Show: Insight Station: KNCO File: 9:3.mp3 Air date: 2026-09-03 Source: OpenAI whisper-1 · shrunk from 98.6 MB to 12.3 MB --- transcript --- Welcome to KNCO Insight, Nevada County Action, KNCO's local issue talk show. This is your chance to gain insight into issues affecting Nevada County. Be a part of the show. Call with your questions or comments. The number, 477-5626, that's 477-KNCO. The opinions expressed are those of the hosts and callers and do not reflect the opinions of the advertisers, staff, or ownership of Nevada County Broadcasters. Now here is your host, Tom Fitzsimmons. KNCO Newstime, just about 907, 62 degrees, and yes, lots of clouds out there to greet you this Thursday morning here in Grass Valley. Not raining yet. Maybe some rain later on, but good morning. It is time for KNCO's Insight. And always excited the first Thursday of the month because we get to check in with Interfaith Food Ministries. And it's an extra special thing today because Executive Director Phil Alonzo is in the house. Hello, hello. How are you doing, Tom? I'm doing fine. A lot of times Victoria says that you do exist, but you are busy doing work, work upon work upon work, which I know as Executive Director, it has been kind of a crunch time. It seems like, not just for a month at a time, it seems like every day, every week is something different. Yeah, no, it sure is. I mean, you never know what the world's going to throw at us, but it's really an amazing place. I love going to work every day, seeing the volunteers that are just really the foundation of what we do. I love food. I get to be around food a lot. I love seeing people smile when they give out the food and receive the food. But there's always a new challenge coming around. There's always a lot of successes, too, and yeah, we love what we do and we're going to keep going and keep moving forward no matter what's going on out there. It is almost counterintuitive because a lot of people would think, Phil, that if you're in a position where, in this case, running a non-profit, but it seems like a tough grind because it's an issue that has, since COVID, we have more people, it seems like they're food insecure all the time, economy's not great, things seem to be worse on that end. You could get kind of down, but you always seem to be upbeat. Victoria, of course, is one of those incredibly upbeat people as well. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, and again, I think it is just the spirit of the place, the energy around there. Even when we get tough news about something or even when our grant proposal didn't get accepted or we didn't meet a certain revenue goal or whatever the case may be, we always bounce right back and just the next day is a new day and it's just a positive feeling there. You're absolutely right, every time Victoria walks through those doors, everyone always lights up and you can hear her laugh across the building and it's always extra fun when she's around. So I understand that she and her love boat guy, Jason, I think it is, are they out and about having a well-deserved vacation? Yes, they are. They're taking a nice long weekend, yep, hanging out back in Denver, good for them, I'm really happy for them. They're well-deserved. Both of them, they both work very hard and just amazing people and yeah, so I'm happy to be here today, fill in for Victoria and she promised that she will come back next week though. She's not doing any weird Taylor Swift chasing or anything like that, right? No, but I believe there is some Phish music involved, as you know, her close second favorite. That's true. Yeah, so I believe, but yeah, she's always got music on her mind and in her plans. I love it. She is cuckoo. She is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. That is true. Now, you mentioned grant writing and maybe grants not happening and stuff. I just had a conversation, as I shared with you off the air at last Tuesday's On the Town with Brett Bentley, Executive Director of the Food Bank. The grants have been tough to get and some grants that were, I don't know if they're ever easy to get, but at least that were available have kind of dried up and stuff. Is that the case? That's so true. Absolutely. You mentioned COVID earlier and right after COVID, 2020, 2021, even a little bit of 2022, a lot of grant opportunities out there and, you know, yeah, it's still competitive and you still have to go through the process and put together a proposal and show what you're going to spend the money on and then actually do that and then report back at the end of the spending period. So, you know, it's a lot of work, but it was a lot more grant opportunities available there for the two or three years following COVID and then, yeah, you know, it kind of has dried up a bit. There's still a lot of great, you know, organizations out there, foundations, you know, national state organizations that, you know, we can find grant opportunities to. How do you find them? I'm just kind of curious. Is there like a clearing center? There are. There's several of them. Yeah. We subscribe to one or two of them. There's things like a grant station, another one called, I think, Instrumental, and then we're a part of like Cal Nonprofits, which is an association of nonprofits that we have a small subscription to, and that opens us up to other resources. And so, yeah, we're sort of always on the lookout. A lot of times the county will inform us of grant opportunities, which is really great. We appreciate that. And so, you know, yeah, sometimes they kind of fall on our laps, but a lot of times we're out searching and figuring out what's best, and then we usually try to make a personal contact with someone at the funding agency and kind of figure out what their priorities are. We don't usually list that, but, you know, it is good to make that personal connection. And then, yeah, we put the work in to do the proposal and hope for the best. Has the county been a good community partner as well? Oh, yeah. Always. The county has really been, you know, great to work with, and, I mean, they're dealing with their own, you know, things, ups and downs that they have to deal with, but they've always been very supportive, I think, of the food assistance, you know, world. And here in the county, especially Western Nevada County, I'm more familiar with. But, yeah, exactly. Things like when there's state or federal opportunities, they might let us know either in partnership with them, kind of like the Community Resiliency Center grant that's rehabbing the Vets Building in