December 8, 2025 • 30 mins
This week’s show featured Food Bank for the Heartland assistant director for marketing and communication Stephanie Sullivan promoting their Shine the Light on Hunger campaign. Then, Omaha’s Ronald McDonald House CEO Lindsey Rai Kortan talked about their upcoming open house and ways of donating and volunteering.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news radio eleven ten kfab It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being with us on Community Matters.
We welcome back to the program the assistant director for
Marketing and Communications with the Food Bank for the Heartland.
You'll find them online at Foodbankheartland dot org. It shine
the light on hunger time to give during the holiday season.
Stephanie Sullivan is back here. Stephanie, always good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Welcome, good to see you too, Thanks so much for.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Having me there. Obviously has been We talked many times
over the years, and with Brian Bark's CEO Food Bank
for the Heartland as well, about how need really never
takes the season off, no matter what season, no matter
what era year. Certainly during COVID times it became a
major priority. But here recently there's been a lot of
(01:05):
attention in the news to this issue. When the government
shutdown was going on. Even Mayor John Ewing, other local
nonprofit city leaders, they're like, all right, we're pooling our resources.
We've got to make sure people who are without paychecks
or in some cases were furloughed and without paychecks are
able to get food. I mean, what was that time
(01:26):
like for you with Food Bank for the Heartland? Navigating
through that time that didn't have an end date on it.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Challenging is an understatement.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, we were already before the government shutdown, we were
already seeing historic Hyes, you mentioned the pandemic. We are
serving four times the number of households as we did compared.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
To twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Really, yes, so this issue is just getting bigger. It's
not going away anytime soon. And so not only do
we see a government shutdow people not receiving paychecks, but
we also saw a disruption to snap and that happened
at a time where when our pantry partners are already
overwhelmed and struggling to.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Keep their shelves stocked.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
So there's never a good time for a government shutdown,
but this could not have happened at a worse time.
Not only are we seeing historic highs one in seven
individuals and one in five children don't know where their
next meal is coming from, but the food bank is
also getting less resources, so now we have less resources
to feed more people, and then there's the government shutdown.
So yes, it was. It was maddening, it was heartbreaking,
(02:35):
it was challenging, but at the same time, it was
also so inspiring to see the way our community came
together and united for the good of our neighbors in need.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah, this is not a political forum this program. There
are forums for that, we host them on news radio
eleven ten KFAB. But politics seeps into so much of everything. Now.
I don't know how much you want to address the
politics of this situation. That's completely up to you. It
seems though that you're just dealing with the reality that
(03:05):
various political decisions present, and when the decisions present, you
already have record high need. Let's first address that. Why
even before the government shut down in all of this,
why do you think we have so much more need
in Omaha than even before the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Great question, and there's it's a complex answer because there's
so many factors that play into that. For food being
for the heartland, we have not had a normal operating
year in the.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Last six years.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
We had we had a government shut down back in
twenty eighteen. That it was the devastating floods of twenty nineteen.
Then we went into the pandemic. Then we went into
supply chain constraints right and inflation, and we're still dealing
with inflation. And so when families are struggling to make
ends meet, right, they are the first thing that gets
(04:00):
cut from their budget is food. And unfortunately, we have
face challenge after challenge after challenge, and then when you
see things like Snap being disrupted.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Snap is our.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Biggest tool in fighting hunger. And when you disrupt a
safety net program like Snap, it puts so much additional
burden on our pantry partners who are already struggling to
meet the need, who are already seeing longer lines than
they saw during the pandemic. We have pantry partners who
used to order maybe one thousand pounds of food from
the food bank.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
They're ordering two thousand pounds.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
And when we have more than five hundred partners doing that,
food is going out as quickly as you can, but
we can't keep up with the need. And that's because
you know, you and I go to the grocery store.
We see how expensive things are nowadays. If you are
struggling to make ends me or if you're living in
paycheck to paycheck. I can't imagine the uncertainty and the
(04:53):
fear and the anxiety a family feels when they walk
into the grocery store.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Certainly, and when it comes to SNAP better Fits and
so forth. You've got people on we'll do both sides
of the political spectrum. It's not really fair to put
it in a both sides. There's a lot of different angles.
But if we're going to go left and right, you
got people on both sides of the political spectrum and
say well, the only people who are on SNAP are this,
or the other side says well, the only people on
(05:18):
SNAP are this. It's never an all blanket situation. You're there, though,
dealing with people coming to you saying I need to
feed my family. This is not the time you say, well,
who'd you vote for in twenty twenty four? You know
this is not how we do that at the food
bank for the Heartland. So do you, though, take advantage
of especially when the city leadership is getting involved saying
(05:41):
all right, let's rally here our partners and let's make
sure people ask me to eat. Do you do any
kind of outreach with politicians and say here are the
decisions you made, here's what we are dealing with here
on the ground.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Absolutely, that's exactly what our advocacy team does at the
food Bank.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
We meet with a elected officials.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
It doesn't matter what side of the isle you're on,
because that education and awareness of what is happening in
your own backyard, what the scope of hunger looks like,
and across the ninety three counties we serve, it is increasing.
You can't deny the facts that hunger is increasing. More
than two hundred and fifty nine thousand people across our
service area are facing hunger and the fact that it's
(06:23):
one in five children. That's unacceptable to us. And no
matter what side you're on, politics should not play a
role in how you access food.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
End of story.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So, with all of those realities now laid out here,
we're talking with the assistant director of Marketing and Communications
with Food Bank for the Heartland. They're online at Foodbank
Heartland dot org. Stephanie Sullivan's with us. Stephanie. It's Shine
the Light on Hunger campaign time at Food Bank for
the Heartland holiday season. A lot of different local nonprofits,
(06:56):
great local nonprofits saying give to this, give to that,
and so forth. Please tell me why remembering the food
bank at this and every time of year is also
very important.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Yeah, food and security typically rises during the holiday season,
and after we just witnessed a government shutdown, we know
more families than ever are facing food and security and
right now we just need that continued support. Right we
saw this outpouring of support after the government shutdown. We
need that support to continue because we know for families
(07:28):
who didn't receive snap benefits in November, just because the
government is open now doesn't mean the problem is fixed.
