9. Feeding Our Community (Featuring Three Square)

Show Notes

Victoria and Ashley interview Will from Three Square about the organization and the importance of giving back to the community.

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Welcome to the Unqualified Culinary Critics, a podcast centered around food and cultural experiences. We want to not only share our own perspectives in life, but hope that these stories connect in some way to each one of you as well.

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In this episode, we will be talking about feeding our community and why it's important. So with that, we have a guest who will be going into the specifics of it. He is the marketing outreach specialist for Three Square Food Bank here in Las Vegas, and I would like to introduce to all of you Will Edwards. Will, thank you very much for coming in to the Unqualified Culinary Critics. It's very nice to have you and very nice to meet you. Hey, thank you guys

0:00:36
so much for having us. It's always a pleasure to talk about the stuff that we're doing and how we're helping the community. So what does the

0:00:45
marketing outreach specialist mainly do for Three Square, if you don't mind us asking.

0:00:49
Everything. So basically, there are several different functions for this position. One, I organize and manage Las Vegas Restaurant Week for Three Square. I also cultivate and oversee our culinary council here at Three Square. I work on third-party events. So if there's a, like you guys, are considered a third-party event because you're doing a virtual food drive that benefits Three Square. So I am over third party events as well.

0:01:23
That's good. And how long have you had this job and what made you want to get involved with this organization?

0:01:29
Well, a long time ago, many, many, many moons ago, I used to have a late night talk show show called the Will Edwards Show, which people can find it on YouTube now. But at that time, Three Square was our charity of choice, and it was because they could take a dollar and 94 cents of every dollar went back into the fight against hunger. So there was no other organization that could say that. So we picked Three Square, and then time went on. I finished the show, and I thought, you know what? I need to do something with some purpose and whatnot. So I ended up here and next year it'll be five years.

0:02:08
That's good.

0:02:09
It's an interesting thing. Before getting into marketing, I worked in the childhood nutrition programs. So I did that for six months and then I moved on to grocery store rescue, which I did for a year and a half. And I've been in marketing for a little over two years.

0:02:25
What's your favorite part about being a marketing outreach specialist?

0:02:29
Wow. I think my favorite part of it is I have an opportunity to create ways to get the word out about hunger in Southern Nevada. And one of those ways is that I'm working on producing a television show, 432, and I think that will be one of the only food banks in the nation that has a television show. But my job is, you know, it's just to get the word out on as many platforms as we possibly can, you know, so that we're reaching a lot more people and reaching people who might need help or reaching people who wanna give help.

0:03:07
So with the television show, could you tell us a little more about that?

0:03:11
So I don't know, have you guys been to Three Square?

0:03:15
Yes, I have.

0:03:17
Okay. So you know we have a huge demonstration kitchen in the front of Three Square. So we use a demonstration kitchen. So the idea of the show is really, it's a bit of like a overblown infomercial about Three Square. and they are going to fix a meal from items that you might find at your local pantry or food distribution or just maybe items you might have in your house. And in the middle of that, we interview somebody from ThreeSquare, we talk to them about what their department does for the community and how can people get in touch with them for those services. We do a little bit about people who support ThreeSquare, we do a little interview about that. So it's a real kind of a bit of a fun way and a very educational way because sometimes we get stuff in our distributions that or at a pantry that some people might not know how to use, right? So how do you use a zucchini or how do you use a butternut squash or, you know, so this is going to be a great, I think it's going to be a really good way to not only help people but get them information as well.

0:04:30
Yeah, that's good to hear. I've volunteered with Three Square before and like I know sometimes like I've done like you know handing out the groceries, the food, and I remember some like this one time this one lady, we gave her a squash and she's like, how do I do, what do I do with this? And you know like thankfully like, like you know, I don't really know how to cook That's why I'm on this podcast. But like, you know, I was just like, oh you can look up like candy. Yeah, or like candy pumpkins like try and do like a Dessert or something like that. I know my mom has done that with like splashes before so nice I'm just like maybe that'll help But yeah, that's that's really good that you're doing that.

