first I
just want to reintroduce Joanna Estrada, director of Development for
the Salvation Army. So let's get into a little bit
of the logistics if someone wants to volunteer, So how
long would their shift be and how how does it
how does it look?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
So a volunteer shift for the Red Cattle is a
four hour shift. This is for an individual. Many groups
will do the full eight hour shift. I think that
when you volunteer as a group, it's a lot easier
because you can split your shifts and most people will
end up volunteering for one hour.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Okay, So say, for example, it's me and three of
my friends. So there's four of us we take on.
I take on the four hour shift. I can do
one hour, another person can do hour two and then
our Is that how it would work?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yes, so your shift might be from ten am to
two pm and that would cover the four hours.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Okay? And how what does the shift look like? Is
it from nine to five or how does that work?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
It's usually ten to ten to about.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Six, okay, ten to six? And how many locations are
there where you need bell ringers?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
We have over forty locations that will approve of the
Salvation Army having a Red kettle there, and so those
are our partners for the campaign, but we are not
able to fill up all the locations. We do have
locations on east side, west side, central, northeast, basically every
area of Olpasso we have a Red kettle there. So
(08:41):
it's very flexible for volunteers. They can decide which location,
what side of town, what hours, what date?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Oh? Okay, yeah, because I usually see them outside of
Bell Basset Mall or outside of Walgreens. And I have
noticed that I've seen less and less each year. Is
that because you're getting less and less volunteers.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yes, And also when we have less volunteers and less employees,
we're really seeing less of both, which means we have
more locations that are that are open and available, but
you know, we don't have someone to place there for
the fundraiser. So every year we're having less and less.
And what we do is if we only have a
few bell ringers for that day, then we want to
(09:24):
you know, prioritize any location that tends to bring in more.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Right, right, And you know, with with volunteering, with this again,
you can get a group of people. It could be like,
like you said, a really good tradition to start and
with all of those locations, like you said, if someone
if there's one that's not filled and they're just not
able to make to make money at that location, so
they don't even bring out the red bucket, they're right.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
That's correct. So the red kettle has to be manned.
It's one of other requirements.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
And how big of an impact does this fundraiseror the
what did you call it, the red kettle, yes, the
Red ca campaign, the red Kettle campaign. How big of
an impact does the red Kettle campaign make on the
funds raised for the Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
The Red Kettle campaign. A successful Red Kettle campaign could
support about twenty five thirty percent of operations for the year.
So it is crucial funds. And when you look at
you know, nonprofits, nonprofits run on donations, they run on fundraisers.
There isn't really any other support that can be coming
(10:28):
in regularly, and so campaigns like these that are annual
and recurring, they're really the backbone of our finances and
it's where where our funding really relies.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Right, So this is a huge chunk of the money
that you raised throughout the year, again to go towards
the programs you were talking about earlier, to help families,
because it's not just you do accept men women, but
it's not just you know, for one gender or the other.
And again for the people that would like to volunteer,
are they do they come to multiple days?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Like?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
How does it?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Like?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
How does that work? I'm here, I want to volunteer.
What's my step?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
One?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Two, three, four, five?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Okay, great, yeah, I love it. This is an excellent question.
So your simple one two three steps is you can
either register online. You can visit Salvation Armylpasso dot org
and on the landing page. Right there is a link
that you can just click right on if you want
to volunteer, and at that link you can choose what
(11:27):
day you want to volunteer. Do you want the morning
shift or the afternoon shift? What location do you want?
So you get to pick from anything that's available, and
volunteers always have the first choice. So's it's a lot
more flexible than other volunteer opportunities. Because it is a
season long. Some volunteers will volunteer more than one day.
(11:47):
That's not super common, so I do encourage it anyone
who wants to volunteer. If you want to volunteer more
than one day, we would love that. We do have
volunteers from the Salvation Army Church that will volunteer multiple days,
but generally speaking, our volunteers will commit to one day.