Those families and those individuals are going to be making
unthinkable decisions for the next several months. So shine the
light on hunger is happening at a really important time.
We are trying to raise the equivalent of six million
(07:48):
meals and I know that's a really heard achievement to accomplish.
But we have seen the outpouring of support.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
We have seen the.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Generosity of our community and the way people come together
when there is a and it's just amazing to live
and work in the Heartland because it's such a philanthropic area.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So when people say, but the mayor John ey Wing
of Omaha, and it was kind of a public private
drive to make sure the food bank was there to
meet the needs of people who needed it here during
the government shutdown. They say, well, I thought you just
got a whole bunch of money thrown at you here
just the other day. Is that all gone?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
We are actually working with the donations we have received
to purchase much needed protein. So we're gonna be purchasing
roughly two hundred thousand dollars worth a protein for the
next couple months. And that's a direct result of the
generosity from our community. Protein is coming into our warehouse
and going out the next day. We cannot get enough protein.
(08:50):
We know that protein is the first thing that people
are cutting from their budget due to the high cost
of it. It's also something that's not donated as frequently
because of the parish nature. And so we're doing the
best we can to increase our protein donations and get
them out to neighbors in need because we know protein
plays a huge role in everyday life. I spoke to
(09:14):
a neighbor from Western Iowa and she was on snap benefits.
I met her out of pantry and she typically saves
her snap benefits just to buy me so she doesn't
necessarily visit a pantry very often. Because the first thing
she said to me was, I know other people need
it more than I do. And that is just a
testament to Heartland neighbors. Even though they may be struggling,
(09:36):
even though they don't have enough money to afford protein,
they're worried about others not having enough. And it's just
a reminder that no matter who you are or what
you may be struggling with, if you're able to help,
if you're able to give back, this is the time
to give back. We need that continued support because right now,
(09:58):
even though you may not see it, it's food and
securities everywhere at an alarming rate. And the only way
we're going to overcome this is if we can work together.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, it's on one hand if people donate money, and
the food Bank can certainly take monetary donations. In fact,
let's explore that for a while, because I was going
to say, you don't have money this time of year.
This isn't money that necessarily needs to be spent this
week to meet the needs this week. This handles now
what Food Bank for the Heartland can look at as
(10:27):
setting up a twenty twenty six budget to meet the
needs that next year brings. Who knows what next year brings. Yes, so,
but you know you can't do that with meat. You
can do that with some non perishables, but when it
comes to like fruits, vegetables and proteins and so forth,
there there is a clocks ticking. We got to make
sure people need this. And it sounds like it's we're
(10:48):
not having to throw stuff away because it's gone bad.
It's going out as quickly as it comes in. Yeah,
so maybe if people are able to do it, maybe
monetary donations and volunteerism is something else we can look
at here.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Absolutely, monetary donation cash.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Is king, and we are able to take your dollar
and stretch it that much further because of our relationship
with retailers and our ability to purchase in bulk. So
what you can get for ten dollars at the grocery store,
we can get much more with that ten dollars. So
if you're able to make a financial donation, you can
visit our website Foodbankartland dot org. And because of the
Shine the Light on Hunger campaign, every single donation will
(11:25):
be matched up to two hundred thousand dollars, So right
now is a wonderful time to feed twice as many
neighbors as possible. Also, it's important to mention that ninety
six cents of every single dollar goes directly back into
our communities, So you can donate with that relief knowing
ninety six cents of every dollar is going to go
right back to our neighbors.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, that's a tremendous way of looking at it. I
just want to reinforce that point. You know, it's wonderful
if you have the heart to say I just got
a whole big sack of hams for it, and you
look at it and go, that's great. This meets these
needs right now. We can get a lot of the
same product for maybe half the cost. And you know,
(12:06):
if you had donated this money, we could feed twice
as many people with the same amount of money. So
that's a big important thing. And then matching donations. Who's
providing the matches.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Yeah, gosh, our partners at Connagra would have been like bakers.
They are just wonderful, vital partners in the Shine the
Light on Hunger campaign, and we could not do what
we do without corporate support and the outpouring of support
from corporations, organizations, and individuals, like everyone has a role
(12:39):
to play right now, and so it's really neat to
see when we all work together what we can achieve.
We talked a little bit about the citywide food drive
that the mayor did and in just one week that
we collected over fifty pounds of food.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
And our doc six door where people can make individual donations,
we have people lining up outside the door to make
donations of food. And so between monetary donations or hosting
a food drive or volunteering, there's so many incredible ways
to get involved.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
And our neighbors need you right now.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
And so if you're listening to this and you're not
sure what you can do, every dollar makes a difference,
Every volunteer hour makes a difference, Every can of food
makes a difference.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I can't imagine how overwhelming that would have been, because
I know you always need volunteers at Food Bank for
the Heartland. Suddenly it's like here's a quick influx of
fifty pounds of food and you're looking at Marjorie over here,
going hey, can you take all of this and just
kind of divide it up and you're like, I need help. Yeah,
did you also have an army of volunteers? We did
provide the hours to be able to deal with all
(13:48):
of that.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Well, that was a really neat thing.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
We saw this influx of donations coming in, food donations
coming in, and then we had our volunteers who came
in early to sort that sort all those donations. Because
we can't just get fifty thousand pounds of food and
give it to our network partners. All of that food
needs to be sorted. It needs to be sorted and
(14:10):
sorted into like minded items so that when it gets
to our network partners, they can put it right on
their shelves because a lot of the times, our pantry
partners they don't have a lot of volunteers that they
can turn to right and so for them to be
able to get the can items or the peanut butter
or the pasta, whatever it may be, and be able
just to put it on their shelves because it's already
sorted through. That's the work of our volunteers and they've
(14:32):
been showing up early with smiles on their faces knowing
that work needs to be done and they're here to
do it.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Anyone who's ever volunteered their time at Food Bank for
the Heartland knows it's not like, Okay, it's just you
and fifty pounds of food.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Have at it.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
I mean, it's a well oiled machine and it's so
easy to volunteer and it's super fun too. So how
can people volunteer and what can they expect when they volunteer?
What did that shift look like in terms of time?