Grass Valley, so we're a part of that. And there's been ones in the past. We purchased our truck that you see driving around town through a big grant that the county helped us get a few years ago. And then there's lots of times that the county opportunities themselves that the county is funding will, you know, put out to local non-profits and people apply for them. And so we get funds that way sometimes, too. All right. But when that happens, say the county comes up and they, oh, we have grant money, do they let you know or do you have to have feelers out for that? Oh, yeah. Good question. A little bit of both, I suppose. It sort of depends on what county department it might be or the opportunity. You know, there's something called the Adult and Family Services Commission, which is both county and public, you know, members of that. And so when they have funding that is sometimes from federal or state funds that sort of pass through the county, sometimes it's county funds, but that group is managing it. And so, you know, they're good about sort of publicizing, posting, you know, hey, this is now an opportunity that's open. So we're on those email lists, things like that. But yeah, sometimes it's just, you know, we sort of out researching and stumble across something and it, you know, happens that way, too. All right. This is just the first week of September. September is Hunger Action Month. That's right. Is there a reason why they picked September for it? You know, I looked it up from years ago and it has to do with just sort of end of summer, beginning of school year. And I and also that just sort of kind of roughly kicking off the holiday sort of, you know, fundraising season and awareness season. But I think that a lot to do with raising awareness around, you know, hunger over the summer for kids that are, you know, as summer is ending and sort of school is coming back in. But, yeah, it's sort of a national, you know, Feeding America used to be called Second Harvest. Second Harvest. They're the ones that came up with it, you know, I believe a couple of decades ago. All right. Does that mean anything for your organization? Are you then kind of compelled to come up with special things? Yeah, kind of. I mean, we sort of use it as an opportunity to just, you know, raise awareness, you know, get people maybe new volunteers, new donors, and then most importantly, people that might need assistance, making them aware that that we're here and we're available and we can help out. And so we do things like Victoria will set up, you know, special awareness, you know, campaigns and articles coming out through social media, for example. We do have a couple of fun events coming up later on, which we'll talk about here in a minute. But, yeah, you know, I think it's just really a chance for everyone in the sort of food assistance world and those that are food insecure to, yeah, you know, have a voice, have a chance, you know, at the microphone to raise awareness. And, yeah. You know, I was just thinking about that, just when you said putting out the idea that you guys are out there, there's some people that might not even be aware that they are food insecure. You know, they just kind of go through life and they're down to one meal a day and, you know, and just kind of getting by and they figure, well, this is just how life is. Right. Absolutely. And every little bit could help because, you know, we're going to save, you know, each family, you know, money from on their grocery bill and or actually give them that second or hopefully third meal of the day. You know, right. You know, supplementing what they're already purchasing. And so, you know, yeah, I think that's really half the battle right there is just making people aware, you know, and then the second half is like kind of convincing them that it's OK that they come. It's OK that they, you know, you don't have to live off one meal a day. You don't have to, you know, share your food with your cat because you can't afford pet food. I mean, things like that. There are organizations out there to help and, you know, and as you know, the culture and spirit of Nevada County in general is just, you know, we're all sort of one big neighborhood and look out for each other. There is no shame in it. As a matter of fact, if you turned it around, you know, for a lot of years, if you're listening right now and you might be one of these people that might need assistance and you're kind of hesitant, you probably didn't hesitate helping other people. Exactly. And that's why we're in the, you know, we care about making sure you get fed. That's what Interfaith Food and Ministry is all about. Absolutely. Make sure that you have that supplemental food that can keep you healthy because the other thing that happens in September, as you see with the clouds, we transition into cooler weather here pretty soon and then flu season, flu season, absolutely, you need better nutrition. Anyway, we're going to take our first break here as Phil Alonzo is in the house. Much better guest than Victoria Lindsey, in case she's listening. I bet she is. All right, Victoria. He's much better. He seems pretty calm. I don't care what you say. Anyway, Phil Alonzo in the house and we'll be right back. Don't miss the 2026 Nevada County Falls Prevention Summit, Friday, September 11th. Pride Before the Fall will be both educational and fun. Keynote Susan Clayton will discuss memories and maladies, how dementia plays a role with balance. We'll hear from first responders as well as physical therapists who step in after a fall. Speaking of steps, find out how your shoes and stride as well as changes in hearing and vision can lead to a fall. Homer Nottingham will be on hand and there will be music to entertain and encourage singing to stay forever young. Take advantage of free blood pressure screening, balance assessments, and meet with our many vendors. Enjoy morning treats and a bag lunch. It's all free, but registration is required by September 6th. Go to supportsierranevada.org. Don't let pride stand in your way. Join us at Sierra Presbyterian on Ridge Road in Nevada City, Friday, September 11th from 830 to 1 o'clock for the annual Falls Prevention Summit. Thanks to our title sponsors, Pawnee's Home Care and Eschaton Village. Hi, I'm Jason Robitel, Fire Chief of Nevada County Consolidated Fire District. I'd like to thank the Nevada County Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Council, a local non-profit organization, for its generous contribution to complete the new helicopter landing pad at