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From local leaders and hometown heroes to breaking stories and in-depth conversations, the KMAS Podcast brings you the voices that matter in Mason County, Washington. Hosted by longtime broadcaster Jeff Slakey, each episode dives into what’s happening around the Hood Canal—government, education, small business, the outdoors, and everything in between.
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Well folks, I got a great conversation now here with Angela Leander and we got hooked up through a listener She reached out and says Jeff you have got to talk to Angela. She's put together this Facebook group Together we eat and there's a lot of things going on now with snap benefits and the shutdown and whether or not it's gonna reopen Here in the next couple of days or not. It's still an important thing to talk about in our community as so many folks Struggle with food security, especially in the holiday seasons.
So I says, yeah, let's get her on the line and and here she is How are you doing? I'm great Jeff How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I'm excited to talk about this always looking at different ways to try to Get help out there for folks in our community.
Tell me a little bit about What you saw out there why you decided to kind of jump into this? Well, I Started together we eat because I believe that in uncertain times like these The strongest antidote to fear is action and love and when you bring those two things together, you just can't go wrong I've always had a very deep need to help people and to turn compassion into something real and tangible So I wanted to create a way for our community to come together Not just through food but through shared purpose kindness and learning from each other and that's really how together We eat was born and is is birthing as we speak. It's very new It's about neighbors helping neighbors and remembering that we are all in this together You know, that's one thing that I know I've learned over my many years on the radio interviewing people from all different Backgrounds at the end of the day. Everybody really wants the best for Mason County Everybody might have different ideas on how to get there, right? But everybody wants the best and that's what's so cool.
Is there's just so many different ideas and ways that folks can Get together. So this yeah this page your page is pretty new and already there's a lot of Conversation happening a lot of food gathering happening What are some of the places that you have already been able to help support? And what kind of support are you getting from people out there? Well We're really at the beginning of the journey, but that's what makes it so special so it's being built by neighbors for neighbors and it means the giving is personal and the connections are real and The impact is something we all are feeling as we do it and so how it works is Well for one thing we teamed up with a local sourdough expert who's going to teach us how to bake fresh bread Wow Not just for fun, but to make sure more families can enjoy real homemade food. Mm-hmm We also hosted a shellfish Harvesting class recently we went out with our Rissa.
She's our shell Harvesting expert and we gathered local clams and oysters and we learned how to harvest Sustainably, and we had such a great time. We'll definitely be doing that again soon So it's just turned into this beautiful Collaboration kind of like a village effort where everyone is bringing what they can whether it's cooking teaching Or just showing up to lend a hand What's so cool about that is that you know Obviously, there are many groups out there that will raise money and they'll raise They'll get box food donations and things like that. But it sounds like you're taking it even step further here and teaching how to You know in a sense I guess kind of be able to go forage or live off the land if you need to or use the abundant resources that we Have here in the county absolutely, I am a Forger of wild food myself.
I'm I'm just a novice but We're looking for somebody to come in and show us how to do some of that food is free. A lot of food is free Coming up next Friday. Well this Friday we have volunteers that are getting together to cook up casseroles We're gonna feed them so families who might otherwise go without dinner Can just pop it in the oven and have a warm ready-to-go meal And we have Concerned community members stepping forward to sponsor families for one or two weeks of groceries And it's a direct and humane way to give so instead of donating to something random or buying products You hope someone might want you're actually helping meet a real immediate need And so we also assemble Simple budget-friendly meal kits.
I'm actually doing that right now Filled with the basics so families can easily prepare nourishing meals at home And these are distributed through Bertie Brown of Mason County Community Resources she's out of the Shelton United Methodist Church and We are also deeply grateful to the Salish Roots food Sovereignty program and the Mason County Conservation District who donated over 700 pounds Fresh locally grown vegetables including carrots, spinach, corn, onions, squash, potatoes All harvested from local farms. That's amazing. Yeah, it's so exciting.
It's We've also partnered with Adam of Feed Needs and we serve hot meals every Tuesday and Thursday at Community Lifeline in Shelton Adam also distributes food to people every Saturday I think you mentioned a little but this Friday at 11 You're doing an event fill the freezer Friday. And so where and when and how folks can get involved? That is downtown at the Community Lifeline Center. Okay, it's at 11 o'clock If you want to come you need a food handlers permit and they have a little volunteer form that you fill out we're gonna meet at 11 and Slice and dice our hearts away It's gonna be a lot of fun.