Volunteer groups do sometimes commit to two days, especially if
(12:08):
it's a big group.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
And so say I have a group of four of us,
so you know, I'm part of the nonprofit Guardians of
the Children, and four of us bikers want to go volunteer.
When I go online to register, do I just register
as one person, bring them along to the location, or
do they all register or do register as a group.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
You would just register as a group, okay, but the
registration would be under guardians of the children and you
would also be the point of contact for that group.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay, okay. That's interesting. And I usually see a lot
of people that when they do ring the bell, they
are dressed as Santa. Is that a requirement?
Speaker 3 (12:41):
That is not a.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Requirement, But I love it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
If you want to, yes, if you want to be
a missus Claus, we'd love it. I definitely approve every
Christmas I dress as an l for the Salvation Army.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
We do a we participate in a youth soccer tournament
with Cobra Soccer Events and we have dresses an Elf.
Some of my coworkers are volunteers, are dressed up and
it is really fun. I think it really brings out
the Christmas spirit and people realize that volunteering or you know,
doing something and giving back with the community, that it
can be fun, It can be engaging, it can be creative.
(13:15):
It doesn't have to be boring. Yeah, some of our
volunteers that the Red Kettle will dress up. Many will not.
It is not a requirement, so you do not have
to be Santa or an elf or anything, but yus.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
It is an option.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Some of the families, their children play instruments and they
will bring their their trumpets and they'll play Christmas music.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
So we see that a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I think.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Also Thursday nights at Sam's Diana, you'll see volunteers there
with their instruments in the evening.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
That is so cool. If you're volunteering, do you have
to stand, say you're doing an hour, or can you
bring a chair?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
If you are a volunteer, we encourage you to stand,
but we always have some people that may need a chair,
and of course that's always an option.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yes, okay, and again this is a tradition that has
been going on for a long time. I would really
hate to see this, you know go away. I'm going
to go and see with radio. A lot of my
you know remotes are on the weekend and stuff. It's
very busy around the holidays. But I would love to
do something like this, especially with the group. Now. My
last question is if there was a high school student
that wants to go volunteer in the afternoon or on
the weekends, does discount towards their credits that they have
(14:18):
to earn for volunteering.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Absolutely. Oh, we actually have some volunteers from Franklin High
School that will be participating, and we always encourage schools
to be able to do it because I know the
students already need to complete their volunteer hours. Yeah, so yes,
this absolutely would count, right.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And if you do it as a group, and say
you do it like outside Basset Center Mall, you can go,
you know, a group of teer readers, put a sign up,
you know, cheer yeah, and est some money. Then afterward
go inside to your shopping get some food and you know,
it's a really fun day. That's amazing. So, Joanna, is
there anything else that you would like to tell the
listening audience.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Well, I guess I just want to say that when
you volunteer for the Salvation Army, you you're changing somebody's life.
So you're not just collecting change in the kettle. What
you're doing is having a very active impact and very immediate,
very immediate. We're always in need of funds, so if
you want to volunteer with the Salvation Army for the
Red Kettle or for something else going on in the
(15:14):
holiday season, you can just reach out to us visit
our website. You can call us at the main office
nine one five five four four nine to eight eleven,
or visit our website and we'll be able to work
something out for schools. I think our goal for next
year is definitely going to be to want to do
a competition with different schools or different bands and kind
of make it, you know, one day set aside for
(15:37):
something like that, because I think the competitive element as
well during Christmas season is something that is always very
exciting for us to see.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I'm sure you know, knowing you for a couple
of years now, that you would all be open to
working on some kind of fundraiser event, you know, work
out the logistics and that we really need and like
you said, you're helping many, many families. So again, all
of that information will be posted on Sunday ninety nine
point nine, ninety six point three k Hey Country and
Power No. Two point one, Instagram and Facebook. If you're
(16:06):
listening through the free iHeart app, that uh information will
be posted in the description of the podcast Alpaso Public
Forum on the iHeartRadio podcast. Again. Salvation Armyalpaso dot org
for more information, especially get that group together go volunteer,
Go do your good deed for the year. Johanna, thank
you so much for being here with us today. Thank you.