Station 84 and over the past two years has been used nearly 50 times for rescue missions and medical air ambulance flights. The new pad helps crews operate faster, safer, and more efficiently when every second counts. Please consider supporting this outstanding local non-profit by visiting nclawandfire.org. Thank you. Remember when you could work in the yard all day and actually move the next morning? Yeah, good times. These days, I recommend a hot tub from Sierra Timberline. Warm water therapy can help soothe pulled muscles, achy backs and sore joints, and frankly, sitting in a hot tub beats complaining about them. Morning or night, soak, relax, feel better, repeat. Sierra Timberline in the Home Center, Idaho-Merlin Road in Grass Valley. Imagine Mill Street glowing with lights, music filling the air, and friends gathering for one unforgettable night. It's Magical Evening on Mill, Sunday, September 13th from 6 to 10 in beautiful downtown Grass Valley. Enjoy a downtown chef's culinary challenge, delicious food by Antonio, live music, festive lights and all the charm of Mill Street Plaza as we celebrate the community we love. Tickets are on sale now. Get yours and find all the details at downtowngrassvalley.com. Magical Evening on Mill, where downtown truly sparkles. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday. Isn't it wonderful when someone sings to you or makes an effort to help you celebrate your special occasion? Hi, this is Jerry Serino from Serino's at Main Street Restaurant, reminding you that we're here to help you celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and any special event. For 43 years, celebrations have been a part of our tradition, and tradition is embedded in the Serino culture, but we recently decided that you deserve more. That's right. However, you must make reservations by calling 477-6000 and remind us that it's your special day and we'll do the rest. Of course, we can't tell you what that is because it's a surprise. 477-6000, Celebrations at Serino's. K&T Newstime, 921-62 Degrees, welcome back to K&T Insight, our monthly visit with Interfaith Food Ministry. As Executive Director, Phil Alonzo in the house, his distant cousin, Pete Alonzo, used to play for my Mets, now he plays for the Baltimore Orioles. He is having a great season, and it is kind of funny, Phil, I tease Victoria, who's normally in, she's the Fund Development Director after all, and she's a big Taylor Swift fan, Taylor Swift has taken time to really help out food banks across the country, and I said, if she ever finds out about you, Victoria, I mean, she would love to help out, I think, Interfaith Food Ministry. Pete Alonzo is actually doing the same for the city of Baltimore when he's playing for the Orioles. He's doing an event, I think, this weekend, like a fan fest thing, and he's going to be signing autographs and posing for pictures, and basically, part of it is raising money for those that are food insecure. I love that. I'd love to hear that. Well, there you go. I hope he is really my distant cousin, because I'd love to reach out to him. Yeah, exactly right. So I am going to reach out, because Alonzo can't be that common a name, is it? You know, surprisingly, I kind of do see it around, especially with the S-O on the end, not Z-O. You said S-O, so I thought maybe the Sheriff's Office, for those pictures and stuff, so not that. No, no, not that. Okay. But we, you know, I do see in here about some Alonzos around. Yeah. Right. So that is a kind of interesting type of mix. We do have events coming up, and one is a Fill the Truck event, a truck food drive with Twin Cities Church. You guys do have a close relationship with Twin Cities Church. That's absolutely right. Yeah, we have several, 15 different churches that are, you know, really make up the foundation of Interfaith Food Ministry, and Twin Cities Church, definitely, you know, one of the larger churches in our area, and, you know, one of the largest in congregation, and also physically in its space. So it has a beautiful building out there, and great people, amazing people, and yeah, they got a nice big parking lot, and on a monthly basis, usually the last Saturday, excuse me, the last Fridays of the month, in the morning, basically like I believe 8.30 till about 10.30, they are doing a food drive, a drive-through food drive for us, right in the center of their parking lot, right in the front of their building. So real easy and convenient, and, you know, you can drive through, and you can drop off not only donated food, of course, they accept financial donations, and also a lot of people bring, you know, grocery bags to be reused, and so that's a huge thing, too. That's a huge thing, yeah. I mean, when we don't get a lot of grocery bags donated back, we're spending upwards of $15,000 a year just to purchase paper grocery bags, so wouldn't that money be better spent on food? So that's an easy thing. You're taking everybody away from that when you hear that number, $15,000 a year. So that's a lot, and that also goes to show you how many bags of food we end up distributing in a typical year, it's quite amazing. And so, you know, yeah, Twin Cities Church, huge supporters of us, big, great group of volunteers that manage all of that for us, and yeah, so this September, as you mentioned, with Hunger Action Month, we've got a big special sort of what we're calling Fill the Truck food drive on Friday, September 25th, as I said, usually the fourth Friday of the month. They do it every month, but this September is sort of an extra big effort in honor of Hunger Action Month, and so first of all, we'd love for people to, you know, get out there and donate if they're able to. They do need a few volunteers, so if you're interested in volunteering and helping out, please reach out to us at Interfaith Food Ministry, and we'll be happy to plug you in. And then also, I think it's also a great example and model for other organizations. You talk about this a lot, Tom, how, you know, a small business, a service club, a lot of schools do this, right? They can take on having a little food drive. A little mini food drive. Or a little mini fundraiser, and all of that, you know, even if it's, you know, just a few people participating, that multiplies and adds up and expands when you, you know, add in everybody else and their contributions. So a little can go a long way, and when we all come together, and that's what community, you know, is all about. Yeah, yeah. I always think that when I start doing football games, you know, the broadcasting and