Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode!
Imagine a holiday season where no one is left out in the cold, where everyone has a plate at the banquet table of community support. That's what we're bringing to the spotlight in this episode, as we turn our attention to the tireless efforts of various community organizations.
We're bringing you up close and personal with representatives from the Kings Community Action Organization, Valley Voices, and the Soup Kitchen. Glean inspiration from how the Kings Community Action Organization is providing essential resources to those in need, and discover how you can make a difference. Hear directly from Savino Perico and Juan Martinez from Kings Community Action Organization, Claire Fitiaussi of Valley Voices and Julie Kelly of the Soup Kitchen as they share their relentless efforts in public health, food distribution, civic engagement, and workers' rights. So, buckle up for an enlightening discourse and find out how you can lend a hand in lighting up this holiday season for those in need within our community.
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
Thank you for supporting the show!
Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode!
Imagine a holiday season where no one is left out in the cold, where everyone has a plate at the banquet table of community support. That's what we're bringing to the spotlight in this episode, as we turn our attention to the tireless efforts of various community organizations.
We're bringing you up close and personal with representatives from the Kings Community Action Organization, Valley Voices, and the Soup Kitchen. Glean inspiration from how the Kings Community Action Organization is providing essential resources to those in need, and discover how you can make a difference. Hear directly from Savino Perico and Juan Martinez from Kings Community Action Organization, Claire Fitiaussi of Valley Voices and Julie Kelly of the Soup Kitchen as they share their relentless efforts in public health, food distribution, civic engagement, and workers' rights. So, buckle up for an enlightening discourse and find out how you can lend a hand in lighting up this holiday season for those in need within our community.
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
Thank you for supporting the show!
On this episode of the Hanford Insider, we'll get an inside look at how several community organizations are assisting the underserved members of our community during this holiday season.
Speaker 2:This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, november 13. Welcome to this episode of the Hanford Insider. I'm your host, Rob Bentley. I'd like to thank you for listening to the show. Your words of encouragement have fueled me each week. Be sure to stop by our website at HanfordInsidercom and leave a review of the show. It really helps grow the podcast.
Speaker 2:Well, it looks like fall weather is finally arriving this week, with a good chance of rain and temperatures down into the lower 60s. At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, the council recognized officer Mark Carillo for creating trauma bags for all of the local schools and training staff on proper use of the bags in the event of a medical emergency. Judy Scott was appointed to serve on the Parks and Recreation Department Commission. The council also voted to extend the license agreement with the Carnegie Museum of Kings County through 2024 to operate the museum in the old Carnegie Library building. The council also heard from a consultant about a rate study for water, sewer and storm drain services. Well rates will likely be going up in February. It's getting very expensive to maintain city services. City Councilman Lou Martinez brought up the need for crosswalks and better lighting on Phillip Street, especially after the recent accident there. Finally, the City Council voted to cancel the November 21st meeting due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Speaker 2:Let's check our community calendar. Does your favorite high schooler need a dress for the upcoming Winter formal? The Cinderella Project is giving dresses away for free this Saturday, november 19th, from 11-3 at the Hanford High School District Office next to Wienersnitzel. New and gently used dresses will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. You must present a valid ID to participate. Hey, guess what? Hanford Winter Wonderland opens this Saturday, november 18th. Visit HanfordWinterWonderlandcom for information and tickets. The Children's Storybook Garden has a great line of activities coming up. Visit their website at childrenstorybookgardenorg for a calendar of fun. The Kings County Art League will be holding a holiday artist's market on Saturday, november 25th from 9-1 in the Fast Plaza Atrium. Tickets are on sale now for the Main Street Hanford Wine and Chocolate Tasting event on Friday, december 1st at MainStreetHanfordcom. The Kings players are still presenting the play Much Ado Out West during the month of November. This is an outstanding children's production. For more information and tickets, visit kingsplayersorg.
Speaker 2:The Hanford Fire Department is holding their annual Toys for Tots drive now through December. You can drop off your donation at Fire Station no 1 on Grangeville Boulevard between 8 and 5. The Kings County Child Sports Services Slipper Sock Drive for senior citizens is currently underway. They are asking for donations of one size fits all slipper socks that have a skid proof bottom. Donations can be dropped off at their office in the Fast Plaza at 312 West 7th Street. I'll be grabbing events as I see them on the Hanford Sentinel calendar and social media pages. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. You can find your information to HanfordInsider at gmailcom.