(16:33):
Welcome to the Al Paso Public Forum. I am your host,
Amberbanda and today we have Jana Renner, Senior Program Officer
for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. Jana, thank you
for talking with us today.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Of course, so the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. Before
we get into talking about the Paso the North that
always trips me up, Baso, the Paso del Norte Trail,
I saw a Mexican. Your position is Senior Program officer
for the for the Health Foundation. What does that entail?
What does that involve?
Speaker 4 (17:06):
So I oversee a couple of initiatives at the Health Foundation.
We have initiatives primarily in health prevention or not health
prevention and health prevention right and the promotion of health.
And so I manage our Physical Activity Initiative, which includes
(17:28):
the Passatal Narte Trail work we're beginning and initiative and
Aging Healthy Aging and I'll be overseeing that starting next year.
And our Healthy Kids Initiative that where we fund after
school programs in the city to give more opportunities for
kids to participate in after school program.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
We definitely need more of that, not just for their health,
but for the parents to be able to pick them
up a little bit later. I'm like, yeah, that's great
that you want to do esports and jump rope club
because that means I get an extra hour at home
well for sure.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
And also so it's important that kids have a safe
place to be, yeah, when their parents are working, So
it's really important for them to have those safe places.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
And let me know when you start adding in botox
and filler to the healthy aging, because man, I already
get that. I'm not sure, I'll I'm not sure it's
the aesthetics. Is that high on the list. But anyway,
So the Paso del Norte trail, I have heard of it.
I believe I did an interview on it about a
little over a year ago, but so much has changed
since then. So this is a seventy mile multi use trail,
(18:30):
right that is the goal. And the pr that I
recently received said that the Texas Transportation Commission approved more
than thirty one million dollars in transportation alternatives to fund
two major segments of the Paso the Paso del Norte Trail.
But before we get into the those two major segments
and the funding and all the fun stuff, can you
(18:51):
explain to the listening audience, what is the Paso del
Norte Trail? Sure?
Speaker 4 (18:56):
So, so, like you said, it's right now. It's a
vision for a connected seventy mile trail that goes from
what is now the River Park Trail that starts in
the Upper Valley, that goes along the Rio Grande River
all the way to Torneo, and it'll be all connected
throughout the county. And we did the master plan for
(19:20):
this trail in twenty seventeen and it involved a lot
of stakeholder input. We did community public meetings, we did
a community survey and got a lot of input into
what people want to see on trails. And so we
once that master plan was completed, we didn't want it
(19:42):
to sit on the shelf. We wanted the vision to
keep on, keep on with the momentum, and so we
have continued to bring the major stakeholders, you know, the county,
the city, the MPO, City of Socorro, City of soulm
Park together so we can can continue to focus on
getting funding for these trail segments. It's kind of a
(20:06):
slow process, but you know, seventy miles is a lot
of mind.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, you're trying to cover the whole county and then
some sure yes. And so from what I've heard and
from what you told me, it sounds like this is
something that the people have wanted. I'm curious when when
they had these meetings and you ask like, what is
something you'd want to see on these trails hike and bike.
I like the way you put it, what were like
some of the common things that people wanted to see
with it.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
So I think one of the things people are concerned
about here is safety. You know, El Paso until recently
didn't have a lot of safe trails that are away
from traffic for people to move from place to place,
either for recreation or for what we call active transportation,
which is when you're like, instead of getting in my
car and going to the store, I can use this
(20:51):
trail to walk there, I can use this sidewalk even
There are a lot of communities that don't have connected
sidewalks even and so people are really concerned about their
safety about you know, if they're are intersections, are they
clearly marked, our car is going to slow down for them,
but also things like lighting. You know, we're really lucky
and I'll pass so that you know, our summers are
(21:13):
really hot. But in the evening we can go out. Yeah,
after it's dark and it's we can have a pleasant walk,
but you know, is there sufficient lighting so people feel safe.