stuff, that there's so many people that come out, say Hooper Stadium, just around the corner here from Nevada Union. If they could have a little mini food drive and stuff, and I don't know, maybe they could discount admission. Maybe they could discount a burger. I don't know. I'm not good at that stuff. But I know it's a great way, when people get together, they don't mind chipping in. Absolutely. And maybe having a little jar there, you know, you throw your change from the burger at the Cooper Cafe, and throw it in there, help out IFM. Absolutely. Those kind of things really are pretty amazing and go really a long way, because, you know, loose change, everybody contributed that, you'd be surprised how much that adds up to. All right. Filling the truck. I imagine there's some things maybe more needed than others, as far as, you know, food contributions. Yes. Absolutely. That is a great question. And throughout Hunger Action Month, and then into October, and certainly November and December, we are gearing up for our holiday food distributions. And so we do have a flyer posted on our website. I believe it's gone out on Facebook. And we are looking for those holiday sides, right? So your canned cranberries, your canned green beans, you know, gravy, you know, most of the canned goods, you know, the other, you know, boxed goods, stuffing, things like that also good, appreciated. We're also trying to purchase some of those items, you know, too, but we're never really sure what we're going to be able to purchase until we get a little closer to the holidays. So, yeah, if you have an ingredient or a favorite holiday side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas, and there's a non-perishable ingredient that goes with it, that's the kind of stuff that we would really love to receive. And then you've got your typical everyday, you know, all year items that we need, peanut butter, you know, all manner of canned goods, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, those kind of things that are non-perishable, can be stored for a long time, and are always nice to have, you know, in our inventory. And I imagine Twin Cities Church has it down to a science as far as doing it on a monthly basis about getting people in and out of there. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. You know, I should look this up. I think it's at least three years, if not four or five going on, yeah, that they're, and again, I think it was sort of in response to COVID, you know, and they, but you're right. It's really efficient. You drive through, they've got a sort of roundabout right in front, really clear, you know, signage. There's not really much else going on. So it's all just sort of focused on that. There's plenty of, you know, they can handle four or five cars at a time. Right. You know, it's kind of like your airport parking drop off. You pull up, you know, and you've got, you know, people sort of maybe, you know, help unload with some things, and they throw them on the carts and wheel it away. And they have another team of volunteers over there sorting through everything. So that's really nice when it can be sorted at the source for us back at IFM and our facility. Then when it comes back to us, it's all, you know, boxes already sorted by food group and food category. And so, you know, yeah, real efficient. They get you through real quick and just an easy way to, you know, be a part of the community. All right. The other thing, and I know this is the way it works, because anybody that goes shopping knows just like these people are food insecure, even if you are food, quote, food secure, it is still very expensive to buy stuff retail. Big time. So would cash contributions work as well for this drive-thru, just to go by and just say, here's a... Absolutely, please. Yes, that is absolutely right. And with our strong buying power, we can really stretch that dollar, you know, a lot farther. Yeah, further than we can. Absolutely. Absolutely. And so, you know, for example, with that, when we are able to get, you know, discounted pricings of a whole pallet of canned tuna, for example, each little can of tuna, we're paying about 10 to 15 cents. Whereas, you know, as you see, if you buy tuna in the stores, it's, you know, at least a dollar, if not a dollar 50 plus. And so a lot of other canned good items, your typical sort of 15-ounce size canned good, we're paying 20 or 25 cents a can. So we really can stretch that dollar far. So, you know, yeah, if you... And some people prefer to go and buy food and donate food. That's fine too. In a lot of cases, people are cleaning out, you know, someone's house or apartment and we'll take that food too. Even if you think it's older food, please do still donate it because we do carefully sort through it, check dates, you know, and people are surprised. Canned goods are good for a long time. And so there's no reason to, you know, yeah, not donate older food. Well, the fact is in your pantry, you know, you might buy three, you know, buy three, get two free. Exactly. You get it and you're like, okay, well, I'm done with that. And it just sits there for a while. Yep. Those are the things to kind of donate. Exactly. Right. And usually that's from last holiday season. So maybe it's a good time to look through your pantries, what's left over from last holidays and, and throw it in a bag and, and donate it. But here's the thing is being at a Twin Cities church in their big parking lot and stuff. And it's, it's at a different time. Again, it's morning hours between like eight and 1030 or so, eight and 10. You know, the office worker there, like it's an ID since it's close by, you know, you can maybe chip in, get this thing going on a monthly basis as well and just have somebody run down and drop that off and come back. That's exactly right. That's a great point. The donations do not need to come to IFM's building, right? If you can time it correctly with that and you just send somebody over, drop it off and makes it easy peasy. Right. Yeah. See, I'm always thinking, I have no idea how to execute this stuff, but I'm always like, Hey, you're the idea, man. I love it. Yeah. That's whatever that's worth. Don't have me write for a grant. That's what this guy does. Phil Alonzo. Anyway, we have to take a news break. We're going to do that right now. Can I get a news break? Weather forecast. There's also a part of this Food Action Month, a Food X program that's going on that same weekend is that a donation that's going on at Twin Cities Church. We'll talk about that when we come