When do you need people there certain days and times
of the week. Lay it all up.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, we have eleven convenience shifts throughout the week, and
that's really meant to be able to meet everyone's schedules.
We know that some people work obviously during the day,
we have evening shifts. We know that some people may
not be able to get there an evening, so we
have Saturday morning shifts, and then we have two afternoon
shifts during the week. So there's eleven different shifts to
(15:24):
choose from, and they're typically about two to two and
a half hours long. You may be working on anything
from sorting food right that's donated from organizations or individuals,
or you may be packing our meals for our backpack
program that is distributed to more than two hundred forty
schools across Nebraska and western Iowa. And this provides weekend
(15:46):
meals for children so that when they come home on
a Friday, they can have the meals that they need
to thrive so they can go back to school.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Write it to Larne. No child should be worried.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
About what they're going to eat over the weekend or
not having enough food. And this program allows kids to
get the nutritious food that they need, so obviously they
can continue learning and meeting those developmental milestones. And no
kids should ever have to face that.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
It's so easy to volunteer. All the details are on
the website food Bank Heartland dot org. Foodbank Heartland dot org.
We're talking here for a few more minutes with Stephanie Sullivan,
Assistant director of Marketing and Communications for Food Bank for
the Heartland. You mentioned that people show up at the
food bank and they say, here's a whole truckload worth
(16:32):
of food. Maybe I lost track. Where are we dropping
this off? I know we've got the new building not
quite ready yet ready, Yeah, so we're still at We're
still down the street from there along that L Street corridor.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Right one O five two five J Street and when
you pull into our parking lot, there's going to be
signage and it's clear that there's a.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Number to call.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
You can call that number, and that lets us know
that a donation is coming up to our DOC six
and we will be ready to greet you. We'll get
all of those items out of your car, will weigh
it for you so you can know the impact you made,
which is really exciting, and then that food goes right
over to our volunteer center for volunteers to start processing
(17:19):
it so we can turn around and get it back
out to our neighbors in need. Really the next day.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
So many people driven by eighty fourth and L Street,
the old H and H Chevrolet property there, and that's
going to be the future home of Food Bank for
the Heartland. It's going to be just a huge warehouse
designed exactly the way you and Brian Barks and everyone
else over there and needs it to be designed. When
is that going to be ready?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
So we anticipate, and I use that word anticipate because
you never know what can happen with the construction project.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
The weather over the next few months, yes, cause all
kinds of delays.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Yes, So we anticipate being operational out of our new
facility on February. Oh cool coming up, yeah, and then
hopefully anticipating opening doors to volunteers the following week. And
obviously we know anything could happen between now and then,
so we just ask everyone for their patients. But we
cannot wait to take this next step in our journey
(18:16):
of fighting hunger. As you mentioned, this building is custom
built for food bank, whereas the building we're in right
now was not built for food banking. We have been
doing the best we can and we've been making magic
happen without much and we have completely outgrown that space,
not just internally, but because the need has gotten so
(18:36):
large are the current warehouse we have can't keep up
with it. We actually have refrigerated trucks sitting in our
parking lot to hold refrigerated food because our refrigerated space.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Our cooler space is not big enough. It's not large enough.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
And the fact that we were able to build this
not just for our needs now but for the next five, ten,
fifteen years down the road, it is going to make
us so much more efficient and effect with how we
fulfill our mission.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
So great to get those donations, but when it comes
to the issues of where we going to put it
and who's going to sort it. When it comes to
volunteer hours, it's super important. When it comes to donating money.
As Stephanie said, cash is king and during once again
the Shine the Light on Hunger campaign, this is going
through when and give us all the details. So someone
(19:23):
wanted to donate monetarily to Food Bank for the Heartland,
why should they do that now, Stephanie, do that.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Now before December thirty first, because your gift will be
matched up to two hundred and one thousand dollars, so
your gift will go that much further. It will feed
twice the amount of people, provide twice the amount of
meals right now. Our goal with our nineteenth annual Shine
the Light on Hunger campaign is to raise the equivalent
of six million meals on average. The Food Bank is
distributing about two million meals a month. We are seeing
(19:54):
highs that we have not seen in our history. We're
serving four times the number of household as we did
compared to twenty eighteen. We know this problem is not
going away anytime soon. In fact, it's just getting worse.
And as we continue to battle the challenges that we
continue to face, government shutdowns, reduction in federal resources. We
(20:16):
can't do this alone, and we need to rely on
our community. And we've seen what happens when our community
comes together to fight hunger.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It's an incredible and.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
An inspiring act tocy and we just desperately need that
support to continue.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
There's so many people who I'm sure visit food Bank
and you hear from them all the time, who say,
I had never thought that I'd ever be in this
situation where I used to volunteer, I've donated here, and
now I'm coming in here because this is what my
family needs. A lot of people are only one mispaid
check away. So whether it's some of those individual circumstances,
(20:54):
whether it's the bigger issues and have foisted upon society
by Mother Nature, Uncle Sam, food Bank for the Heartland
is there to just meet the needs and deal with
those realities. Stephanie Sullivan, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
for Food Bank for the Heartland Foodbankheartland dot org. The
Shine the Light on Hunger campaign is underway this month.
(21:15):
Foodbank Heartland dot org. To learn all the details about
donating to food Bank for the Heartland. Stephanie, thank you
so much for what you do to feed our community.
Thanks as always for telling us about it here on
community matters.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Thank you so much for having me. We appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Thank you so much for being with us on community Matters.
This week, we welcome back the CEO of the Ronald
McDonald House here in Omaha. It's Lindsey Ray Cortan. Lindsay Ray,
welcome back to the show.
Speaker 5 (21:40):
Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
I'm so happy to be here, and happy holidays as well.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
Indeed, I had the opportunity to work on Thanksgiving at
the Ronald McDonald hok or volunteer rather, and it was
an exceptional experience. Nobody really wants to be there, but
if you had to be there, the amount of people
that came forward and helped and being able to share
and attitude was one of the most rewarding holidays that
I've had this year.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Obviously, we're going to talk a lot about what the
Ronald House is, what they do, how you can support
them at the holidays or at any time, but let's
spend a moment just talking about the Ronald House.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
First.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
For anyone who says, yeah, I see it at the
drive through of my local McDonald's. I don't know what
it is. Is that where Ronald McDonald lives. Is that
where Grimas lives. No, it's sometimes they stop by, But
it's so much more than that. So first, people who
don't know what is the Ronald House?