Speaker 2:In marching band news. The Hanford Music Teachers would like to thank everyone that came out on Wednesday night to support the annual Hanford Band Showcase. It was a great evening of music. The competition season wrapped up on Saturday and here are your results. In the Western Band Association Regional Championships held in Kingsburg on Saturday, the Hanford High School Band placed third in Division IIA and Hanford West High School placed third in Division IVA. In the California State Band Championships, northern Regional, held in Visalia, the CR Pacific High School Band placed seventh in the IVA Division. Congratulations to all of the bands. We'll get a chance to see them in next week's Hanford Christmas Parade. It is a very caring community.
Speaker 2:Today's community spotlight is going to focus on three organizations that help make Hanford a better place. We'll get a chance to speak with representatives from the Kings Community Action Organization, valley Voices and the Soup Kitchen. I did reach out to several other organizations to come on the show, but the timing just wasn't right and we couldn't connect for an interview. It's great opportunity to speak with representatives from the Kings Community Action Organization Today. I have with me Savino Perico and Juan Martinez. How are you guys doing? Doing really well today.
Speaker 2:Thank you Doing well, great. So we know that the agency reaches out to low income people to address their multiple needs and administer a full range of coordinated programs, and they're designed to have a measurable impact on poverty. Can you tell us a little bit about the Kings Community Action Organization and their mission?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know our mission is working as a team, we'll come together and create a coordinated programs and services that help people become self-sufficient in our community, and so all of our programs have that mission behind it. And KCO has broken up into five service departments. So we have the childcare assistance department and there's a bunch of sub-programs in child care assistance, but the majority of the programs, like CalWorks, stages one, two and three they all and a few other ones they all take care of subsidized child care and they help people in our community pay for child care and we've had an influx in funding over the last year, and so we're able to serve a lot more families in our community as they go to school, search for jobs or working, and so it really helps anyone experiencing those things. Under that department we have the Kettleman City Resource Center as well and we offer families food out in Kettleman City for food distributions also from groceries to go, which is sponsored by the Fresno Food Bank and CalViva Health. They also help people become child care providers and they do trainings monthly for child care providers, so it really encompasses anything to do with child care and so it's really a great department that helps a lot of people in our community.
Speaker 3:We also offer Head Start, pre-school. We're still enrolling in preschool. Our preschool services is a regional Head Start that serves three to five-year-olds, migrant Head Start that serves six weeks to five-year-olds. And then there's early Head Start that serves six weeks to three-year-olds. There's a few other programs like our state preschool and home base that also are our other preschool options and so we've been doing that since 1965. It's one of our core programs and the original programs here at KCAO.
Speaker 3:And then we have three other service departments Intervention, prevention Services. We have a Barbersville Shelter that serves victims of domestic violence and people experiencing homelessness, and so that's open 365 days a year, 24-7. And so that is a service that we offer all year around. Kind of supportive services that go along with that are we help people restraining orders. In our community we do court accompaniments, case management, counseling. Professional counseling is offered for those individuals that are experiencing those things. And then we also have our home and entity department. Utility assistance is a huge thing. We serve over 1,300 people with utility assistance. Currently we're doing electricity and gas. We have had limited funding for water over the last couple of years as well and we see that continuing maybe a little bit further into 2024. But we're really helping community members pay their bills and that goes directly to the companies, either PG&E, edison or Southern Gas for that, or the cities or water districts.
Speaker 3:Our fifth and final department, which I think one of will spend a little bit more time talking about today, is our nutrition education, the hunger prevention department, and that's the department of Juan Martinez, who's next to me, sit overseas, and he has the daycare homes program that helps reimburse childcare providers for their meals that they spend money on for the children in their program that they're providing childcare for. We also have the SNAPED or the CalFresh program where we go and do health education programs to either internally to Head Start or different groups in the community and teach them how to do healthy eating habits and providing them with nutritional facts and classes, and so that's a program that we offer classes for as well year around. And then we have the summer food program and that offers food during the summer months to children 0 to 18. And we partner with a lot of recreation departments and churches that offer summer programs and we're offering them breakfast or we go over breakfast and lunch to them and they serve their group that they're serving during those days and then the food distributions are is one of the big things that our food bank does through temporary assistance for needy families, and so the food distribution we offer 14 food distribution, open food distribution sites right now. We also have 14 food distribution sites in every community from home gardens, hanford, ramor, stratford, kettleman City and Avano. And we also have some clothes sites like the soup kitchen is a clothes site and there's a few others that won't probably elaborate that are clothes sites that we help them with food from our food bank.