back. I'm Chris Gilbert with the KNCO Local News Update. A suspicious death near Nevada City is no longer considered suspicious and the identity has been released. He was a local man, 55-year-old Joseph Leal Sr., according to the Nevada County Sheriff's Department. His body was found last Friday in the 22,000 block of Highway 49. The department says information reported to detectives coupled with Leal's personal history raised some initial concerns and prompted the need for a thorough investigation. But it says preliminary autopsy findings so far suggest there was no foul play involved in the death was accidental. An exact cause of death is still unavailable. And the first of two water shutoffs for some residents and businesses of the Searles Avenue neighborhood of Nevada City begin tonight. City engineer Brian McAllister says the most impacts will be felt for this one, but it will take place mostly overnight or from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. He says they're upgrading a water main that's over 100 years old. So we're doing a sidewalk project in that area and whenever we're doing a street improvement project we try to replace any old water or sewer lines while we're there before we rebuild the street or pave the street. So it's a high priority project just because of the age of the line. McAllister says the city hasn't received any service complaints from the neighborhood, but it will be improved as a result of this project. A new line will greatly improve flow and water pressure and available fire flow. So that's why it's really needed. Each of the water lines are a network of pipes and it helps the overall area. Meanwhile, the second shutoff will likely cause more inconvenience. It's next Wednesday during the daytime from 8 to 6, but McAllister says fewer residents should be impacted. He says 96 notices were sent out, but he expects only around 50 residents to actually lose service also including Forest Charter School during these two days. Maps outlining exactly where shutoffs will likely occur is on the city's website. McAllister says the city will work to minimize the disruption by turning on the water as soon as possible. After the work is completed, residents are asked to run their cold water for a few minutes to flush your service line until the water runs clear. Join us for our next local news update coming up at the bottom of the hour. And for news and weather anytime, you can go to KNCO.com. I'm Chris Gilbert, KNCO News Talk 830. What if you could spend less time on chores and more time doing what you love? At Eschaton Village Grass Valley, that's everyday life. Nestled on 42 beautiful acres in the Sierra foothills, Eschaton Village Grass Valley is a non-profit senior living community designed to help you live fully. And as a non-profit, we reinvest every dollar into creating a vibrant, supportive community for our residents. Picture starting your day with a swim in the heated indoor pool, enjoying lunch with friends in our restaurant, or taking a stroll along our pet-friendly walking paths, all without worrying about cooking, cleaning, or yard work. With 24-7 staff, housekeeping, a full culinary program, and a lively calendar of activities, you'll have endless opportunities to connect, explore new interests, and deepen friendships. Whether you're looking for independent living or the peace of mind of assisted living and memory care, Eschaton Village Grass Valley is here for whatever life brings. To learn more, visit us at eschaton.org slash evgv or call us at 530-273-1778. This is the KNCO BNC Ace Home and Garden Center Weather Center. Ace is the place. Here is your forecast on KNCO News Talk 830. Mostly cloudy today with areas of rain this afternoon are high in the mid-60s. Showers off and on through this evening are overnight low near 50. We'll see precipitation end early Friday, then a clearing sky with a high of 68. Friday night's low upper 40s and low 70s and sunny on Saturday. For more weather anytime, click on the weather center at knco.com. I'm meteorologist Dan Holliday on KNCO News Talk 830. Nevada Union Miners look to get their first win of the season when they host Wilsey Wood Friday night. Hi, I'm Tom Fitzsimmons inviting you to join Jim Adams and Andrew Jackson for the best high school football on KNCO News Talk 830. Miners' comeback attempt against Lincoln came up short. We want to keep that momentum up this Friday against the Wildcats who put up 33 points in a losing effort. Nevada Union football is brought to you by the Utopian Stone by Zion Capital Wealth Management and Trips Auto Body and Paint. It's Nevada Union and Wilsey Wood Friday night at 7 on KNCO News Talk 830. KNCO News time, 930, 762 degrees. Welcome back to KNCO Inside. Monthly visit with Interfaith Food Ministry, Executive Director Phil Alonso in the house today. We're talking about again, Twin Cities Church, their monthly fill the truck happens on the last Friday of the month. So it happens this month on the 25th, Friday between 8 and about 1030 in the morning. So please take part in that part of an important weekend, Phil, you and I were talking off the air that there's this food X event that's happening over in Nevada City. I think of the Miners Foundry, if I recall. That's right, Tom. So there's a whole weekend of interesting events going on, all different kinds of stuff. We're still finalizing details on a few different things. And there's a partnership here of things going on. And so the best place to find information is sierracommons.org or on their social media. So Sierra Commons is a local sort of business and Igniter group, right? And so they're focused big on food on some of their last recent programs. And so this is sort of a culminating event. And so sort of the main event of the weekend is happening Saturday, September 26. I believe it is an all day event. I'm afraid I don't have the times in front of me, but there are tickets for sale already on the Sierra Commons website, but they're going to have all kinds of sample bites from local vendors, cooking and product demos, winery selection, live music, food expert mini presentations, food trucks, raffle, and lots of fun food related events all going on at the Miners Foundry. And they're going to have a whole section where non-profits, food agencies are there in order to share our information and hopefully, you know, recruit some more volunteers, recruit donors, that kind of thing. Oh yeah. You know what? I just kind of, you know, the reason I, I kind of heard about this a little bit yesterday for my insight show, it