Hello I'm Zeke and welcome to The Zekely Podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. The guest I have today lives in Narberth, Pennsylvania and has been addressing food insecurity for almost two decades. She once served as a Democrat on her local borough council and is currently the director of the Narberth Community Food Bank. Thank you so much for being here, Gigi Tevlin-Moffat.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me, Doc. I really appreciate being here and to have this discussion with you regarding our community. So thank you.

Absolutely.

How do you feel after this most recent election? I mean, I feel like my shoulders are more relaxed. I've been sleeping better. You doing okay?

I am doing okay and I really have to say that I was very surprised at the city of New York. had some doubts ⁓ that who I wanted to win, but he did win. And so I was feeling a little relieved about that, to be honest.

Yeah,

Yeah, I

just hope that he is going to be a good mayor at the end of the day. I just hope people do a good and be a good mayor for all people in New York. That's all you can ask for.

Yes, that's all I want.

Yes, that's what I want.

That's what I want for every election.

exactly.

Well, we're going to talk all about you, play some games, have some fun. You ready? All right.

Yes, I'm ready.

Well, you have been sounding the alarm about the dangers of losing funding for food banks for a long time. And now with the Republican government shutdown and loss of SNAP benefits, this must be a true moment of dread for you.

Absolutely. And for all of my colleagues in the food insecurity world who've been feeding people for even longer than I have, I want to say that our neighbors are not political footballs. They are not political punchlines. And they are certainly not to be used as political blackmail. And for any elected official, both sides of the aisle, any side of the aisle,

who an elected official to say that it's okay to take away people's food in a time of like great need, probably doesn't belong in public service at all. And that would be true of even a neighbor who would say this to me or anyone who's elected.

it makes me sad and it makes me frustrated. So yes.

Yeah, yeah,

Nobody deserves to go hungry in Pennsylvania, in this country. Yeah.

No one, absolutely no

one in the quote unquote wealthiest nation in the world.

Yes.

Yes. Yes.

It is

the myth. Absolutely. It is completely a myth. So the folks that are taking care of your mother-in-law at the residential community and taking care of your lawn and trimming your trees and absolutely serving your child's meal at their local school are the folks in the shadows who are hourly employees and they live here too. And they work here too. And we live in a state, unfortunately doc, that the minimum wage is pretty low. These folks are in the shadows.

I want to be really clear here in Lower Merion and Narberth and I can't speak to the rest of the county, but I do know some of the numbers. 80, I think it was like 82 % of those we serve at the Narberth Community Food Bank are employed, at least have one adult person with a job. And some of them have another adult person working two jobs to try to keep. So, and then to understand completely, Lower Merion and Narberth has had a very large uptick.

Right, yeah.

in generational homes since COVID. And so you've got maybe a grandparent or an older relative living with you. And you have an adult person who works and you have some kids in our public or private schools. And the nutritional needs are different. The kind of meals that we would give to those folks are different at each level. And I'm thankful that Governor Shapiro pays for breakfast for every kid in the state of Pennsylvania, which is an astronomical

we just can't dehumanize people and that's what Donald Trump and the Republican politicians continue to do is dehumanize people and call them lazy and undeserving of life. Yeah, extremely.

Yes. And it's really disrespectful, right? Because

these are folks who live down the street from me or blocks over from me.

I'm really

glad to call you my neighbor and I'm really appreciative that you provide this important resource to people in our community.

You love British crime tv shows correct? What's wrong with American crime tv shows? Why do have to go across the pond?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

So

I'll tell you why. So one of the main things is they don't show the violence. So it's all sort of implied, right? So it's up to your imagination as to what happened or what took place.

I'll...

it's not always about, and I'm sorry, I have to say this, we here in the United States, a lot of crime dramas are about women being assaulted or tackled or mugged or something. like the Brits have these sort of deeper connected stories. And I really do appreciate the story factor there. Yeah.

Okay,

all right, I'll have to check some out. Well, we're gonna play a game called the Great British Crime Off, okay? It's a trivia game. I'm gonna describe some British crime dramas, and you're gonna try and guess their names, okay? This four-episode miniseries with each episode being filmed in one take begins with a 13-year-old boy being arrested following the murder of one of his classmates.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

wasn't about a boy, was it? wasn't. It was.

Adolescence? Adolescence, yeah. Yeah.

was like disturbing, wet,

and yet you could see what this magic box you and I are actually talking to right now has a sort of talk about corruption of thought or equity.