I'm looking forward to it. I was thinking as you were talking to I Know a guy that does foraging tours up north near Brennan and so I'll send you his information He's great. He knows a lot about what's going on.
So I'll send you that so you can get in touch with him Thank you. This is a Really cool thing and here we are in the fall season too And a lot of folks are continuing with their gardens and the need is as great as it ever is These are the types of groups that you love to see Spring up to fill the need but you hate to see spring up because you know, the need is there You know what? I'm saying? Yeah. Well, we've been able to make a Quite an impact in just a little bit of time.
So we've shared dozens of meal kits We've sponsored multiple families for their basic grocery needs And we started adding more healthy options with the whole influx of vegetables into our meal kits So what's been beautiful is seeing how people come together Strangers becoming friends neighbors becoming community. I've always felt like that was missing here in Shelton it's such a beautiful town, but I don't know enough people and I know there's so much goodness in this town and I Just want to see everyone connect so it's never just about food It's about connection empowerment and remembering what it really means to care for each other If you're someone who has the means and wants to donate into this family Sponsorship, how do you do that? And then the opposite of that if you're a family in need and you know Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. It can be for some folks a little embarrassing Maybe to reach out and ask for help where how do we how do we start that process? Where do you go to? Get your name registered or however that works So you right now we're working on Getting like a sponsorship website set up Right now the easiest way to get in touch is either to post on our Facebook page or message me directly Um, you can find me on together.
We eat or any of the moderators on that group and it it takes a lot of courage to ask for help because It's hard. I know for me myself. It's This is a learning experience for me, too I'm one of those people who doesn't like to ask for help and I've just had so many Community members coming forward and volunteering their time and it's just amazing So it's a learning experience for all of us.
And yeah, you can just reach out Give me a list of your basic grocery needs and I have if you would like to sponsor a family You can contact me the same way We saw the Shut down had been going on for a while, but we really saw here at the beginning of November how Big the need is across the country and here locally for folks who do receive those snap benefits, you know it's a lot more people than Folks might imagine, you know folks even with Full time or close to full-time employment that's still not able to make ends meet. So these benefits that Folks were missing over these last nine days or so really kind of shown a light on That need I think probably even more than just continuing to you know Have that kind of just out there as a as a talking point really don't you think? yeah, and There's a lot of people who aren't eligible for benefits who make maybe $4 over the income limit, but they're still struggling and and they're still facing food insecurity we're encouraging those people to reach out to this is for everyone and we're trying to bring dignity to and compassion to the process So it's not a dehumanizing thing. It's like we're all in this together and the more and and like a girl who Had got meal kits in the very beginning is helping me assemble meal kits now People are are able to receive and give back.
So it's like this whole ecosystem You're doing the great work here Angela and you have a lot of great support there to the together we eat page I'll put the links to this. It's on the Facebook 317 members strong in a very short amount of time as folks saw the need and we're looking to Find an outlet to share their things You can see on the page how many people just have so much to give From eggs like you were saying to different types of cabbages and all the things It's a very again Heartwarming group to have going on and it's one of these groups that we hope you know a year or less from now Months from now we can go well Yes, you succeeded we don't have to do that, but I think this is kind of an ongoing thing, especially as people start to Become a tighter-knit community yeah, and and there's more than one way to give if you don't have Spare resources to give like meal kit ingredients, etc you can give your time or you might have a skill that you can teach and and It's there's more than one way to give it's just there the possibilities are endless just talking with you I know I have a Foraging expert sure possibly come teach a class so there you go. That's how it's happening it's just it's just unfolded beautifully everything is We are all connecting and working with all the different Organizations in town that are already in place has been just wonderful It's we have so many good community members Well Angela it was great talking to you and I want to give a shout out to Deb who reached out to me and says you need to talk with her on The air and explain what's going on here.
And so a big thanks as well and I'll put the links to your Facebook page on the post here with this conversation and Folks are encouraged to help. However, they can I really appreciate the time. I Together we eat on Facebook and find me there