0:05:15
Yeah, we're excited about it.

0:05:17
Yeah, and hopefully we can bring more awareness to it with this so people who are going to the pantry know about it and can look these recipes up as well.

0:05:27
Exactly. I mean, I think that's... I mean, for the listeners who might not know about Three Square Food Bank, we are Southern Nevada's only food bank. We service Lincoln, Nye, Esmeralda, and Clark counties. In Southern Nevada right now, there's more than 340,000 people who struggle with hunger. So to put it in perspective, we all know Allegiant Stadium, if you're in Las Vegas, you've heard of it, you know it, you've seen it. If you filled Allegiant Stadium a little more than which is 65,000 people each time. That's the number of people that are food insecure. That's why this work is so vitally important. And especially now with inflation and prices going up and it is a very, very tough time for working families and individuals to feed themselves. And that's where we come in.

0:06:22
Yeah, that's good that we have you guys to help out with that, with that, because that is a lot of people, unfortunately.

0:06:29
It is, it is. I think that I say this a lot to people, you know, we at ThreeSquare, we're trying to work ourselves out of a job, you know, by having enough food for everyone who needs it and wants it. And the unfortunate thing as well is that it's an essential, you have to, you have to eat. You know, if, think about this. Have you ever just, you just, I'm pretty sure because you guys recently graduated, I think, but think about this. You're going your whole day and then you forget to eat, right? So you go your whole day, you forget to eat, it's three o'clock now, you're just hungry. You're hungry, you're angry, you know, your stomach is growling. But think about a person who don't know where the next meal is going to come from. They feel that way all the time.

0:07:17
Right?

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And I think that, you know, some people think, oh, it's just about food. But I don't, I think it's more than about food. I'll share with you guys that when I lived in New York City for about five years, in the last two and a half years, I was food insecure in New York. I didn't know that's what I was. I just thought, oh, I'm poor, so I have to figure out how to make this dollar last longer. You know, and there's something very debilitating about not being able to feed your family. You know, I think that we all have this spirit of hope, you know, hope that things will get better, you know, hope that the relationship will last, you know, all of this kind of hope. But when you're food insecure, you literally have very little hope. And when people donate to Three Square and when volunteers come out like you, Victoria, we're not just giving people food, we're giving them hope that they can get out of this situation that they might find themselves in.

0:08:19
Yeah. Yeah. And it's good work. So I mean, food's like a basic necessity, like everyone should have access to food. So I'm glad that you guys are doing that and helping people out. Like you said, you didn't even realize that you were food, that you were food insecure. And I feel like there's many people in that position, who don't even realize, you know, that like, hey, if I go to ThreeSquare, they could help me out, that they don't even realize that they could get this type of help or that they need it. So it's really great that like you're sharing your story like that, especially now because like you said, with inflation and everything, and I know like during the pandemic as well, I'm sure people are still feeling the effects of that. And I wanted to ask you, do you feel like since the pandemic, you guys have seen more people or like more people going over to Three Square? Or like, how has the pandemic affected your job, affected you guys?

0:09:19
Yeah.

0:09:20
That's a great question. Let me say this before I answer your question. Here's the way a food bank works. So Three Square acquires the food, and then we have 180 community partners that we work with. And those partners might have pantries at their church or at the library, or they do food distributions. So we get the food in, we get it to them, and then they get it to our hungry neighbors. No one can come to Three Square and get food. It has to be through one of those agency.

0:09:50
At one of the sites, yeah.

