Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues, it is 8.15, we have clouds, some light rain in some spots across the Finger Lakes, and the temperature has hit the 50 degree mark. Let's visit with our friends from United Way of Cayuga County, that would be Julissa Stone-Spager joining us. Julissa, good morning.
Jalissa Stone Spature: Good morning, Paul. How are you doing?
Paul Szmal: Doing well. Doing well. We also want to welcome in Captain Holly Johnson from the Salvation Army. Holly, how are you this morning?
Holly Johnson: Great. How are you?
Paul Szmal: Doing well. Doing well. Looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday and the holiday weekend.
And I know you've been looking forward to the holiday season because this is one of those times of the year that people need the most help. And there was actually a recent article that was done on food security that highlighted the Salvation Army. I don't know which one of you want to speak about this or who wants to go first, but have at it.
Jalissa Stone Spature: I can talk about the article. So the United Way, we started doing articles on some of the bigger topics to highlight the different funding that we do. And so with the need the way that it is right now, we wanted to highlight food security for the month of November. And so there's three feeding programs that United Way dollars support now, the Salvation Army, which I'll let Holly talk about. But the other two is St. Peter and St. John Episcopal Soup Kitchen, which is in the process of changing their name to the Auburn Community Soup Kitchen. They received funding this year, their brand new member agency, and they offer soup kitchen three days a week from 1130 to 1230. And then the other food security program that we started to support was Safe and Warm, which is a program of the Harriet Tubman Liberation Foundation. And every Friday, they have volunteers who put together lunch bag meals and they distribute them from their drop-in center at Westminster Presbyterian Church every Friday from three to five. And then they actually deliver those bag meals to under-housed neighbors in the, primarily in the hotels between here and Port Byron.
But the agency, and those two are both brand new to the United Way, but the Salvation Army has been a member agency since we opened in 1922. They have a wide variety of programs that support both city residents as well as countywide residents. And the real expert on what they do is Holly, which is why I asked her if she'd join me this morning. Holly, why don't you go ahead and fill us in on some of the programs that Julissa is talking about?
Holly Johnson: Perfect. Thank you guys for having me. Blessed to talk about these programs. It's definitely a dire need, and it's a passion of mine for sure.
So we have a pantry program. We've been serving a lot more. We've seen an increase about 10 percent more, especially since the shutdown and things. We have pantries that we offer to clients Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment from 10 to 3. And then we have something, it's pretty exciting. We work with the Central New York Food Bank, and we are able to do a fresh foods and produce program. So if someone is not within our district for pantry, we offer every week, Wednesday from 1 to 2.30. Folks can come in, they line up. Some of you may have seen, there's usually a line out the door at our gym where folks can line up, they bring a bag, and they can kind of just grocery shop in our gym. It's fantastic. We've got produce, assorted breads, lots of healthy options, prepared meals. But it's something that our clients really enjoy, and we've seen the numbers kind of jump off the chart, especially since people can come in and kind of choose what is best for their family and nutritional needs that meet them.
We also have a monthly food giveaway that we do in our gym. It's a second Monday of every month from 3 to 4. Folks come in again, they line up outside of our gym, and they come through, we walk them through. It's similar to a grocery style. They can come in and pick what they want, and then they leave with a fresh produce box. Again, very nutritional for the family. People are really excited about that, especially fresh produce. Sometimes that can be a bit pricey for families, and so it's something that they really enjoy, that they're able to give their children as well. So we have a lot of families that come through.
And then we also offer a soup kitchen that meets Thursdays and Fridays. We do it to-go style currently, and it's from 12 to 1. Again, I've seen a huge increase in numbers there, too. We're serving on an average about 2,000 individuals, which equals to about 500 families, and we're actually gearing up for our soup kitchen Thanksgiving dinner. That is tomorrow. We're very excited about that. We're going to be serving about 1,200 meals. 80% of those are delivery, so it's a great thing. It's a great way for our community to work together.
Paul Szmal: That is a lot of work that the Salvation Army does. I got tired just listening to all of that, to be honest with you, Holly. And it is truly amazing work that you do as well, and a lot of this is through the partnership with the United Way, because that helps to pay for a lot of the food and the produce and the things that are coming in.