And then more recently we've heard because of how hot
it's getting in the summer, you know, we really need
those shade structures in place and we have sufficient canopy
(21:34):
so that you know, it's a little bit cooler when
people choose to be out on the trails.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
The shade makes a crazy difference. I know everyone if
you lived here in All Pass, so if you're new
to all Pasa, you're going to find out. When I
was at the Thanksgiving Day Pride not too long ago,
we were in the sunside, right, and so we were
just like, oh, like I was pouring water down my
daughter's neck and on the other side they were all
bundled up. They were on the side of the shade.
So the shade makes a big difference. And again this
is the input that you're getting from the community to
help make this th Northe trail a success. I mean,
(22:02):
I love it. We talked a little bit earlier. I
went out, I went to Rome for a honeymoon, and
a good thing is you can walk to the groceries,
you can walk there, you can walk there. So this
is going to be something that really is connecting the
whole al Paso County. And we'll get into a little
bit of the benefits of just moving more, which I
mean a lot of people know, right, But we'll get
into that in a little bit. But before that we talked.
(22:23):
I mentioned earlier the Texas Transportation Commission approved more than
thirty one million dollars in transportation alternatives to fund two
major segments of the Pasto than Northe Trail, the City
of al Paso segment and the al Paso County segment.
Can we talk a little bit more about those two
segments individually. The City of al Paso segment, where is
(22:44):
that going to be more or less and what is
it going to give more access to?
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Sure So the city recently completed a small segment on
Magoffin from San Antonio to Cotton. So the part that's
going to be funded, we'll pick that up and street
on the Goffin, go to Piadris, go down to Paisano
and go and end at the zoo. Oh, there's currently
(23:09):
a funded segment that will connect the zoo to Fox
Plaza and so in about five years what we'll have
is a connected segment from Magoffin to Fox Plaza. And
you know that's a very populated part of the city.
People cross the bridge all the time, and our pedestrians
(23:29):
and need safe paths to walk. So we're really excited
about this section because it's very urban, a lot of
people are going to be using it.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
And again it's going to give more access to the
Magoffin Home, which is a beautiful historic site, the zoo
of course, and then like you said, Fox Plaza. I
was just there the other day for Halloween buying some contacts,
and yes, it is very very populated. And then there's
also the al Paso County segment. Can you tell us
a little bit more about that one, where it will
be and what historic or cultural spots that one's going
(23:57):
to give more access.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Sure, so we're really excited about this one too. Actually
it starts on Secoro Road in SoCoRo and will go
to San Alli's, So you know, a lot of people
are sant Ali's been getting a lot of like press
lately about all the stuff they have going on there
and their plaza, and they're really trying to draw attention
to the missions. This won't go to the missions, but
(24:20):
it will get you to San Alli and then it'll
go up to Clint but it will also connect Eventually,
the county is currently working on some segments that will
connect Tornio to Fabans and so eventually that whole county
section from Socorro to Tornillo will be complete. I think
there's just one more segment that's unfunded that will need
to be funded, hopefully in the next couple of years,
(24:42):
and we'll have a complete segment out in the county.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Wow, I wonder how many steps that is? Like if
you went and took your step tracker and just once
it's finished, it's a lot of steps. Right. Yeah, it's
going to be maybe like a maybe you can create
events there like wakathons or five k's or something like that.
That'd be really cool if you're just tuning in. We
have here Jenna Renner, Senior program officer for Baso del
Norte Health Foundation. We're talking about the Paso del Norte Trail,
(25:08):
which is the goal seventy mile multi use trail. So again,
twenty one miles of this Baso del Norte Trail are complete.