Yeah, yeah,

right, the red, red pilling effect and what it's done to the young men all over the world. Yeah.

Yes, Yeah, A lack of empathy and understanding and valuing yourself

and your actions. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yep, all right, that's the first one.

An 11-year-old boy is found murdered on a beach in a sleepy English town. Detectives investigate the devastating crime, trying to unravel who would be responsible for such a heinous deed in a close-knit community.

Yes.

Yes. my gosh. And, ⁓ it's a beach

I'm so

Broadchurch?

haven't watched Broadchurch, but here's the last one. I'm gonna have to watch it. I did watch this last one. A man gains a vast country estate following the death of his father only to find a woman has been running a weed business on the land.

gotta watch it. It's amazing.

I watched part of it, I didn't finish that.

Yeah,

this was a little bit more of a violent one, even though it was British. It was called The Gentleman. That was a good one. I enjoyed that. was a fun watch.

Yeah. Yeah.

I liked it and then I really loved

who were giving those sort of short appearances in that series. There were some like completely hilarious performances of ⁓ serious actors who were given these very humorous British lie comedy sort of lines, which were great. Yeah, it was very good, but it scared me.

Yeah, yeah, that was good. Oh yeah, well I

could see that. Well I'll have to check out Broadchurch sometime.

Yeah, Broadchurch is great.

get me into the British shows, okay?

Yeah, yeah.

Gigi, you must have so many stories you could tell due to running the Norberth Community Food Bank. I was just wondering is there a particular one that stands out in your mind?

Yes.

You know, this just happened the other day. Janine Davis, who works with us,

an amazing individual and she came into we were it was quite busy, as you can imagine on Thursday. And we were really tired because we started early and finished late. And she came and put her head down on the desk and I said, Oh, are you just exhausted? And she was crying.

she was really upset. so I'll just give you a brief. he worked for the government. He has obviously lost his government job and for the federal government lost the job and kids, young kids, babies. And they thought they were going to come here and come to the food bank and ⁓ get like a couple of bags of cans and maybe some tuna. And that's not what we do.

We have frozen food, we have fresh food. You're getting at minimum 21 pounds of produce. You're going to get all of these things that we worked tirelessly to get through the door and crowd purchase with other agencies in Montgomery County and ⁓ great organizations like Phil Abundance. And so all of this food and they were in tears leaving with baby formula and all these things that we had on

I thought like they left with four bags of food. They're going to be okay, right? They're going to be okay for a little minute until they can come back next week. And she said, I don't know how to hear this all the time anymore about how folks are really suffering and really hurt and really scared.

And that's the piece that we've worked through. Even the volunteers, you know, literally have to what we call tap out. I got to tap out.

I can't listen. can't do it again. I can't hear it one more time. I can't do it. And so we go, okay, great. You're not like it's a punishment, but we all have to wipe the windowsills at some point. And so, you know, maybe you're on windowsills for 15 minutes till you can like feel better about what's happening. It's hard. It's really hard. It's really hard. Yeah.

yeah.

I mean, it's just,

I'm just so, I have so many emotions about what you just said. I'm extremely grateful

you.

It's just it's a

to take in to know that there are people in my community who are ashamed and scared to come and get help and I hope that by airing this that people will

a little bit more empathy than they did before.

Absolutely,

Gigi, you love live performances like The Moth and Story Slam. So I looked it up. The Moth is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the art of true personal storytelling. And Story Slams are just kind of like open mic competitions. They kind of remind me of TED Talks in a way. They're kind of like stories similar to TED Talks. Have you ever participated in a Slam session?

Thank

Yes.

No, I haven't. I have not participated, but I do love them. just like, maybe like three weeks ago, I was in New Jersey at the New Jersey State Theater in New Brunswick and we went to see the live moth performance and it was about risk taking. And it was like six or seven stories about how somebody had to take a, or a leap of faith. And I thought it was incredible to hear these stories of a woman who had suffered from depression

She was married, she had children and she was about to

And she decided like,

I'm going to book myself a trip to Australia and I'm going to buy tickets to all like eight shows in Australia and that's what I'm going to do. And everyone was like, why are you doing this? Like everyone in her life. And she's like, I feel it's just going to be something empowering for me. And I just have to have faith in myself and you have to have faith in me. And it was like life changing for her. And she took the leap of faith.

I mean, I feel like you would be perfect for a story session. mean, just with all of your experience with food insecurity and so many inspirational and emotional stories, I feel like you'd be perfect for it. I think you should try it sometime. No, you'd be great. I really, I think. And you know what, let me know when you do. And I will be there to support you.