was the economic resource council, Matthew was here and he was talking about it and it's a three events, one goal for a stronger food system in the Sierra foothills. On Thursday, it says here it's food for thought. Healthy food access for all is one of the events. On Friday, there's a food fight, a food fight. And that's a Sierra Harvest fundraiser event. Yeah. And that's, yeah, it's not everybody throwing food at each other. It's like showcasing the good cooks. And then as you mentioned, Sierra Commons and their food exits on Saturday to 26. So yeah, it's a very interesting thing. Sierra Commons, matter of fact, across our parking lot, there's a little Colombian restaurant called Commodore. That's one of their igniter businesses. Oh, love that. Okay. I have not been over there yet. I'll have to try it. Yeah. Very cool. And then, yeah, you mentioned Thursday, cultivating healthy food access for all. That is a panel discussion hosted by Brett at the Food Bank of Nevada County. And I will be one of the panel members and there'll be several others. And so that'll be a great free gathering on Thursday evening. I believe it's set for something like 5 or 5.30 or 6. And then, yeah, but as you said, there's sort of these three different events all listed here on the Sierra Commons website. So check that out. And then slipped in there also is our Friday morning fill the truck donation. So there are lots of opportunities that weekend to take some action on hunger and be a part of the community that's trying to address this issue. After all, we do such a great job at the holiday time and everybody's in the mood to do it at the holiday time. But this is a year round thing. And it's really big. And since COVID, it has just been a nonstop growth of people needing help. Yeah, no, really has. And it's just been, you know, really is year round. And I think that's important for people to remember. And and, you know, but there are so many different ways to get involved, so many different ways to help out, you know, large, small, every little bit that people can do really goes a long way. Yeah. And, again, Interfaith Food Ministry that you guys have kind of thought out of the box too. After all, we do have bag drives and all that stuff. But this recycling program you have, yeah, is actually is that really kind of paying off as well? Absolutely. Yeah. Big time. I mean, it's mostly volunteer driven. You know, again, our main sort of cost on that program is for our fuel cost for when our truck takes a big load of recyclables to be redeemed. And that easily covers and many times above beyond that. So yeah, that is a very sort of profitable, you know, fundraising program where it has very minimal expenses and mostly volunteer run. And it's so easy. The community members can easily donate their preferably sorted recycling, you know, bags of recycling, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass. And we've got a couple of different places that accept those on a regular basis. So if you're a resident or if you know somebody who's a resident in and around Lake Wildwood, they have a Saturday morning drop off on the first Saturday of every month. In the gated community. In the gates. Yeah. That's pretty cool with them. Yeah. It's Minnow Way, I want to say. There's sort of a maintenance shed and sort of parking area. So that's where they kind of have, again, sort of a drive through easy drop off. And also collecting grocery bags as well as recyclable materials. Sometimes people donate food too, but it's mainly set up for the recycling. And yeah, I mean, one of those collection days will turn into enough recycled product that we end up getting a donation of, you know, anywhere from $1,200 to $1,400. You know, I have to give the people in Lake Wildwood credit. You know, when I first moved here in 81, it was kind of a, you know, kind of an aloof little setup down there. That isn't putting down anybody. It's just like they seem to be a gated community onto their own. But they are totally involved with Western Nevada County and the needs here. Yeah. So even though they're in a gated community, they're very much involved. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, we have several volunteers that, you know, live in Lake Wildwood, several donors, a group of volunteers down there, and one of the homeowners donated land. And we have an IFM garden site down there in Lake Wildwood as a team of about 10 or 12 people. So shout out to our Lake Wildwood garden team growing, you know, local food that comes right to IFM to be distributed. But yeah, so they're really a great group. So they're a recycling drop-off first Saturdays of the month. And then another more recent group that some of those volunteers from Lake Wildwood got started at Peace Lutheran Church just outside, you know, on Main Street here outside of downtown. And so their regular pickup is on the last Saturday of the month. Same time frame where it's, I believe, 10 to noon are the hours. But again, more information on our website. And same idea. It's drive-through really easily, quickly. And that turns into, you know, funds that come to IFM that we turn around and spend on food. Yeah. It's just wonderful how these programs and these businesses, and in this case, churches, get involved in making this stuff happen. Yeah, absolutely. It's easy to go, hey, I'm busy. I don't really have time. Right. But they find the time. Absolutely. Yeah. And a couple of groups have taken a page out of your book, Tom, where they're sort of gather recyclables at their local, you know, business or their office or their, you know, or even their home. And then they, you know, gather it with some neighbors. And then they have one designated person who goes to the drive-through and drops everybody's, you know, stuff off all at once. We come up with those ideas here, but I think we depend on Victoria to take it. Yes. And she has taken it. Yes. She has brought it by IFM. And so we're working on expanding that program too. So if there's volunteers out there, if you have a site you think you could collect recyclables at, we would provide you the materials that you need and the know-how and have some of the Lake Wildwood people have offered to, you know, help coach, you know, a new site and get it going. And so, yeah, lots of opportunity there to expand that recycling fundraising. You know, and as we get into this time, we're getting late summer, early fall, it's kind of harvest time, certainly for trees, maybe apple trees thing. For people that have these type of trees, but maybe they