Speaker 3:One of the problems I did miss and one that is really true to my heart I ran it for a good amount of time is our volunteer income tax assistance program.
Speaker 3:It's our seasonal tax program that we do and it's now under the nutrition, education, hunger prevention department, and so we help people do tax returns. That makes 65,000 or less a year and we also train people to do taxes too. So anyone who's listening that is interested in wanting to learn how to do taxes. We do the training over Christmas break so we can capture some of the working adults, and we partner up with Sierra Pacific High School and the Business Academy and that's been a great partnership for about five years now, and we get the students to come out during the training for over the four days they get certified and they help us throughout tax season file taxes along with other community members and staff, and so we serve about 1300 people through e-filing tax returns and so that's kind of our agency in the nutshell. I'm sure I almost see missed a few programs, so I apologize to any staff who's listening, but we offer a whole array of programs, as you can see, that addresses a poverty and giving people who become self-sufficient.
Speaker 2:So, juan, I understand you are the director of the food bank and especially this time of year a lot of people think about food distribution, but I know your organization actually is year round. Can you tell us a little bit about the KCAO Food Distribution Program?
Speaker 4:So, yeah, we do have, as Savina was mentioning, we have different programs and then we have different funding that allows us to do different things, as far as you know, like especially during the holidays. So last year the entire nation was impacted by a bird flu and nobody had turkeys, as they were very limited and very expensive turkeys, and so most food banks or pantries were not able to participate and to give those things. So we did other options. We did a lot of, you know, whole chicken, you know, for the families and we did baskets for them or boxes for the holidays that unfortunately did not include a turkey. But this year we're very excited because we actually have about 3,000 turkeys that we'll be distributing in Kings County. Many or all will be done at our distributions that we do throughout the year, but these are sites that we've already have established a relationship with and that, with their volunteers, are able to help us distribute the food all over Kings County. Some of these sites are what we consider open sites, meaning they're open to everybody in the public, that fall under the income guidelines, and then we also have closed sites, and some of these closed sites include, like the soup kitchen, and I know they'll be on this podcast as well, but we provide a lot of food that they serve to the families that they're currently serving. They basically take the food that we take to them and they cook the food and then they serve hot meals, for example. A closed site would be like Sam's house or Hannah's house or even our women's shelter that we operate, and those are, for obvious reasons, that it is only for the clients that are there, but they also receive a lot of the food that we distribute. So we have small sites and we have larger sites, and right now we also have two pantries that we work with, and one is the Eagle Pantry at West Hills Community College, and so we were able to partner with them and to have, for all intents and purposes, a mini store for the students to come in and shop and they self select what they want to take with them, and so this has been an incredible partnership with the students. The students no longer have the you know for them to think about well, I pay tuition and books or I'll have food, and so it's one less excuse that they have to continue their education here in Kings County. And then the other partnership that we established with a separate pantry which is also like a mini store, and that is with Family Health Care Network.
Speaker 4:At the clinic there is a pantry and one of the things that they do is it's what we call an RX card or prescription card, or food. Is that they, when they do their vitals? When they come in to see a doctor, one of the questions that they're asked is have they been food insecure within the last month? If they answer yes, they will automatically give in, you know, a small little voucher to go to the store or pantry in this case, and they can go and shop for what they need for that day.
Speaker 4:And then they're given a calendar of all of our regular distributions that we do throughout the county, because they might come to the pantry there at Family Health Care but they might not live in Hanford, they might live either in Corcoran or they might live in Stratford, and so we give them the calendar at that location so that they can then go to whatever distribution site is nearest to where they live. And so these are some of the sites that we have, but we have ongoing sites that you know churches that we have in the soup kitchen, some of them at community centers, some of them with the adult school in Averno. So we're all over the county and we have at least one distribution, but most of them have two distributions per month.