0:09:52
Correct, correct. And that information can be found on threesquare.org. And there is a tab that says, Get Help. And when you click that tab, it takes you to a list of our partners and a map as well. As far as the pandemic, of course, we were an essential business. So we, we worked through all of the pandemic and it was very difficult because, you know, you go into, it's an emergency. You're in an emergency situation. So, like I said, we had 180 partners and we had to cut it. It got cut down to only 10 during the pandemic because a lot of those partners are elderly people who are at risk of getting COVID and dying. So they closed their doors. So we had 10 of them strategically placed around the valley and then Three Square did something that we'd never done before and we did direct food emergency distributions in the community. You might have saw Pallet Station or the Eastside Cannery, they all allowed us to use their facility in order to get the distribution. So you know you're talking four or five miles of cars lined up to get food because they don't have jobs anymore. They worked on the strip, everything's closed down. It was very, very tough and probably that happened the start of the pandemic. And we kept it going for a few years. And just about two or three months ago, we ended the last one. So it was a long time. It was a long time. And then and then now we have our hundred and eighty back and can reach back out into the community.

0:11:32
Yeah. Do you feel like you'll be able to reach out more people now that you have that back? Now that everybody, all the partners

0:11:40
are back? Yeah, it is very, it's far better, but like you said, Victoria, there are things that affected us during the pandemic that hasn't, you know, fully come back. You know, we used to have tons and tons of volunteers, and we still have a lot of volunteers, but it's not to the to the pre-pandemic numbers, you know, we serviced a lot more kids during that time period before the pandemic. Now it's a little less than it was then. So we're still feeling the pinch, I think, from the pandemic. And now on top of the pandemic, we have inflation and

0:12:18
higher prices for food. So yeah. So go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna ask, so like for anyone who's like looking to volunteer with you guys or like help you guys out at the distribution site or anything like that, how would you suggest they go about that?

0:12:38
So they should go on to 3dsquare.org backslash volunteer. When they go on there, there is a form that they will fill out, and it will give them a volunteer ID number. number, once they have that number, they can log into the portal and find different volunteer opportunities that they can sign up online. So they don't even have to come all the way here, they can just sign up online for the different opportunities and then just be there. The other thing as well is that you know, anyone can volunteer at any of our community partners. So if let's say, you live close to Shade Tree or you live close to Catholic charities and you just want to give them a hand, you can always reach out to them and say, hey, looking for volunteer opportunities there. That helps us as well.

0:13:29
What volunteering options do you have available for people that are looking for help? Like what, how can they, if they're interested in helping, how can they do that? And then what can they do? Like, what are their options if they want to help? Like, do you have more than one thing for them to help in, more than one volunteering opportunity?

0:13:51
Well, it depends on the programs that are running at the time. So let's talk a little bit about programs. So right now we have the after-school program called Kids Cafe. We team up with 21st Century, Safekey, those guys, and we provide a meal for the kids for after school. Sometimes it's the last meal that that kid might have depending on their situation at home. So we package those meals every day in our kitchen. So that's a volunteer opportunity. We also have a program called the Backpack for Kids program, and that is a bag of shelf-stable items that kids get for the weekend. So if their food is secure, their counselor will identify who in the school is food insecure, and then they will get them a bag into their backpack very discreetly, so they have something to eat over the weekend. And then of course, we have, there's a breaking down of produce, things of that nature that happens as well. We have two buildings. During the pandemic, we opened a third building. It's about a half a mile down Craig Road from where I am right now. And it's our senior hunger building. And in that building, houses, of course, they have their own warehouse and volunteer room. But in that building, one of the programs that's run is the Senior Hunger Program. And that program has different aspects to it. One of the aspects is there's something called Golden Groceries. And we have partners who designate certain hours for seniors 60 and above to go in so they don't feel rushed, they don't feel crowded, they can do it at their own leisure at their own time. They also do congregal meals as well, where they get together and have meals around the valley, which is great because a lot of our seniors have been almost forgotten, so to speak. It's a community of individuals who are high at risk for a lot of things. So to be able to come to a meal, be able to see someone, to be able to make friends there, be able to plan to come back the next day or days later, has been very, very positive for our seniors. That program also does home deliveries as well.

0:16:14
That's good.