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Sure, And to be clear, we are not located inside
of a McDonald's. Just supported by them, right.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I said, they see the like you put some change here,
ye drive through, So.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
All of that change and when you round up, one
hundred percent of those proceeds come back to the local
house that is here in Omaha, and we are home
to forty families who are from all over the world.
We've actually got a couple of families that are out
of the United States staying with us right now who's
children or children that they care for cannot get the
(23:03):
care that they need in their hometown wherever that is,
so they come to Omaha to our world class medical
facilities and they live with us to heal. So it's
everyone from the twin nik you babies that are at
Methodist Women's to the transplant child that is at un
MC and everything in between.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
That's such a great thing and it's a wonderful organization
to benefit. I hope you did well on Giving Tuesday
the other day, and we did.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
We're so fortunate that we're in this community that supports
matters like that.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Well, it's part of all the holidays here. So what
do the holidays look like when you're there at the
Ronald House Because you're talking about families, kids, oftentimes siblings
are there. You got whole families live in at the
house for several days, weeks, months sometimes. Yeah, they're not
at home for the holidays, and I know that you
guys are always doing special stuff there, So tell me
about what like Thanksgiving and as we get into Christmas
(24:00):
and what all that looks like.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
So it's the best place you never want to be, right,
It's a beautiful place that you can call home, but
you are not at your own home. And so we
really want to embrace the entire family, and that includes
siblings and whatever the immediate family includes, because that's what
is normal in the most abnormal set of circumstances. So
(24:23):
when it comes to holidays like Christmas, not only is
the house decorated and it's beautiful, and there's Christmas brunch
that's provided by the board and we adopt families and
things like that. It's a time where we can sort
of celebrate the bitter sweet because if we have a family,
and I'll just focus on what our largest patient population is,
which is pediatric transplant patients. If they are with us
(24:47):
over the holidays and they are receiving a transplant, that
means another child passed away who can provide those organs.
And so while death is horrible and it's heartbreak, it
also is giving the opportunity for life for one of
the kids that are staying with us, and that is
predominantly who is staying with us over the holidays, so
(25:09):
after their treatment, before their treatment, this is where the
entire family can come together in a place where we
can lean on each other for hope and healing while
they are going through that process and provide what we
can do to make it closely symbolic to what they
would do during their Christmas as we can.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
That's why she's the CEO. Lindsay Ray Cortan with us
here of the Ronald House here in Omaha. And if
you've missed one of our editions of Community Matters where
we talk about signing the organ donor card. This is
a good reminder to do that. It's a beautiful tragedy
in a situation like that. So if people want to
(25:50):
actually see the Ronald House personally, you've got an event
coming up for her.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Yeah. So the other part of what we have the
opportunity to do is provide support for local families. So
we really encourage local families. After you see the pediatrician
or maybe you are going for your newborn appointments, we
have a space called the Treehouse and that is specifically
designed for local families to come and on the twenty second,
(26:16):
which most schools are out for the holidays, you can
come by. You can watch movies, do crafts. It's December
twenty second from ten to noon. So anyone who's like
maybe newborn to eight to ten years old, we've got
video games you can Moms or dads can work out
if you want to. We've got a healthy cafe and
we are just opening it up so that you can
(26:37):
come and have a play date in a cool space
where it's it's not just fun and inviting, but if
you have a child that is sick or not sick,
it's a place for you are accepted and welcomed and
just like every other family that stays with us.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
It's such a wonderful service that the Ronald House provides
and it's so easy to support. So, Lindsey Ray, what
do you need and how can people provide that for you?
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Well, there's a couple of things that we need. We
always are looking for volunteers to come in and help
support with anything from cleaning or making cookies or making dinner.
We've got a lot of groups that come in and
they will band together either with their family or with
work or a sports team and they'll make dinner each
night for the families. And we also actually just need
(27:22):
dollars that support the families who are there so that
there is someone always there no matter what time of
year it is, and we can provide wrap around services
and we can help them with tutoring.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
We can help get you support.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
If you've got food and security, we can buy things
like dinners and breakfast and things like that for the families.
So both cash and time are what we need the most.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
And how can they provide these things? How can they
learn more?
Speaker 5 (27:48):
You can learn more by checking us out online. Our
Mhcomaha dot org is our website and we're on almost
all social media platforms, so you can check us out
there too if you want to follow along with what
we're doing. Every Wednesday, we have a list that goes
out through social media. That's our wish list, and we
need things just like you do at home, trash bags
and batteries and things like that, all the way up
(28:10):
to we need paint supplies because we've got to repaint
the walls sometimes.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
R Mhcomaha dot org, perfect Ronald McDonald House Charities Omaha
dot org, Rmhcomaha dot org. And it's very easy to
be a regular contributor to this campaign. You do a
couple of beep pop boops on the phone, next thing
you know, you're you're donating every single month. That's super
easy to do.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Yeah, and then when you do donate every month, it's
a program called the League of Extraordinary Givers. So for
twenty five dollars, which is you know, each family that
comes in, we ask if they're willing to contribute twenty
five dollars, but most families are not able to and
so if you do once a month, you are supporting
that any family. You can choose the room you want
to support and so every family that comes in knows
(28:56):
that they have a place, and the consistency in which
you're giving really is emblematic of how this entire community
gives to.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
All the details about volunteering your time, volunteering your dollars
all at Rmhcomaha dot org. And I imagine about the
event the open house on Monday, December twenty second, you'll
find that on the website as well. Yes, all right,
our mhc Omaha dot org. She's the CEO of the
Ronald House here in Omaha, Lindsay Ray Corton. Always a pleasure,
(29:25):
Happy holidays. Thank you so much for what you do,
and thanks for telling us about it as always here
on Community Matters.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Likewise, thank you, Scott.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
This has been Community Matters, a weekly public affairs special
on CAT one O three, Omaha's Greatest Hits ninety nine
point nine, KGr News Radio, eleven ten KFAB, Country's Greatest
Hits ninety three three The Wolf and ninety six to
one Kiss FM. Thank you so much for listening, and
enjoy the rest of your day.