Speaker 2:That's great information. Thank you for sharing that. That's awesome. So back to you, savino. We've heard about the great things that KCAO does and I know this has probably opened a lot of eyes for the listeners as to what it is that you actually do. We've heard KCAO and the headlines and you know things that going on that you've been doing, but how can people get a hold of you if they would like to either volunteer or they want to find out more about the services that you offer? Maybe it's someone who's in need of those services.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, they can always reach out to me. My role here at KCAO is to kind of be that connection between the community and our agency. So they can reach out to Savino Parico at 415-7213 or sparico SPERICO at kcaoorg. But our website is a great asset. We're constantly updating it and trying to make it user-friendly so people can start enrolling or at least schedule appointments online. But they can also go to kcaoorg Again, that's kcaoorg and they can explore the website and see the services.
Speaker 3:Most of the pages have specific contact information for those programs.
Speaker 3:You can get involved in volunteering. You can go to kcaocom, you can go back to volunteer and on there you can fill out a volunteer application and then I'll reach out to you and get you in and figure out where you want to volunteer or where you want to serve in our agency. At the bottom of our website too, there's a feature that says can't find what you're looking for, and those go directly to me as well, and so I try to get back to people within four to eight hours, and that's if you're trying to get connected to one of our services or you're wanting to get a hold of maybe if someone specifically at our agency I can make that connection for you, but our website is, for sure, the number one tool. You can also call our main number, and curry in our receptionist will be the one that picks up the phone and she's great at referring people out to different programs or people, and our number is 582-4386. Again, that's 582-4386. And so those are the best ways to reach us.
Speaker 2:I'd like to thank you guys for coming on the show and thank you for the all that you do for the community. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Thank you, robert. We appreciate you being our awkward letting us come on, so thank you.
Speaker 2:Next let's check in with Claire Fitiassi from Valley Voices and Julie Kelly from the soup kitchen. How are you two doing? Very well, Thanks, Rob. Hey, Claire, let's start with you. Valley Voices does a lot of work with the underserved members of the community. Can you tell us a little bit about how your organization is helping people in need?
Speaker 5:Sure. So we have several portfolios of work. One of them is public health, so we have a big focus on COVID-19 outreach. We offer free PPE, including face masks, hand sanitizer and hand wipes when they're available. We have antigen tests for determining if you're transmitting the COVID-19 virus and we help educate the public on how to stay safe, including washing their hands, staying home when you're sick, wearing a mask if you're coughing or sneezing, and testing yourself to see if you have any symptoms. We also have recently, in the last few months, started a food distribution for farm workers. It is focused on farm workers, but we don't turn anyone away. Our next event is in Avonel on November 17th from 4 to 8 pm, and then we're in Stratford on November 19th from 9 am to 12 pm, so it is a first come, first served basis. We will have an event in December in Corcoran. The location is still to be determined, so anyone can follow us on our social media platforms to find the specifics.
Speaker 5:One way that we help our community is through encouraging civic engagement, which some folks think. Maybe that's not as important as having an antigen test for COVID, but there are so many people that are eligible to vote that have not registered so we can help folks fill out a registration form. And then we also offer education about how to vote. Those of us that have done it all our lives it seems second nature, but it can be really intimidating to get that voter guide and a really long ballot and try to understand how to how to the actual process of voting. We do encourage folks to join us every Tuesday morning at the Kings County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Speaker 5:There are two supervisor seats that are up for election District two and five are up in the March 2024 primary and those candidates need to understand the needs of the community so, as they are preparing for the election, they create a work plan. So the community giving feedback about their concerns or interests helps candidates determine the work plan for the next session we will have. We've in the past have had candidate forums and we're planning to do that again before the primary next March. And then the last kind of portfolio of work that we're going to be doing is we really focus on as workers' rights. So some of us are very confident in speaking to our employers and ensuring that our rights are maintained, like the right to get a pay stub with our paycheck, the right to get a break or to be paid overtime if we work over eight hours. But a lot of folks aren't confident in their ability to speak to their employer. So we have lots of information that we can share to help people make sure that their rights are being protected.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so important when they talk about change begins at the ballot box. I certainly believe that in our current state of affairs in California, I don't think it could be any more true, or so, Julie? You were actually my first guest on the show back in August, and at that time the soup kitchen was really struggling to stay afloat, but from what I understand, the situation has improved a little bit. Can you give us an update?