Thirty one are funded for development or for construction. So
right now, with the twenty one miles that have been completed,
where is it mostly located?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
So mostly it's in the segment I talked about earlier
along the river in the Upper Valley that's been there
for about twenty years, and that's really what kind of
got people interested in, like can we expand this, can
we go further? So it's a beautiful trail on the river,
you know, lots of trees, it's very out in nature,
and a lot of people use that one. And then
(25:48):
our other major segment is the PLAA Drain Trail, which
starts at a Scatta Day Park and goes to Capistrano Park.
And this one is really well, this one's close to
my heart because the Health Foundation instructed the part, the
part from a Scottage Park to Riverside High School. But
there are a lot of schools there along this trail.
It's embedded in a neighborhood in neighborhoods and so a
(26:12):
lot of people have access to this trail to go,
you know, to walk to school. There's some churches along
the way. There are multiple parks, so families who are
interested in going to the park could hop on the
trail and walk to the park. And so it connects
a lot of recreation and in schools and things like
(26:32):
that for families. And so it's really a great trail,
I think.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
And so this might be a little bit a silly
question of me, but this is specifically for pedestrians or
like bicycles and hike and bike. There's not really for vehicles.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
That's correct. So that the both of these trails are
off the road. The PLA drain trail does have some
you have to cross the street in some places because
it is in the neighborhood. But it is off the
street and protected from traffic. And it's just for yes,
pedestrians and bicycles.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And it's it's marked so people know that they are
on part of the past the trail. Okay. And just
to clarify, Paso, they'll not at the trail dot org.
Can people go there to see where they can you know,
go and walk on the.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Trail, yes, okay, that website we're updating it right now.
But there are particularly the two trails I just talked about,
there are maps of that trail to tell you where
they are in the city, and there will be information
about like where you can park if you want to,
you know, start in the middle of a trail, or
and kind of what what's near the what's near the trail?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
And are all of these trails like bicycle friendly? Are
there only certain parts.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
All of them? Yes, you can ride your bike on
on all of them.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Awesome. Yeah, for people that are, like you said, active transport,
maybe they're using it more for you know, getting to
work or school or whatever the case is. Now, when
we spoke off air, you had you know, you were
talking about the different parts of the trails and they
had different names. Different trails had different names. How do
you come up with the names? Like how does that?
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Like?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (28:03):
So it's funny, it hasn't been super intentional yet. Well, no,
I don't want to say it like that. I think
the the ply A Drain Trail people always like, why
did you name it the ply A Drain Trail. It's
because it's on the ply A Drain.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Okay, okay, And you know the River.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Park trails on the on the river, and then the
county segments have specific names that are specific to kind
of where they are. To the ones out that are
being constructed by the county right now are the Alamo
Alto Trails, and that means I'm not quite sure what
the significance are of that is, but it's significant to
that part of the county. And then we're actually going
(28:43):
to we still bring our I mentioned earlier stakeholders together
and we are going to start looking at as these
trail segments come online, like what what kind of name
should we call them, so that you know, if you
want to meet a friend on a part of the
trail when it's all constructed, yeah, you can say let's
meet at the Malta Trail and Fathans or and people
(29:03):
will know what that means. So that's something we're going
to be working on in this next year.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And before we go into some of the obvious and
maybe not so obvious benefits of having this type of trail,
you had mentioned something really cool that was part of
one of the trails that was in a neighborhood, and
you got the neighborhood, the kids involved, can you tell
a listening audience that with that is sure.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
So you know, people don't always think about putting art
on trails or you know how that could make the
trail more inviting it, but it is. And when we
were developing the Plier Drain trail, we really wanted to
involve the community and we also wanted to add some
art just to kind of make it a little bit
more inviting. And so we worked with Creative Kids, which
(29:42):
is a nonprofit here in town. Been on the show, yeah, So,
and they worked with schools along the trail to develop
kind of a tow mosaic that is across different I
think they're a quarter of a mile apart on the
trail and so they the kids design helped design it,
and then we sent the tiles off and had them
(30:02):
fabricated and they're embedded and so the kids each tile
set one school had you know, artistic input into what
was on the trail. Cool and so, and there's just
a lot of deep ways you can get the community
involved in. I think they want to be involved in
making sure that you know, it continues to be maintained
(30:23):
and they're still you know, usable and pretty and.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, exactly aesthetics do matter. And with that being said,
we'll go into the benefits, but I do want to
mention that when I asked you earlier about the aesthetics
of the trails, you wanted it to kind of conform
to where they're at, you know, so it's not like
an eyesore doesn't stick out. But you also want to
make sure that people know that this is the POSTO
the North the Trail, proud to walk it in, I'll pass.