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news radio eleven ten kfab It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being with us on Community Matters.
We welcome back to the program the assistant director for
Marketing and Communications with the Food Bank for the Heartland.
You'll find them online at Foodbankheartland dot org. It shine
the light on hunger time to give during the holiday season.
Stephanie Sullivan is back here. Stephanie, always good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Welcome, good to see you too, Thanks so much for.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Having me there. Obviously has been We talked many times
over the years, and with Brian Bark's CEO Food Bank
for the Heartland as well, about how need really never
takes the season off, no matter what season, no matter
what era year. Certainly during COVID times it became a
major priority. But here recently there's been a lot of
(01:05):
attention in the news to this issue. When the government
shutdown was going on. Even Mayor John Ewing, other local
nonprofit city leaders, they're like, all right, we're pooling our resources.
We've got to make sure people who are without paychecks
or in some cases were furloughed and without paychecks are
able to get food. I mean, what was that time
(01:26):
like for you with Food Bank for the Heartland? Navigating
through that time that didn't have an end date on it.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Challenging is an understatement.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, we were already before the government shutdown, we were
already seeing historic Hyes, you mentioned the pandemic. We are
serving four times the number of households as we did compared.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
To twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Really, yes, so this issue is just getting bigger. It's
not going away anytime soon. And so not only do
we see a government shutdow people not receiving paychecks, but
we also saw a disruption to snap and that happened
at a time where when our pantry partners are already
overwhelmed and struggling to.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Keep their shelves stocked.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
So there's never a good time for a government shutdown,
but this could not have happened at a worse time.
Not only are we seeing historic highs one in seven
individuals and one in five children don't know where their
next meal is coming from, but the food bank is
also getting less resources, so now we have less resources
to feed more people, and then there's the government shutdown.
So yes, it was. It was maddening, it was heartbreaking,
(02:35):
it was challenging, but at the same time, it was
also so inspiring to see the way our community came
together and united for the good of our neighbors in need.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah, this is not a political forum this program. There
are forums for that, we host them on news radio
eleven ten KFAB. But politics seeps into so much of everything. Now.
I don't know how much you want to address the
politics of this situation. That's completely up to you. It
seems though that you're just dealing with the reality that
(03:05):
various political decisions present, and when the decisions present, you
already have record high need. Let's first address that. Why
even before the government shut down in all of this,
why do you think we have so much more need
in Omaha than even before the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Great question, and there's it's a complex answer because there's
so many factors that play into that. For food being
for the heartland, we have not had a normal operating
year in the.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Last six years.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
We had we had a government shut down back in
twenty eighteen. That it was the devastating floods of twenty nineteen.
Then we went into the pandemic. Then we went into
supply chain constraints right and inflation, and we're still dealing
with inflation. And so when families are struggling to make
ends meet, right, they are the first thing that gets
(04:00):
cut from their budget is food. And unfortunately, we have
face challenge after challenge after challenge, and then when you
see things like Snap being disrupted.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Snap is our.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Biggest tool in fighting hunger. And when you disrupt a
safety net program like Snap, it puts so much additional
burden on our pantry partners who are already struggling to
meet the need, who are already seeing longer lines than
they saw during the pandemic. We have pantry partners who
used to order maybe one thousand pounds of food from
the food bank.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
They're ordering two thousand pounds.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
And when we have more than five hundred partners doing that,
food is going out as quickly as you can, but
we can't keep up with the need. And that's because
you know, you and I go to the grocery store.
We see how expensive things are nowadays. If you are
struggling to make ends me or if you're living in
paycheck to paycheck. I can't imagine the uncertainty and the
(04:53):
fear and the anxiety a family feels when they walk
into the grocery store.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Certainly, and when it comes to SNAP better Fits and
so forth. You've got people on we'll do both sides
of the political spectrum. It's not really fair to put
it in a both sides. There's a lot of different angles.
But if we're going to go left and right, you
got people on both sides of the political spectrum and
say well, the only people who are on SNAP are this,
or the other side says well, the only people on
(05:18):
SNAP are this. It's never an all blanket situation. You're there, though,
dealing with people coming to you saying I need to
feed my family. This is not the time you say, well,
who'd you vote for in twenty twenty four? You know
this is not how we do that at the food
bank for the Heartland. So do you, though, take advantage
of especially when the city leadership is getting involved saying
(05:41):
all right, let's rally here our partners and let's make
sure people ask me to eat. Do you do any
kind of outreach with politicians and say here are the
decisions you made, here's what we are dealing with here
on the ground.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Absolutely, that's exactly what our advocacy team does at the
food Bank.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
We meet with a elected officials.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
It doesn't matter what side of the isle you're on,
because that education and awareness of what is happening in
your own backyard, what the scope of hunger looks like,
and across the ninety three counties we serve, it is increasing.
You can't deny the facts that hunger is increasing. More
than two hundred and fifty nine thousand people across our
service area are facing hunger and the fact that it's
(06:23):
one in five children. That's unacceptable to us. And no
matter what side you're on, politics should not play a
role in how you access food.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
End of story.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So, with all of those realities now laid out here,
we're talking with the assistant director of Marketing and Communications
with Food Bank for the Heartland. They're online at Foodbank
Heartland dot org. Stephanie Sullivan's with us. Stephanie. It's Shine
the Light on Hunger campaign time at Food Bank for
the Heartland holiday season. A lot of different local nonprofits,
(06:56):
great local nonprofits saying give to this, give to that,
and so forth. Please tell me why remembering the food
bank at this and every time of year is also
very important.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Yeah, food and security typically rises during the holiday season,
and after we just witnessed a government shutdown, we know
more families than ever are facing food and security and
right now we just need that continued support. Right we
saw this outpouring of support after the government shutdown. We
need that support to continue because we know for families
(07:28):
who didn't receive snap benefits in November, just because the
government is open now doesn't mean the problem is fixed.
Those families and those individuals are going to be making
unthinkable decisions for the next several months. So shine the
light on hunger is happening at a really important time.