Speaker 6:on that. Yeah, thanks for asking, rob, and thanks again for having me. The soup kitchen is doing better. It is not out of the woods yet. The community stepped up and not only was able to pay all of the overdue bills that the soup kitchen had worked up for the year, but managed to come up with sufficient funds through the end of the year. The problem we're running into is we still need dedicated, ongoing donations. So folks who promise to sponsor at least a day, a week or a month every single year, those are what really make the difference for us. So we are continuing to focus on that and the soup kitchen remains open at this time and community is continuing to reach out to us to find solutions so that we can keep the soup kitchen open and not have to continue wondering what our status is. But it's been amazing how everyone has rallied together for this and everyone understands the value of this soup kitchen here.
Speaker 2:So, besides for the traditional food donations that you receive, I understand that people have been donating other items, but you're particularly interested in coats and blankets. Can you tell us a little about that?
Speaker 6:Yeah, we are, and of course everyone I think rightfully assumes that, oh, if it's a soup kitchen, surely they also take clothes and appliances and whatever we can give them in order to support them. Unfortunately, we're not like some of the other retail charity shops, and so really what we need is food and dollar donations for the electricity. But then this time of year we are always accepting coats and blankets for those who are living without heat or who are living in the elements, so we like to take those in and we get those distributed. And then we also like to do a Give a Blanket program where on Christmas, the day before Christmas, we have a huge party at the soup kitchen and we like to give a brand new blanket or throw to every adult, while we're giving toys to each of the children.
Speaker 2:Well, that's wonderful. Claire and Julie, I just want to thank you so much for everything that you do for the community. We definitely appreciate it, and I know that there are lots of different organizations in Hanford it's just not the three that we had on the show today. There's lots of people that put out a lot of work to help the underserved population in Hanford and surrounding areas, so thank you so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 6:You're welcome, rob, and if I can just put a push in, if people are curious about what some of those other partners are, twice a month or every other Wednesday here at Church of the Savior we host all kinds of community partners, like our Fantastic Partners Valley Voices, and they bring all kinds of educational material resources. They get folks signed up for programs. They can get their blood pressure checked. There's all kinds of wonderful things happening. So if they're curious about what's out there, drop on over every other Wednesday and see what's going on.
Speaker 5:Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk to the community. We are out in the community every Monday at the Monday sale, every Wednesday at the Episcopal Church of the Savior and at specialty events. So we have our big banners and our tents. If you see us, stop by and see if there's any information or resources that we can share with you.
Speaker 3:And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.
Speaker 1:With most of the fall sports in the review mirror. It's time to set our sights ahead for basketball season. We'll start with Sierra Pacific, as the boys opened up their campaign as they took on Tulare Western last Saturday and the Golden Bears were able to come away with a 51 to 42 victory over the Mustangs. Their next game is scheduled for next week, as they will take on LeMore. The Sierra Pacific girls have a busy week ahead of them, as they will be taking on Clovis West on Monday and then they will go into tournament play this weekend where they will face Bonita, Tahatchapi and Buchanan.
Speaker 1:The Hanford West boys will be in action twice this week, as they will travel to Bullard on Monday and then they will come back home and host Redwood on Thursday. The Hanford West girls will host Hanford on Monday and then they'll see Lindsay and Arvin in tournament play this weekend. And the Hanford High girls you heard me mention them. They'll be taking on Hanford West that game happening at Hanford West on Monday and then the girls will see Buchanan, Sanger West and Stockdale in tournament play over the weekend. The Hanford High boys will also open up their season, but that won't be for a little bit longer, as two weeks they'll be taking on Kingsburg, as always. If you're a coach or a fan that wants your team featured, send us an email HanfordInsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
Speaker 2:That's it for today's show. If you enjoyed the show, I'd like to ask you to leave a review on your podcast player or on our website. It helps with the growth of the show. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by our website at HanfordInsidercom to sign up for updates. I also need your help getting the word out about the show. You can do that by liking or sharing on social media or telling a friend For more information about the show. You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, threads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at HanfordInsider at gmailcom and I'll get going on it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.