0:16:15
They also offer free lift rides as well for seniors 60 and better. So you can get a lift ride to a pantry, you can lift ride to a grocery store or to a meal and it's free of charge round trip. All they have to do is call our call center, which we also have. And our call center helps individuals sign up for SNAP benefits, which was once called food stamps, but SNAP benefits. So those applications are tough to get through. So the call center will walk you through it, they'll do the interview, and they'll even submit it for anyone who wants those benefits. So there's a lot happening.

0:16:56
Yes, yes, I'm glad that you're helping out everybody.

0:17:01
That's very good.

0:17:02
It's always a good thing to just have resources. And of course, if somebody is food insecure or they're struggling with hunger, they're gonna have other issues as well. And our call center definitely helps with wraparound services and such. So if somebody says, oh, well, yes, I do need SNAP benefits, and but right now I can't, you know, I need some assistance on my energy bill. We can connect them to someone who has the assistance. So we've made contacts with different organizations throughout the valley to help individuals who need those wraparound services. If you find that there's a distribution that you want to work at, you can always do that as well. So there's a lot of little things that one can do. So I would say to anybody that's listening, if you want to get involved and you want to help the community through ThreeSquare, yeah, just explore it. There has to be something out there for you, and you should definitely do something that you like and that you feel is making an impact against hunger. I think that's the key on involuntary. Don't just do it to do it. Do it because you think, man, as I'm packing this meal, you know, tomorrow, this kid is going to be able to have a great meal and I'm happy to do it. That's good. That's a very good point.

0:18:14
So I kind of just want to, I think, well, I believe you kind of did go over the mission statement for Three Square and basically, if this is correct, it's just nobody should go hungry. It's just a matter of we want to feed the community because everybody deserves to have basically food, which is like Victoria said earlier, a basic necessity. Is that correct or would you like to elaborate

0:18:36
further on that? No, it definitely sounds good and it's an important thing to know. I think that sometimes if you are not, if you yourself have not experienced food insecurity or if you're not around people who have experienced it, the likelihood is that you won't know that there's a hunger problem in Las Vegas. It's a wealthy place. The Strip is full of huge hotels. People are spending tons and tons of money. You would never think that there was a hunger problem here in Las Vegas, but there is. And we are fortunate to have such fantastic partners here in Las Vegas. Earlier, Victoria asked me about, you know, volunteer options and so forth. But another option of helping is making a donation and donating. And right now, until the end of December, any donation that gets processed can be doubled. So usually, one dollar, we can create three meals. But for this period of time, one dollar can provide six meals. And that's because we have some very incredible sponsors for our holiday match campaign.

0:19:45
Do you guys have a lot of local businesses partner with you guys, just so we know, you know, to keep an eye out for them, support them as well. Yeah, we do.

0:19:55
I mean, and everybody does something differently. I said at the early part of the podcast, I'm over third party events, which means that if a company or an organization or even an individual or like you guys, a podcast, want to do an event that benefits 3D Squared, I think the best types are events that that business already does.

0:20:19
Do you know what I mean?

0:20:20
So I'll take, for example, one of our partners is Green Valley Grocery. And Green Valley Grocery did something called the Giving Pumps. And there was a gas pump at a lot of their locations, one gas pump. And when you pumped gas from there, they would give us a portion of the funds. So that's a great example of a really good third-party event because they didn't have to recreate anything. They didn't have to try to make cupcakes to sell or anything of that nature.

0:20:51
Yeah.

0:20:52
They did what they already do. And the community is better because of it.

0:20:56
Yeah, they didn't have to go out of their way to do something. That's it. Yeah, I remember seeing those around. I wasn't exactly sure what they were for, but that's cool. Knowing that, you know, it was for that. And that, yeah, I am unknowingly helped with that. Well, thank you. Yeah, that's pretty interesting. So it's like these businesses or even people if they're interested, they really don't have to go out of their way. They can just continue doing what they're doing and helping you guys out. That's good to know.