don't really pick their fruit anymore and stuff. You know, there's enough places like that have these orchards. Can they contact you or Sierra Harvest? Yep. Yep. Either one. And ultimately we partner up Sierra Harvest. They have what is called their gleaning program. Right. Yeah. And that's exactly right. I didn't really realize until, you know, a handful of years ago after I started this job, wow, I've almost been there nine years now. But how much this area really had apple and pear orchards from, yeah, of course, Peardale, you know, makes sense. Absolutely. But it's really amazing. And so, yeah, to your point, anyone with an overabundant orchard, even garden that they cannot harvest or not use all of themselves, this great, amazing Sierra Harvest gleaning program, you reach out to them. The gal who runs that, her name is Raven, amazing lady. She will give you a call and go see what's going on and they'll determine how many volunteers are needed. And then they'll sort of go back, schedule a day and, yeah, get a load of volunteers to go up and harvest those things. And then they actually share that product depending on when the food bank's next distribution is. They'll share with food bank and then they'll share with IFM. Yeah. And talk about feeling good. You know, here you have these trees that are ripening and, like you said, you could have bought property and there's just trees out there. Yeah. That have fruit for years. That actually happened down in Placer County. Somebody bought a property that had a bunch of mandarin trees, you know, already on it. Yeah. And I think it was a springtime harvest, if my memory serves, for mandarins or late winter. And so we, earlier this year, we got a bunch of mandarins in from a glean. All right. The other good thing that I've loved, too, if you don't mind, Phil, is just how I see you guys and the food bank and, for that matter, whatever the equivalent to IFM over in Placer County coming together. Yeah. Auburn. The food closet down there. Auburn Interfaith. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. It is great to see it and it makes us all feel good because it's all for the common good, right? Yeah, absolutely. No, you're so right, Tom. And there's, you know, we do all work together and we're really trying to do more of that either actively working together or even be in communication so that we know what each other are doing, right? So we can either coordinate or we can, you know, just more strategically, you know, plan out our services and things and events and things like that. So yeah, an example of that, a few months ago, Auburn Interfaith Food Closet, food bank, and us had an opportunity to do a sort of shared purchase truckload in partnership with the LDS Church. And so we did a whole sort of shared, you know, truckload delivery and that worked out great. I remember picking pears with the LDS Church volunteers in Auburn. Ah, there you go. I just got a pain in my shoulder thinking about that day. There was a lot of pears they had there in Placer County. Anyway, we are down the homestretch here at KNC Insider, a visit with Phil Alonso. He's going to take our last break and we'll be right back. When you or the people you love need extra care, you want someone you can trust. At Partners in Care, we provide both compassionate in-home assistance and hospice care focused on comfort, dignity, and quality of life. Our trained caregivers help with daily needs like meals, transportation, light housekeeping, and personal care, along with the companionship that allows you to stay comfortably in your home. And if your needs change, there's no starting over. If hospice care becomes necessary, you already know your caregiving team. We can seamlessly engage nurses, social workers, and spiritual care with no added stress. Just added familiar, trusted medical care at no additional cost. Our hospice professionals are available 24-7, supporting patients and families physically, emotionally, and spiritually every step of the way. Both our in-home care and hospice care is personalized and designed around the needs of you and your family. Visit PICSeniorCare.com or PIC Hospice to learn more. Partners in Care, because there's no place like home. In 1953, three brothers took a chance, buying a dump truck, a trailer, a bulldozer, and a pickup, and laid the foundation for what would become Hansen Brothers. Today, even in an ever-changing world, the folks at Hansen Brothers continue a tradition that began more than seven decades ago, paving the way for Nevada County. From roads and driveways, to paths and parking areas, Hansen Brothers has earned a reputation for quality work, dependable service, and deep local roots you can trust. If potholes, crumbling driveways, or worn paths are showing the effects of winter wear, now is the perfect time to plan ahead. Early spring scheduling helps ensure your project is done right and done on time. Call Hansen Brothers, HBE Rattles, at 273-3381, or visit GoHBE.com for more information. Hansen Brothers, built on experience and trusted across Nevada County. Have you been horribly injured by a product made by the Acme Corporation? It's not your fault. There's probably someone to blame. The name of the case is Coyote vs. Acme. Prime Cinema presents movies on the big screen as they were meant to be seen at Del Oro and Sutton Cinemas, showing through September 10th at your Prime Cinemas, at the Del Oro, Cars 20th Anniversary, rated G, Fall 2, Deadpoint, rated PG-13. The End of Oak Street, rated PG-13. The Dog Stars, rated R, and Spider-Man Brand New Day, rated PG-13. Now let's check on the Sutton, by any means, rated R, and Coyote vs. Acme, rated PG, playing through September 10th at your local theaters. Now you know what's showing. Be sure to enjoy a movie on the big screen at Nevada County's two Prime Cinema theaters, the Sutton and the Del Oro. Get a discount at local businesses and save some of that hard-earned money with The Shopping Show. Shopping Show certificates are available online at knco.com and on the air weekdays during Swap Shop. Restaurants, clothing stores, thrift shops, fitness centers, and more, all offering you ways to save, save, save. Pick out the deals you want, order them, and then pick them up here at the office, saving your money, more important than ever. The Shopping Show on KNCO News Talk 830. KNCO News Time, 952-63 degrees. Welcome back to KNCO Insights, not a homestretch here today with Phil Alonzo, Executive Director of the Interfaith Food Ministry. You said nine years now? Yep, almost nine years. Has