(30:48):
So now you know, you, being the senior program officer
for BASO the Health Foundation, what are the benefits of
a trail like this county wide?
Speaker 4 (30:57):
So the benefits, the health benefits or the reason we're
involved in this process, and that's one of the reasons
that we thought it was so important to be one
of the stakeholders in this important project. You know, movement
is so important to our health, and our lifestyle has
gotten very sedentary over the past I don't even know
(31:19):
how many years, and the more we sit, the more
you know, it's detrimental to our health unfortunately. Yeah, and
so there's a lot of research out there that shows
that the close if you live close to a trail,
you're you're more likely to use it. And so our
thought was, let's get a trail. Let's get more trails
(31:42):
in the city where people are closer, and they'll you know,
they'll think, you know, I can go out for ten minutes,
and ten minutes is great.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Yeah you don't. We didn't really build these.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
A lot of people you know, who are runners and
avid bikers use the tree and we're really happy about
that because we want them to have safe places to exercise.
But really we were thinking about the people that don't
think when they get up in the morning. The first
things not like oh I should go out and go
for a run. It's like, you know, I feel okay today,
I think I could go for a quick walk. I
have time, or you know, the trail connects to that school.
(32:21):
Why don't I walk my child to school rather than
getting in the car and driving a short distance to
drop them off. Let's let's start walking to school. And
so it's really about looking at how we can change
behaviors and just start incorporating movement little by little into
people's lifestyles exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
And even if the trail isn't like right outside your
front door, like you said, you go to a friend's house,
you go drop your kid off at school, you go
to work. The trails nearby, and not only the benefits
of walking, but walking outside has huge benefits, right the
vitamin D. And you think, oh, well, we're we live
in the desert. Yeah, you're probably not going to stay
outside a lot because of that. But if you can
do you know, a little walk on the trail for that,
(32:58):
you know, in the morning or in the eve, that
has a huge amount of benefits because you cannot separate
the physical from the mental and vice versa. So right now,
with people's stress levels going all over the place, you know,
a walk outside, like you said, for ten minutes can
do wonders. So, Jenna, before we finish here, I want
to ask you, is there anything else that you would
like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
I would just encourage people just to pick up on
the thread you were just talking about. I would encourage
people to get out on the trails. You know, there
there's parking if you don't live near the trail. But
in addition to the passatal Nte trail, the city has
some trails. There's some trails out in the mountains that
are really beautiful. You know, go out and just experience them,
(33:41):
and like Amber said, you'll feel better mentally and you know,
just getting outside just as wonders. So I would just
encourage everyone to go out and see kind of what
what's the big deal about the Passatal Late Trail.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I'm definitely going to check them out again. You can
go to Paso del Rail dot org for more information
and again, you know, get outside. It will even especially
on the days where you don't want to just do
it for a little bit, you'll seek you to benefit. Janet,
thank you so much for talking with us today. Thank
you for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio L Passo. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to Epforum at iHeartMedia dot com
or call us at nine one five three five one
five four zero zero. Tune in again next week for
(34:33):
another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding program
was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio L Passo.
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