We are trying to raise the equivalent of six million
(07:48):
meals and I know that's a really heard achievement to accomplish.
But we have seen the outpouring of support.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
We have seen the.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Generosity of our community and the way people come together
when there is a and it's just amazing to live
and work in the Heartland because it's such a philanthropic area.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So when people say, but the mayor John ey Wing
of Omaha, and it was kind of a public private
drive to make sure the food bank was there to
meet the needs of people who needed it here during
the government shutdown. They say, well, I thought you just
got a whole bunch of money thrown at you here
just the other day. Is that all gone?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
We are actually working with the donations we have received
to purchase much needed protein. So we're gonna be purchasing
roughly two hundred thousand dollars worth a protein for the
next couple months. And that's a direct result of the
generosity from our community. Protein is coming into our warehouse
and going out the next day. We cannot get enough protein.
(08:50):
We know that protein is the first thing that people
are cutting from their budget due to the high cost
of it. It's also something that's not donated as frequently
because of the parish nature. And so we're doing the
best we can to increase our protein donations and get
them out to neighbors in need because we know protein
plays a huge role in everyday life. I spoke to
(09:14):
a neighbor from Western Iowa and she was on snap benefits.
I met her out of pantry and she typically saves
her snap benefits just to buy me so she doesn't
necessarily visit a pantry very often. Because the first thing
she said to me was, I know other people need
it more than I do. And that is just a
testament to Heartland neighbors. Even though they may be struggling,
(09:36):
even though they don't have enough money to afford protein,
they're worried about others not having enough. And it's just
a reminder that no matter who you are or what
you may be struggling with, if you're able to help,
if you're able to give back, this is the time
to give back. We need that continued support because right now,
(09:58):
even though you may not see it, it's food and
securities everywhere at an alarming rate. And the only way
we're going to overcome this is if we can work together.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, it's on one hand if people donate money, and
the food Bank can certainly take monetary donations. In fact,
let's explore that for a while, because I was going
to say, you don't have money this time of year.
This isn't money that necessarily needs to be spent this
week to meet the needs this week. This handles now
what Food Bank for the Heartland can look at as
(10:27):
setting up a twenty twenty six budget to meet the
needs that next year brings. Who knows what next year brings. Yes, so,
but you know you can't do that with meat. You
can do that with some non perishables, but when it
comes to like fruits, vegetables and proteins and so forth,
there there is a clocks ticking. We got to make
sure people need this. And it sounds like it's we're
(10:48):
not having to throw stuff away because it's gone bad.
It's going out as quickly as it comes in. Yeah,
so maybe if people are able to do it, maybe
monetary donations and volunteerism is something else we can look
at here.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Absolutely, monetary donation cash.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Is king, and we are able to take your dollar
and stretch it that much further because of our relationship
with retailers and our ability to purchase in bulk. So
what you can get for ten dollars at the grocery store,
we can get much more with that ten dollars. So
if you're able to make a financial donation, you can
visit our website Foodbankartland dot org. And because of the
Shine the Light on Hunger campaign, every single donation will
(11:25):
be matched up to two hundred thousand dollars, So right
now is a wonderful time to feed twice as many
neighbors as possible. Also, it's important to mention that ninety
six cents of every single dollar goes directly back into
our communities, So you can donate with that relief knowing
ninety six cents of every dollar is going to go
right back to our neighbors.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, that's a tremendous way of looking at it. I
just want to reinforce that point. You know, it's wonderful
if you have the heart to say I just got
a whole big sack of hams for it, and you
look at it and go, that's great. This meets these
needs right now. We can get a lot of the
same product for maybe half the cost. And you know,
(12:06):
if you had donated this money, we could feed twice
as many people with the same amount of money. So
that's a big important thing. And then matching donations. Who's
providing the matches.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Yeah, gosh, our partners at Connagra would have been like bakers.
They are just wonderful, vital partners in the Shine the
Light on Hunger campaign, and we could not do what
we do without corporate support and the outpouring of support
from corporations, organizations, and individuals, like everyone has a role
(12:39):
to play right now, and so it's really neat to
see when we all work together what we can achieve.
We talked a little bit about the citywide food drive
that the mayor did and in just one week that
we collected over fifty pounds of food.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
And our doc six door where people can make individual donations,
we have people lining up outside the door to make
donations of food. And so between monetary donations or hosting
a food drive or volunteering, there's so many incredible ways
to get involved.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
And our neighbors need you right now.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
And so if you're listening to this and you're not
sure what you can do, every dollar makes a difference,
Every volunteer hour makes a difference, Every can of food
makes a difference.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
I can't imagine how overwhelming that would have been, because
I know you always need volunteers at Food Bank for
the Heartland. Suddenly it's like here's a quick influx of
fifty pounds of food and you're looking at Marjorie over here,
going hey, can you take all of this and just
kind of divide it up and you're like, I need help. Yeah,
did you also have an army of volunteers? We did
provide the hours to be able to deal with all
(13:48):
of that.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Well, that was a really neat thing.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
We saw this influx of donations coming in, food donations
coming in, and then we had our volunteers who came
in early to sort that sort all those donations. Because
we can't just get fifty thousand pounds of food and
give it to our network partners. All of that food
needs to be sorted. It needs to be sorted and
(14:10):
sorted into like minded items so that when it gets
to our network partners, they can put it right on
their shelves because a lot of the times, our pantry
partners they don't have a lot of volunteers that they
can turn to right and so for them to be
able to get the can items or the peanut butter
or the pasta, whatever it may be, and be able
just to put it on their shelves because it's already
sorted through. That's the work of our volunteers and they've
(14:32):
been showing up early with smiles on their faces knowing
that work needs to be done and they're here to
do it.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Anyone who's ever volunteered their time at Food Bank for
the Heartland knows it's not like, Okay, it's just you
and fifty pounds of food.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Have at it.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
I mean, it's a well oiled machine and it's so
easy to volunteer and it's super fun too. So how
can people volunteer and what can they expect when they volunteer?
What did that shift look like in terms of time?
When do you need people there certain days and times
of the week. Lay it all up.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, we have eleven convenience shifts throughout the week, and
that's really meant to be able to meet everyone's schedules.