it seemed quick? Has it seemed long? Quick, I would say, quick when it's sort of, but then maybe if I start to take some time and think about it, then it seems longer and longer and longer. Does it seem longer just because you have to deal with Victoria and her stuff? I would say the last three years since our amazing Victoria has been around. Let's see, how do I put this? Well, I laugh a lot more, so I think I probably do burn more calories. I'm probably a little more tired at the end of the day from all the laughing and smiling, so I think it probably does go a little quicker. All right. I say that because I think Victoria Lindsey joining us live here at the KNCO, Victoria, are you there? Well, I'm glad you were talking well behind my back, Phil. Oh, good thing. I had a feeling you'd be listening. Are you in another state? Are you in North America? Where are you at? No, my flight's delayed, so I figured I'd call and check in and just see how Phil is doing, and I miss you, Tom. Well, I miss you, too. I'm glad you're taking some time off and enjoying yourself. We were just about to cover, and I want to make sure I want to hear Phil's take on just being, again, the best nonprofit getting voted that in the union best of poll. As executive director, that's a very cool thing. Yes. No, it's really amazing. Now, we've gone two years in a row, and I'd like to take credit that I was mainly responsible for hiring Victoria, and Victoria is the probably new ingredient to the mix that has catapulted us to the first place nonprofit now two years in a row, and so, no, honestly, it really is. It's the everyday work. It's the everyday volunteers that are there. It's the dignity that clients feel when they arrive. It's the healthy food, the colorful food, food from every food group, and I think it's our attention to detail of trying to accommodate dietary needs, and I think it's our smart business practices and business model of basically low overhead, rely on volunteers, minimal staff, which does make it tough on staff sometimes, but we really spend most of our budget on food, and we just want to sort of keep it simple and keep people fed. I will say this, Victoria, Community Involvement Day, when you're right next to the food bank, you became the little general out there, all five foot, one-half inch of you. Yeah, I may be short, but I'm loud. Yeah, well, and Mark's out, everybody follows the orders and all that stuff. It doesn't matter that they're totally involved people. They're volunteering. Victoria's got them going. Absolutely. I'm an eldest daughter. I take charge. Yeah, exactly right. Now, with CalFresh, I wanted to cover this real quickly, because it is still an important thing that you guys are dealing with, Victoria, is the CalFresh changes. Have you seen differences, the amount of people getting help, or has it been kind of stable? It's been stable, but a lot of people will be recertifying this month in September, so it's going to be kind of a rolling impact here in our county, where people recertify and find out they're not eligible or don't meet the exemption, so we're going to see it kind of in waves. It won't all happen at once, but it will happen, and it will happen soon. All right, so that is something to be aware of, right? Absolutely. Now, and that's what we've sort of got our eye on, is that with the changes happening in June, and now the sort of first ones hitting, we are expecting that here in September. And as Victoria mentioned, there's sort of each month will be a new batch of people that are susceptible to possibly losing their benefits, and so it's going to be a big impact on our line. You know, another interesting impact on us, Tom, is that part of these new requirements require certain people to have volunteer hours, so upwards of 20 hours a week, which is quite a few, and so since we are such a great place that uses so many volunteers, we are, you know, excited to maybe have some more people come and help out, but there's also a lot more management and a lot more administrative work in order for us to track hours, report those hours back to the county, that kind of thing. So all of this is still very fluid, you know, in county and the connecting point agency that does 211, you know, IFM, Food Bank, all of us that are sort of in this CalFresh world are all regularly, you know, checking in, working on this together, and we're trying to make it, you know, as least negatively impactful as possible, but I'm sorry to say I think we are going to see, you know, some increased numbers in our lines, and of course, timing with the coming into the holiday season is going to be extra tough. All right, and real quick, as Phil was talking, I heard like a scream or something, that wasn't Jason in the background, was it? Yeah, no, Jason's actually being very quiet in the background, so he's just chilling. Oh, he's listening! He's listening! He's all listening! He's all here! How about that? He's all here! That's pretty good for a fish fan! All right, and with holidays, just real quickly, because you're only down to about a minute or so, Donation Day and IFM is one of the sweetest things, that Donation Day parade and the money and the food that's raised for you guys is a great thing, isn't it, Victoria? It is. We love Donation Day. All of those wonderful children that come with donated food items, they all come to IFM for us to share with our neighbors and our client families that we serve. It's such a beautiful event. Do you think we should broadcast that, guys? You know? Don't you think maybe we should be down there broadcasting that? I think we should do a live remote from the Donation Day parade. I think we could do that right from Mill Street, it's a nice, quiet little place. I would love that, Tom. Have it packed and maybe more people would come, more people would donate too. There you are with those great ideas again, Tom. I have tons of ideas. Gosh! Brain trust here. For a Viking fan, I'm not that dumb. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Yeah. Victoria, you have a wonderful vacation. You and your hubby. Enjoy your time off. We will. We will. Miss you, Tom. Great job, Phil. Yeah, and Phil did great. He completed sentences. Everything you said he couldn't do, he did today. Awesome. All done. Thank you, buddy. See you next week. All right, Phil. Great job as well. And that will do it for us. We got ABC News coming up here at the top of the hour. It's followed by Swap Shop and the Shopping Show here on KNCO News Talk at 830. We'll see you then. Bye. --- end of transcript ---