⁓ I'm sort of cowardice that way.

Alright, I will. I'll think about it. I

know, I might be coming right behind you into the podcast world, Doc. I might be following right behind you.

Oh, I would love it. I would love if you would.

Well, we're going to have our very own story slam. OK, but I'm going to be the one you're going to be the judge. So I look this up, OK, that there's there's judging criteria. It to be less than five minutes long, which I'm definitely going to I'm to do. It has to adhere to a theme. So let's let's do risk taking since you just brought that up. And I have to have a conflict and resolution. And then you're going to judge me on a score of one to ten. I think that's how it is. OK. OK, ten is the best. So this is it. So theme is risk taking.

Right. Yeah.

Okay, great.

Okay, 10 is the best.

Alright, so when I was trying to get into residency, I wanted to be an anesthesiologist and I went to an osteopathic school

there were a lot of very competitive allopathic programs.

Soft tissue manipulation for

I really wanted to go to Albany Medical Center for residency.

And while I was going there on a rotation, I was getting kind of stories from the higher ups that they were moving away from taking osteopathic medical students because they felt that it was kind of diluting their pool a little bit. They wanted to make it a more competitive program at the time. So I was already feeling kind of let down by that. But one day there was a teaching session where the residents were being pulled away to do a simulation or something. And I had no idea what was going on, but one of the residents said, you're going to come with me.

So I ended up in this room doing a simulation. There was a mannequin on a table and all of a sudden the patient codes and we're coding this mannequin and all of a sudden it stops and it just stops. And then we're taken out of that room and we're placed in front of a door and we open the, you go in individually and I open the door and there's a person sitting there and that person happens to be an actor who is supposed to be a family member of the person I was doing CPR on.

So I didn't know the whole story. And so I just have to break news to someone that their loved one passed away and to console them and they were crying. They're a very good actor. And so after that's over, we get put into this room with all the residents and the program director comes in and the program director says, okay, you were all recorded during your interaction with this family member.

So who wants to volunteer so we can watch your interaction with this family member and then we can critique it? Nobody said a word. All the residents are sitting there. So I'm sitting there as a medical student and I just raised my hand and I said, what do I have to lose? And so he grabs the DVD, puts it in, watches it. Now I had done a lot of this in my training. So I was kind of trained on how to do this type of interaction with people who are really upset.

under the table.

And the program director said, this is great. He was giving like, he's like, this is how you do it. And then after it was over, the assistant program director pulled me aside and said, you need to apply to this program because you really impressed the program director. And I found out after I matched in that program that the program director told me in that moment, he knew that he wanted me to be part of that residency program. So if I hadn't raised my hand and volunteered, I don't know if I would have gotten in.

That is a 10. I'm giving you a 10 on that because I mean, that's your whole, right? Your education, everything to that moment and your future, everything in that moment behind door number one, right?

So I took a risk and thank you, yes.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

and I love that you said DVD also because just I that's an incredible story and that and congratulations and good

Yeah, DVD, right? was a DVD. Now it's a flash drive.

Thank you.

That's a great story, That's a 10 out of 10. I give you a 10. Yeah. Good one.

Thank you. So 10 out of 10, I would, thank you.

On September 20th of this year the US Department of Agriculture under the guidance of the Trump administration announced the termination of future household food security reports ⁓ citing they were redundant, costly, politicized, extraneous studies that did nothing more than fear-monger.

Hmm.

So essentially, they're just saying, we're not going to study it anymore. We're not going to do the research because it's just not a problem.

No.

that's a bad move in my humble opinion. You don't know, you know this. We are not expecting the tracking or the data collection to be specifically scientific, but it is a basis, right, to judge how we are doing or how we're not doing and how kids are doing and seniors are doing and our vets are doing.

and I'm a big believer.

that data is part of the toolbox. It's not the whole toolbox because that's not possible because lived experiences and where you live and there are a lot of other factors. ⁓ But if you don't actually respect that there is information that needs to be gathered on behalf of the citizens that government was created to serve, there's a really big problem without USDA inspectors, without USDA ⁓ financial support.

Yeah.

And so I don't agree that we can let this amount of information or data collection go or support in a financial way the organizations and the people who do that work. I think that that's probably a bad move on behalf of our federal government.

Right.

Well, it's just an extension of the Trump administration not wanting to believe or continue scientific research, right? They don't believe in science. They don't believe in research. They think it's all corrupt because, you know, if it gives them numbers that go against their narratives, then they don't want to hear it.