We know that some people work obviously during the day,
we have evening shifts. We know that some people may
not be able to get there an evening, so we
have Saturday morning shifts, and then we have two afternoon
shifts during the week. So there's eleven different shifts to
(15:24):
choose from, and they're typically about two to two and
a half hours long. You may be working on anything
from sorting food right that's donated from organizations or individuals,
or you may be packing our meals for our backpack
program that is distributed to more than two hundred forty
schools across Nebraska and western Iowa. And this provides weekend
(15:46):
meals for children so that when they come home on
a Friday, they can have the meals that they need
to thrive so they can go back to school.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Write it to Larne. No child should be worried.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
About what they're going to eat over the weekend or
not having enough food. And this program allows kids to
get the nutritious food that they need, so obviously they
can continue learning and meeting those developmental milestones. And no
kids should ever have to face that.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
It's so easy to volunteer. All the details are on
the website food Bank Heartland dot org. Foodbank Heartland dot org.
We're talking here for a few more minutes with Stephanie Sullivan,
Assistant director of Marketing and Communications for Food Bank for
the Heartland. You mentioned that people show up at the
food bank and they say, here's a whole truckload worth
(16:32):
of food. Maybe I lost track. Where are we dropping
this off? I know we've got the new building not
quite ready yet ready, Yeah, so we're still at We're
still down the street from there along that L Street corridor.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Right one O five two five J Street and when
you pull into our parking lot, there's going to be
signage and it's clear that there's a.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Number to call.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
You can call that number, and that lets us know
that a donation is coming up to our DOC six
and we will be ready to greet you. We'll get
all of those items out of your car, will weigh
it for you so you can know the impact you made,
which is really exciting, and then that food goes right
over to our volunteer center for volunteers to start processing
(17:19):
it so we can turn around and get it back
out to our neighbors in need. Really the next day.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
So many people driven by eighty fourth and L Street,
the old H and H Chevrolet property there, and that's
going to be the future home of Food Bank for
the Heartland. It's going to be just a huge warehouse
designed exactly the way you and Brian Barks and everyone
else over there and needs it to be designed. When
is that going to be ready?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
So we anticipate, and I use that word anticipate because
you never know what can happen with the construction project.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
The weather over the next few months, yes, cause all
kinds of delays.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Yes, So we anticipate being operational out of our new
facility on February. Oh cool coming up, yeah, and then
hopefully anticipating opening doors to volunteers the following week. And
obviously we know anything could happen between now and then,
so we just ask everyone for their patients. But we
cannot wait to take this next step in our journey
(18:16):
of fighting hunger. As you mentioned, this building is custom
built for food bank, whereas the building we're in right
now was not built for food banking. We have been
doing the best we can and we've been making magic
happen without much and we have completely outgrown that space,
not just internally, but because the need has gotten so
(18:36):
large are the current warehouse we have can't keep up
with it. We actually have refrigerated trucks sitting in our
parking lot to hold refrigerated food because our refrigerated space.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Our cooler space is not big enough. It's not large enough.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
And the fact that we were able to build this
not just for our needs now but for the next five, ten,
fifteen years down the road, it is going to make
us so much more efficient and effect with how we
fulfill our mission.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
So great to get those donations, but when it comes
to the issues of where we going to put it
and who's going to sort it. When it comes to
volunteer hours, it's super important. When it comes to donating money.
As Stephanie said, cash is king and during once again
the Shine the Light on Hunger campaign, this is going
through when and give us all the details. So someone
(19:23):
wanted to donate monetarily to Food Bank for the Heartland,
why should they do that now, Stephanie, do that.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Now before December thirty first, because your gift will be
matched up to two hundred and one thousand dollars, so
your gift will go that much further. It will feed
twice the amount of people, provide twice the amount of
meals right now. Our goal with our nineteenth annual Shine
the Light on Hunger campaign is to raise the equivalent
of six million meals on average. The Food Bank is
distributing about two million meals a month. We are seeing
(19:54):
highs that we have not seen in our history. We're
serving four times the number of household as we did
compared to twenty eighteen. We know this problem is not
going away anytime soon. In fact, it's just getting worse.
And as we continue to battle the challenges that we
continue to face, government shutdowns, reduction in federal resources. We
(20:16):
can't do this alone, and we need to rely on
our community. And we've seen what happens when our community
comes together to fight hunger.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It's an incredible and.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
An inspiring act tocy and we just desperately need that
support to continue.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
There's so many people who I'm sure visit food Bank
and you hear from them all the time, who say,
I had never thought that I'd ever be in this
situation where I used to volunteer, I've donated here, and
now I'm coming in here because this is what my
family needs. A lot of people are only one mispaid
check away. So whether it's some of those individual circumstances,
(20:54):
whether it's the bigger issues and have foisted upon society
by Mother Nature, Uncle Sam, food Bank for the Heartland
is there to just meet the needs and deal with
those realities. Stephanie Sullivan, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
for Food Bank for the Heartland Foodbankheartland dot org. The
Shine the Light on Hunger campaign is underway this month.
(21:15):
Foodbank Heartland dot org. To learn all the details about
donating to food Bank for the Heartland. Stephanie, thank you
so much for what you do to feed our community.
Thanks as always for telling us about it here on
community matters.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Thank you so much for having me. We appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Thank you so much for being with us on community Matters.
This week, we welcome back the CEO of the Ronald
McDonald House here in Omaha. It's Lindsey Ray Cortan. Lindsay Ray,
welcome back to the show.
Speaker 5 (21:40):
Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
I'm so happy to be here, and happy holidays as well.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
Indeed, I had the opportunity to work on Thanksgiving at
the Ronald McDonald hok or volunteer rather, and it was
an exceptional experience. Nobody really wants to be there, but
if you had to be there, the amount of people
that came forward and helped and being able to share
and attitude was one of the most rewarding holidays that
I've had this year.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Obviously, we're going to talk a lot about what the
Ronald House is, what they do, how you can support
them at the holidays or at any time, but let's
spend a moment just talking about the Ronald House.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
First.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
For anyone who says, yeah, I see it at the
drive through of my local McDonald's. I don't know what
it is. Is that where Ronald McDonald lives. Is that
where Grimas lives. No, it's sometimes they stop by, But
it's so much more than that. So first, people who
don't know what is the Ronald House?