0:21:24
Yeah, yeah. And we, you know, being in Southern Nevada, we are extremely fortunate because we have a great board of directors. We have great executives here. Everyone that works here is here, you know, to help the community. Everybody has a story about why they're doing it or what it means to them. And it's all, in my opinion, it's all very very beautiful and and we need these soldiers out there fighting for the

0:21:51
community. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I just want to like take the moment to say, like Victoria, I did volunteer with Three Square in a different way, but I didn't volunteer at Three Square directly. I haven't been there, but I've heard of the site. I was recently invited to go to the location, but I said I'll take up on that offer. I might. So maybe it might happen one day, but to kind of just briefly reveal my involvement with Three Square, you know, when COVID happened, like in, we know in 2020, but in late 2024, this club that I was in, I wanted to get involved with 3Square in the beginning, but I kind of got scared thinking, is this a good idea? Like now looking back on it, it is, but at the same time, it's a little bit different because some may not be able to make the donation, even though it's just $1. And we didn't want to come off as insensitive in the beginning. So I kind of had to think about it a little bit more. And then eventually in March of last year, we decided to, we partnered with you guys and decided to just have the fundraiser go from March all the way until the end of December. So that was one thing that we did.

0:23:01
That's fantastic, I appreciate that.

0:23:03
Thank you, and then in another club that I was in, and in both of these clubs, they were, when I was still in college, we just basically did the same thing again. So we raised about like, I'd say over $500 just to help you all out because we really wanted to just give back to the community. We're a food podcast now and we're passionate about food, so we really want to just partner with you guys again and just talk about why it's important to give back to the community. We just think that if more people can hear us out and hear what you and the rest of the organization have to say about why it's important to give back to food banks, then hopefully it'll get people to kind of think about it and go, yeah, it's a good idea. We should help out even the smallest things.

0:23:46
Yeah. It's very interesting that you say that. I'm usually out of the community doing different events and different places and people apologize. Oh, I only have a dollar or I only have $5. And I say, look, if you give me a dollar, there's going to be three meals given out somewhere. So even giving a dollar will help someone have three wholesome meals. And I think that's very important for people to understand is that, you know, Vegas is an interesting town and people always like, oh, there's no culture here, there's no community, and da da da. But I'm gonna tell you something, when Vegas is pushed up against the wall, when Southern Nevada is pushed up against the wall, they come back stronger. And it's the same thing with the fight against hunger. You know, we have relationships with most of the casino properties, we have relationships with the Raiders and the Golden Knights, the Vegas Golden Knights, and we have been in so many other organizations and everybody is in for the fight. And I think that that is admirable for our community to come out. I mentioned earlier as well in June of every year, we do a Las Vegas Restaurant Week. Have you guys participated in that ever?

0:24:57
No, but I'd heard of it.

0:24:59
No. Because this coming year, you have to participate. There's something for everyone and there's something for everyone's budget. But Las Vegas Restaurant Week for me, because I run it, it's such an amazing community event. We get phone calls from people overseas, people in Canada wanting to know when the dates are so they can schedule their vacation around restaurant week. And it's just a time that we all come together for a good meal and for a good cause. And you really start, you really see how this community, especially the culinary community, really goes above and beyond. We had 211 participants for restaurant week and it was fantastic. We raised a little over $200,000, you know, that went back into the fight. So, you know, I was having a conversation, Tori, before you came on with Ashley, and I said to her, I said, you know, everyone here at Three Square, who works here at Three Square, we kind of wrap our heads around how does what I do directly impact that working family or that individual who needs who needs food or needs help and I think it's very important that we all look at it in that way whether you're a volunteer whether you donate money you know anything of that nature whether you come to an event whatever you do connect it back to that kid who gets to eat a meal because we did what we did and I think that that's an important thing to look at. Yes

0:26:29
I know that three squares gotten so active lately and Yeah, just hearing about you know, you guys giving back like meeting at Allegiant Stadium on Thanksgiving and just giving back To I believe Catholic Charities. I think you guys were cooking with we were we work with yep Okay. Yes, that's good. Like hearing that stuff on the news, like I'm really glad that just the positivity that was publicized with what you guys did, it just it's so inspiring. And we're really glad that, you know, it inspires everybody. Hopefully it does inspire everybody to just get involved, like hearing this stuff, it just helped us get involved with partnering with you guys, just so we can basically go after the same thing, which is give back to the community by feeding people in need.