Yes. my goodness, yes.

Right, right, right, yes.

without that data or information or someone leading, it is a corruption of thought, of process and of a respectable government that cares for its citizens and its constituents. So that's my opinion.

Yeah,

we just have to stick together and take care of each other until we get someone who's responsible back in ⁓ a place of leadership because this food insecurity is not going to go away just because we don't study it and keep track of it. And the fact that so many more people are going to be harmed by being left behind is the real tragedy in this entire situation.

I can't be afraid of you.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the

reality is you're growing the next generation of food insecure humans in the United States if we don't actually find a way to talk about it and move forward with it. Right. And we know years ago there used to be the study that was produced that said if you're not out of food insecurity and and that system of being hungry the likelihood that you repeat is actually impactful for two other generations.

Right. Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Right?

It's

setting the groundwork for more hunger.

And if you're listening or watching this, just know that good people like Gigi are out there. They're going to try and help you until we get this ship right back on track. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Really thank you for shedding light on it because we need to have these conversations more frequently. We really do. We do. Yeah.

let's play a game called What's on the Menu? Okay, I'm going to quiz you about the different levels of food security in the United States. There is an international measurement but we're just going to do the United States measurement. So you may or may not know this already, there's high food security, marginal, low, and very low. Okay, those are different.

Okay.

Woo!

Okay.

levels of food security. So I'm going to describe it and you're going to try and guess which one it is. There's only four of them and it's not going to be a repeat. So households report one or two indicators of problems such as anxiety about having enough food, but with little to no change in food intake or diet. So is that high food security, marginal low or very low food security? Marginal. That one's marginal. Yep.

Okay.

Okay.

I think it's low.

Okay.

How about households report multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake due to lack of money or other resources for food? That's very low. That's correct. Households have no indications of food access problems or limitations.

Yeah, very low. Yeah, very low.

I think they're very fortunate and they probably don't have it, food insecurity. all right, forgive me, hi.

So that'd be high, high food security. Yeah, high food security.

And then the last one is households report a reduction in the quality, variety, or desirability of their diet, but their food intake has not been substantially reduced. Yes. it's, right.

So that's that middle range of maybe, yeah, skipping a few meals, but not really

having a security issue, right? This one, right.

Yeah, so low, it's just low food security.

So there's actually a ranking system that people use on how secure people are with their meals. I mean, as someone who is as privileged as I am, I can't imagine to be worrying about what I'm eating,

Yeah.

I've never experienced that kind of hunger aside from self-imposed fasting, you know But to have days and days and days go by of not having healthy foods or just a regular meal That that's something that I just can't fathom, you know, I can empathize but can't fathom and so The fact that there's a ranking system for this that people are paying attention to that I think shows how much of a problem it is Obviously, we just talked about how it's a problem in our own community

Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes.

It needs to be respected.

And so I just wanted to play this game just to show that there are levels of food security and that we should be grateful if we do not have to be ranked anything less than high food security in Pennsylvania. Yeah.

I agree with you a thousand percent, a thousand percent.

Well, Gigi, as someone who started a food bank, what would you say was the most difficult part of the process?

my gosh, ⁓ when folks ask me, they want to start a food bank in their own community or where they are, their college or campus area or something, I go learn from my mistakes.

Start small. Get more volunteers than you think you need. Go talk to everyone you know sooner rather than later. Don't try to hide it. I was told when we started in Norberth that literally there was nothing to be concerned about out of the 08, 09 crisis. You'll be shut down in a year. You won't have anything to worry about. It's 18 years. This October 11th was 18 years. And I just like.

Wow.

And it happened times to be honest, doc, like that we thought like, we're back on track. Community's doing good. Numbers are down. We could close the doors, but then we're just right back at the next crisis or the next issue. And I do think that the number one thing I would say is really look at the whole population. How many seniors, how many young folks, how many people in the middle, and you need more than you think you do food wise. I've learned that lesson.

I mean look, I don't know if I'm gonna ever strike out in that direction, but it sounds like a huge undertaking and you're definitely a huge source of knowledge. So I'll definitely put your information out there just so can contact you if anyone has any questions to start a food bank because I'm sure it's not, as you described, it's not a small undertaking.

and it should be respected. But if you're someone who wants to do

⁓ to do.

Gigi, you are a registered independent, but you vote for Democrats up and down the ballot. So why do you support the Democratic Party in the voting booth?

Yes, I am.

Yes, I do.

I support the principles, the basic ideas that we as neighbors support the values of the Democratic Party.