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Sure, And to be clear, we are not located inside
of a McDonald's. Just supported by them, right.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I said, they see the like you put some change here,
ye drive through, So.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
All of that change and when you round up, one
hundred percent of those proceeds come back to the local
house that is here in Omaha, and we are home
to forty families who are from all over the world.
We've actually got a couple of families that are out
of the United States staying with us right now who's
children or children that they care for cannot get the
(23:03):
care that they need in their hometown wherever that is,
so they come to Omaha to our world class medical
facilities and they live with us to heal. So it's
everyone from the twin nik you babies that are at
Methodist Women's to the transplant child that is at un
MC and everything in between.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
That's such a great thing and it's a wonderful organization
to benefit. I hope you did well on Giving Tuesday
the other day, and we did.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
We're so fortunate that we're in this community that supports
matters like that.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Well, it's part of all the holidays here. So what
do the holidays look like when you're there at the
Ronald House Because you're talking about families, kids, oftentimes siblings
are there. You got whole families live in at the
house for several days, weeks, months sometimes. Yeah, they're not
at home for the holidays, and I know that you
guys are always doing special stuff there, So tell me
about what like Thanksgiving and as we get into Christmas
(24:00):
and what all that looks like.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
So it's the best place you never want to be, right,
It's a beautiful place that you can call home, but
you are not at your own home. And so we
really want to embrace the entire family, and that includes
siblings and whatever the immediate family includes, because that's what
is normal in the most abnormal set of circumstances. So
(24:23):
when it comes to holidays like Christmas, not only is
the house decorated and it's beautiful, and there's Christmas brunch
that's provided by the board and we adopt families and
things like that. It's a time where we can sort
of celebrate the bitter sweet because if we have a family,
and I'll just focus on what our largest patient population is,
which is pediatric transplant patients. If they are with us
(24:47):
over the holidays and they are receiving a transplant, that
means another child passed away who can provide those organs.
And so while death is horrible and it's heartbreak, it
also is giving the opportunity for life for one of
the kids that are staying with us, and that is
predominantly who is staying with us over the holidays, so
(25:09):
after their treatment, before their treatment, this is where the
entire family can come together in a place where we
can lean on each other for hope and healing while
they are going through that process and provide what we
can do to make it closely symbolic to what they
would do during their Christmas as we can.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
That's why she's the CEO. Lindsay Ray Cortan with us
here of the Ronald House here in Omaha. And if
you've missed one of our editions of Community Matters where
we talk about signing the organ donor card. This is
a good reminder to do that. It's a beautiful tragedy
in a situation like that. So if people want to
(25:50):
actually see the Ronald House personally, you've got an event
coming up for her.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Yeah. So the other part of what we have the
opportunity to do is provide support for local families. So
we really encourage local families. After you see the pediatrician
or maybe you are going for your newborn appointments, we
have a space called the Treehouse and that is specifically
designed for local families to come and on the twenty second,
(26:16):
which most schools are out for the holidays, you can
come by. You can watch movies, do crafts. It's December
twenty second from ten to noon. So anyone who's like
maybe newborn to eight to ten years old, we've got
video games you can Moms or dads can work out
if you want to. We've got a healthy cafe and
we are just opening it up so that you can
(26:37):
come and have a play date in a cool space
where it's it's not just fun and inviting, but if
you have a child that is sick or not sick,
it's a place for you are accepted and welcomed and
just like every other family that stays with us.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
It's such a wonderful service that the Ronald House provides
and it's so easy to support. So, Lindsey Ray, what
do you need and how can people provide that for you?
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Well, there's a couple of things that we need. We
always are looking for volunteers to come in and help
support with anything from cleaning or making cookies or making dinner.
We've got a lot of groups that come in and
they will band together either with their family or with
work or a sports team and they'll make dinner each
night for the families. And we also actually just need
(27:22):
dollars that support the families who are there so that
there is someone always there no matter what time of
year it is, and we can provide wrap around services
and we can help them with tutoring.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
We can help get you support.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
If you've got food and security, we can buy things
like dinners and breakfast and things like that for the families.
So both cash and time are what we need the most.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
And how can they provide these things? How can they
learn more?
Speaker 5 (27:48):
You can learn more by checking us out online. Our
Mhcomaha dot org is our website and we're on almost
all social media platforms, so you can check us out
there too if you want to follow along with what
we're doing. Every Wednesday, we have a list that goes
out through social media. That's our wish list, and we
need things just like you do at home, trash bags
and batteries and things like that, all the way up
(28:10):
to we need paint supplies because we've got to repaint
the walls sometimes.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
R Mhcomaha dot org, perfect Ronald McDonald House Charities Omaha
dot org, Rmhcomaha dot org. And it's very easy to
be a regular contributor to this campaign. You do a
couple of beep pop boops on the phone, next thing
you know, you're you're donating every single month. That's super
easy to do.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Yeah, and then when you do donate every month, it's
a program called the League of Extraordinary Givers. So for
twenty five dollars, which is you know, each family that
comes in, we ask if they're willing to contribute twenty
five dollars, but most families are not able to and
so if you do once a month, you are supporting
that any family. You can choose the room you want
to support and so every family that comes in knows
(28:56):
that they have a place, and the consistency in which
you're giving really is emblematic of how this entire community
gives to.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
All the details about volunteering your time, volunteering your dollars
all at Rmhcomaha dot org. And I imagine about the
event the open house on Monday, December twenty second, you'll
find that on the website as well. Yes, all right,
our mhc Omaha dot org. She's the CEO of the
Ronald House here in Omaha, Lindsay Ray Corton. Always a pleasure,
(29:25):
Happy holidays. Thank you so much for what you do,
and thanks for telling us about it as always here
on Community Matters.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Likewise, thank you, Scott.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
This has been Community Matters, a weekly public affairs special
on CAT one O three, Omaha's Greatest Hits ninety nine
point nine, KGr News Radio, eleven ten KFAB, Country's Greatest
Hits ninety three three The Wolf and ninety six to
one Kiss FM. Thank you so much for listening, and
enjoy the rest of your day.
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