0:27:17
Yeah, I agree. I think that it's, you know, I always say to people who either donate money or donate their time, I always say, thank you for supporting the community through Three Square. Right. So you're really, no matter what you do, you're really supporting that family who needs help or that senior who needs help. And I think that that is the real thing. That's the real importance of it all is that it takes a village. Well, it definitely takes a village to feed the village and so that's what happens here. I'm very proud of the work that we do and I'm proud to partner with fantastic people like you guys and other organizations and companies who see the need and they respond in a positive way.

0:28:05
Yeah, absolutely. I mean we're talking about food banks, we're talking about giving back to the community. In your opinion, why is it important to donate to our local food banks? Like I'm sure that people who are listening to us may not live in Vegas, they could probably live in like Salt Lake City or anywhere around the world basically. Like we're kind of wondering, in your opinion, since you work at a food bank, why is it very important to donate to local food banks?

0:28:34
Well, hunger is not a Southern Nevada thing. It's not, you know, a West Coast thing. It's all over the world, you know? And hunger doesn't take a break. It doesn't go on vacation. It doesn't ease up because it's the holidays. Hunger is there. And I think that in order for us to solve the hunger problems in our community, we have to work together. There's just no other way. And we are a member of Feeding America, which has a network of more than 200 food banks across the nation. And probably every major city, you're going to find a food bank that's out there. And I encourage you to learn about that food bank. I encourage you to go in and take a tour and see how the food bank actually works. Because I think that most people believe that a food bank is just like a soup kitchen or a pantry, a small little thing. And then when you arrive, you think, oh my gosh, you guys have three buildings trying to feed Southern Nevada. And I think that once you see what goes into it, how many people are working on it, you know, you see our warehouses, three large warehouses, you get the idea of the scope of the fight that we're fighting. earlier before coming here, I was very food insecure. And then you have to do things when you don't have food. You have to figure out, do I go to the doctor or do I eat for this month? And some of us are fortunate enough not to have to make that sort of a decision, but more than 340,000 Southern Nevadans have to make those decisions. And I think that for those who are more fortunate, you know, it is helpful to those working families and those individuals out there who just need a tiny bit of a help, tiny bit of a boost up. I think it's our, you know, as a community, it's our duty to help where we can. Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, me too. And you find that we do, and you find that we do. We're probably, people help out more than everybody knows, but we could always use more.

0:30:55
Yeah. I understand that. I was looking at the history of Three Square in the past, and I read that one of the members of the Hilton family was responsible for starting Three Square because I heard that the food bank preceding Three Square is shutting its doors. So one of the members of the Hilton family took over and just decided to start from there. And I'm kind of glad this is still correct.

0:31:22
Yeah, you did great research. Fantastic. So in 2006, the Clark County Community Food Bank was just about to close its doors. And around that time, some folks came together and Three Square was starting to be born, let's say, around that time. But it was Eric Hilton of the Hilton family who lived here with his wife in Las Vegas at the time, and he saw that the food bank was closing down and thought that we, he said to his wife that we have to do something about this. We can't have people in our community hungry. So he went to the Hilton Foundation and he helped and he's the founder of ThreeSquare because of it. And you know, it just shows that, you know, the heart of him and his wife and the foundation and the other foundations that came aboard to help Three Square get established and provide food to the community. I think it's a fantastic story. I think it is a story of love and compassion. And I think that it's those kind of things and those kind of people that help, you know, nonprofits in our community thrive. You know, and if people are donating to us, if we're thriving and we're getting food, that means the community is getting food and eating and, you know, going to sleep with a full belly and not being hungry during class and not able to concentrate because you're so hungry.