Holly Johnson: Yes, absolutely, and it's wonderful, too. United Way, about three or four years ago, it was just my husband and I on staff. And so we have been working with the United Way, Julissa, and she helped us get an employee, a part-time employee, so we can feed more people. We can get out there more in the community. So that has been a huge blessing. We would not be able to do this without the United Way's help. Sandy, our administrative assistant now, is on staff because of the United Way.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Jalissa Stone-Spacher from the Cuyahoga County United Way and Captain Holly Johnson from the Salvation Army here this morning on FLX Morning. I know the United Way's holiday toy drive to support Camp's Christmas Elf is underway now.
Jalissa Stone Spature: It is. So the United Way, we have a few initiatives, and one of those initiatives is our Student United Way program. It's up at Auburn High School, and it's an after-school club. The students make up their own United Way board, and they pick a project to work on over the year. And this year, the students really wanted to get involved and focus all their time on volunteering. So they reached out to CAP, they coordinated the whole thing, and so the students are really hosting this drive. They set up a box in the chamber lobby. We're on the second floor, so this is as close to our office as you could get without having to take an elevator. And so that box is up at the chamber now through December 5th. They're collecting unwrapped new toys, and then the students have put together a drive-through event on Saturday, December 6th. So the Student United Way folks, they will be at Auburn High School. They have that little roundabout area where you can drop off and pick up, if anyone remembers from 2020, we did our personal care drive as a drive-through event there. But the students themselves who put this whole thing together, they're going to be there from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. to collect any donated new unwrapped toys. And it's all in partnership with CAP, so it's to support the Christmas Elf.
Paul Szmal: That is a fantastic program, and I don't know who came up with the idea of the drive-through concept, but that's pretty genius.
Jalissa Stone Spature: It was all the students. They were so excited about it.
And there are also a couple of holiday events that are coming up in places like Moravia and Weedsport, and there are some special raffle prizes, shall we say, that are up for grabs.
Holly Johnson: Yes. So we're really excited. Last year was the first year that we did anything like table setups during the holiday markets, and it was so much fun and so successful, and a great opportunity to meet people and talk about all the wonderful work the agencies do with their United Way dollars. So we decided to do it again this year. So on this Saturday, December 6th, after you've dropped off your toy at Auburn High to the student United Way kids, head on down to Moravia. We'll be at Christmas in Moravia from 9 to 3. We'll be in the fire department. We're going to have a lottery tree, kind of like we did last year. It was a wreath last year. And we're going to have a holiday wreath. So one of our campaign chairs, Mandy Jesse, she is very crafty and is creating some holiday wreaths for us. And then we have a Phil Delistrito print. All of those will be for raffle at all four of the holiday events. So there'll be four winners for each. So Christmas in Moravia is the very first one, Saturday, December 6th, from 9 to 3. And then we'll also be at the holiday market at Prison City that same day from 3 to 8. So you can hit up both markets. There's plenty of time. And then the following weekend, we will be having raffles again at Weed Sport Winterfest from 9 to 2.30. That's up at the Weed Sport Junior Senior High School. And we'll also be at the Prison City Holiday Market again that day. But that day, we're sharing a table with Friends of Emerson because one of our other cabinet members serves both the United Way and FOES. And so we're really excited to hang out with them for the evening because they'll be wrapping presents. So you can come visit the United Way, get your raffle tickets, and then visit FOES and get your presents wrapped.
Paul Szmal: And when are the winners going to be drawn for that, by the way?
Holly Johnson: So the winners will be drawn at the end of all four of the events. So at about a half an hour before the event ends, we'll draw the winners, especially in Moravia and Weed Sport. We don't want to make someone have to travel all the way to Auburn if they're still nearby while we're still in Moravia or Weed Sport. We want them to be able to stop over. But Auburn's not that far. It's a half hour.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Yeah. There you go. All right. Thank you, Holly, for joining us this morning and Julissa, pleasure as always. Hope both of you have a happy Thanksgiving.
Jalissa Stone Spature: Yes. Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you.
Holly Johnson: Thank you.
Paul Szmal: All right. That is 827 on FLX Morning.