0:32:44
You know, those are the things that we try very hard to avoid. Yeah, because the reason I brought Eric Hilton up is because of the whole like why is it important to donate to local food banks because he, the Hilton family, everybody that was involved with starting Three Square, they basically started the establishment and now it's

0:33:05
our turn to help keep the fire going basically. Exactly and never ever in volunteering or in philanthropy, never think that, oh, I'm just one person and I can't make a difference. You actually can. You actually can make a difference. Anything that you do that is helping anyone in the community, you are making a difference. You know, I learned something. We don't know where other people are in their lives, you know, and it's as simple as maybe saying hello to somebody in the supermarket that changes their disposition or maybe it is standing, you know, and volunteering in a line with people that you don't know and realizing that you both have the same feelings of having to help the community, you know, in common. So I think that anyone out there who's listening and want to get involved, of course we're talking about Three Square in Southern Nevada, but you know even if you're not here, there is a food bank or there are pantries in your area and I'm pretty sure that they could use the help. But here in Thales Valley, if anybody wants to help, so if you want to get help or you want to give help, you can go to 3square.org. It's spelled out, T-H-R-E-E-S-Q-U-A-R-E.org. You guys are invited to come up for a tour, but I will personally give you the VIP tour.

0:34:27
Thank you. Thank you.

0:34:29
Yeah, I might take up on that offer too, actually.

0:34:33
Go on, we'll give you the tour.

0:34:36
Yeah, I've been there before too, because I've volunteered with Three Square. Like, I've helped distribute food, and then I've also helped like package food and all that. So, yeah, I was just kind of curious to know, like, when was the most recent time you went to ThreeSquare to volunteer? It was right before the pandemic. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to volunteer since, but it was right before the pandemic in like November 2019. Okay. out that one of my other friends was also volunteering there and we had no idea that we both were volunteering, you know, so it was pretty cool. So we kind of made it a habit that year of like going together. That's good. Yes. Yeah. How did you hear about Three Square and what made you want to volunteer with them, Victoria? I think I can't remember how I heard about them, but like I know I've known about them since like high school. And you know, just like wanting to help out the community because I am like, I was born and raised here and I'm very much about like, you know, like I hate people who are like, oh, Vegas is lame or Vegas doesn't have a culture, community or stuff like that. It's like, we do, you're just not a part of it. Cause you know, you're not putting yourself out there and helping people out. And then you're not also taking the time to do the research. Yeah. Yeah, that's just my hot take. Like, there is a culture, there is a community, there's lots of people here who help each other and who, you know, like, I don't know, it's just because I'm born and raised here, so I'm just like, I love this city, so I want to show my love for the city and give back. Yeah, I mean, it's a

0:36:22
good thing. Yeah, it's absolutely great. It's just amazing, you know, like I'm not born in Vegas, I'm born in California, but I've been here for over 15 years, and I'm happy to say that Vegas is my home. So I will definitely say that just, you know, putting oneself out there, it's just a good thing. You know, doing the research, learning that Vegas does have a culture, Vegas does have a good background and stuff, like in the end, we're all really like family, basically, Vegas

0:36:49
strong.

0:36:50
And I think, I think that, I think here's the thing. Find the thing that you are passionate about, right? Because there is an organization out there, you know, if you're passionate about veterans and how veterans are treated when they get back, there's an organization for you. If you're passionate about young people coming out of high school and going into college there's programs that you can be a part of. So I think that you just have to find the thing that you really like and that that really speaks to you and then it won't even feel like you're volunteering it it'll just feel like you're just making a difference in the world and even if it's just with one person that's one person better off than they were beforehand.

0:37:37
before him. I agree, yeah, it's a wonderful point. There's so many ways that you can

0:37:44
help out. Of course I want everybody to come here, but... And who says they can't? But you know, I just, I agree with you guys. I think that, I mean, I did not live here. I was born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, and I lived in New York City for five years before Finally coming here next year. It'll be 17 years that I've been in Las Vegas and you know over the years I'm sure both of you probably more particularly Victoria has seen so many changes That have occurred in Las Vegas and every year There's more changes and people and that sort of a thing and I just think that it just gives us more of an opportunity to be out there, to be exploring our community, exploring, you know, different opportunities. And I think it just makes Las Vegas even stronger when we take interest in the things that are happening around

0:38:44
us. Yes. Yeah. Well, do we have any final thoughts? Anything that we want to bring up before we finish the episode?

0:38:55
Victoria, what are your final thoughts?

0:38:57
I just think, you know, like I really do agree with you that you do have to find that one thing you're passionate about and help in that area. And then like, even then, you can still probably help with more than one cause. So, you know, just find anything you're interested in and just look up what you can and then with Three Square like they're a great organization um you know you guys do so much and help so many people like I volunteered with you I know I've said it throughout the episode like I volunteered with you guys before um I've seen it you know I've seen the help people getting the help that they need with food and you know being happy that they're able to get something to eat, something to get on their plate, you know? So it's just, you know, we gotta continue helping you guys out and helping out with these great programs that are actually shaping people's lives for the better.

0:39:50
Yeah.

0:39:51
That's great. That's great. I agree with you. And if I had final thoughts, it would be visit our website, go through it, threesquare.org. And find something that you might be passionate about. Hunger and being hungry is no fun. It's no fun at all. And I think that we have the wherewithal to solve the problem with enough resource. So consider each of you a resource for your local food bank and get out there and do some stuff. So once again, if you want to get help and you need a little hand up, go to 3squared.org. If you want to give help, go to 3squared.org. What do you Ashley?

0:40:36
Well, my final thoughts is just very simple. I agree with everybody, what they have to say. That's just basically my final thoughts. And, you know, if I have to say something from my own heart, I would just say, please do count your blessings, but also help people out. They may not be as lucky as you are, but if there's one thing that I was raised to know, raised to learn, it's be grateful, but also give back. Because that's just something that a lot of people take for granted. And I mean, I'm here. I'll help you in whatever way I can. With that, I will turn it over to Victoria to end the episode.

0:41:22
Victoria All right. So one more thing I want to add, if you're somebody who needs help, do not be ashamed of that and reach out to ThreeSquare. You know, these are tough times we're all going through right now. So yeah, never feel bad for and reach out. But yes, so thank you guys so much for listening. We really appreciate it and if you guys could donate, please do so. We have our links posted on our social media for our donations, so make sure you go on there and our social medias. For Instagram it's unqualified culinary critics and then for Twitter, could you send me the term? I'm sorry.

0:42:02
Uh, I can help you out with that. It's uncalcrit, so I'll just spell it out for you. It's at u-n-q-c-u-l-c-r-i-t. Again, that's at u-n-q-c-u-l-c-r-i-t. And I hope I spelled it right the same time. So, yes. And then for the link to our fundraiser, if you don't follow social media it's www.3squared.org slash UCC again that's www.3squared.org slash UCC so Victoria I'll get back to

0:42:38
you again. Okay yeah so make sure you follow us on there and make sure you guys stay tuned and listen to our next episodes and yeah definitely donate to Three Squares, especially right now before December. $1 equals six meals. So you're going to be helping a lot of people, even with just $1. Like that's all you need sometimes. Yeah. But yeah, thank you guys so much. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this episode. Have a wonderful day, week, year, all that good stuff.

0:43:11
Yes, and I just want to make one final thank you to Will Edwards for being a guest representing Three Square. We're just really happy to partner with you guys and thank you so much for putting the time to speak out about Three Square and why it's important to feed the community. Well thank you for having me and thank you important to feed the community. Well thank you for having me and thank you

0:43:28
for what you're doing. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Transcribed with Cockatoo