I believe in a fair and just judicial system. believe in everyone deserves to have food on their table, a roof over their head, and to have their medical needs met. And I think the Democratic Party believes that. I think that we believe in public transportation for everyone. And maybe in this moment, our public transportation is a little bit suffering. But I actually believe it's an important piece that connects communities, not just ours, not just going back and forth to Philadelphia for your job, but...

culturally and socially and all of those things. think it's an important piece. I believe also that my individual right to choose what happens to my body is my business. And I'm not asking you Zeke or an elected official at the federal, state, county, local government to talk to me about their morality regarding my body and my medical decisions.

whether that is my right to receive cancer treatment or not, or medical treatment regarding a pregnancy or not, or even like root canal or not. I don't think you should be in between me and my decisions about my body. I just don't. And I agree that we have to have unions. I agree that a fair and ⁓ equitable work culture and life should exist in this country.

Believe in all of that. I really do.

You just rattled off the entire Democratic platform. It's great. It's the morals, it's the values of the Democratic Party.

Great, and I'll be running in it. No, I won't, no.

You summarized it very well, Gigi.

I hope that maybe someday you go back and re-register as a Democrat to participate in our primaries. know, I'm fortunate. Yeah. Yeah.

I think I probably will, to be honest with you. And ⁓

I was just mad. I was just mad about ⁓ some things that happened. ⁓ But I have hope. I really do have a lot of hope that we can turn things back around.

Yeah.

I'm on the same page with you, Gigi. I'm very grateful that you support the Democratic

Yeah! I mean,

Gigi, you once owned a Ford Pinto that caught on fire while you were driving it. So this is a story I must hear.

Yes.

Okay. So this is like like a cookie story.

⁓ my father was a chevy guy, so he was always buying Chevrolet's. And, ⁓ so my siblings were all older than me, so we had a number of cars and yes, of course they were Chevys.

until there was something known as the gas crisis. And a few years after the gas crisis, my dad made the bold move that said we have to go with these smaller and lighter cars and use less fuel. And so he bought one for himself. And then he thought it was a great idea that I should have one.

And so

he helped me, helped me by this sky blue, it was very pretty, ⁓ Ford Pinto before we knew the reputation of the Ford Pinto. And so there I am. And I'm literally going to that university, the aforementioned, and I'm driving down a highway known as route 22 in New Jersey. And I'm trying to get to work from the university and I'm driving like,

you know, at fast and, and all of sudden there's car, there's smoke coming out from under the hood. And I'm like, is that my car? I'm confused. I don't know. I look in the rear view mirror and there's like smoke billowing. now I see like, I see flames and I'm like, my God, I think the car is that. So I pull over into the, you know, the shoulder and I get out and I look down the highway and there are literally like parts of this Ford Minto.

⁓ no.

Arts? my god.

on Route 22,

like smoking and smoldering, and here comes the fire department.

The car, and you know, they were notorious for this transmission piece kind of burning up later on.

⁓ no.

And so was very hilarious that we had this fire.

I'm really happy that you didn't get hurt or anything or you didn't crash. I mean, that was the best case scenario is you just pull over and that was it. ⁓ My first car was a lemon. It was a blue Honda hatchback. I think it had over 100,000 miles on it. And it would have been a blessing if that caught on fire, to be honest, and got rid of it. But yeah, I guess we all have our lemons in our stories from the past.

No, it was the

It was really,

it was junk. It was just pure junk.

Yeah.

Was that the last Ford for you? Yeah, that was it. No more Fords There you

That was the last board. My father drew the line. That was the last Ford We went back to Chevy's. Yes, we did.

Gigi, what is your response to people who use dehumanizing language about those who require food assistance?

unfortunately we hear it all the time now with these specialists on panels and from JD Vance and from Trump and other Republican politicians, they're lazy, they need to get a job, it's wasting money, all dehumanizing language, right? ⁓ Yeah.

Sure.

Yeah, sure.

dehumanizing, disrespectful,

certainly not the way in which any public elected person should be speaking about their constituents

The vast majority of those we serve are working. They work. They work two or three jobs. They work. They work a lot. They're multi-generational homes. These folks are not avoiding work by any stretch of the imagination.

The reality is it is absolutely.

not the job of government to be disrespectful and dehumanizing of my neighbors. And certainly, and I'll tell you, I've said this frequently, you say this about my neighbors, you're saying it about me, and I'm never gonna let you get away with that. I'm never gonna let you get away with that. These are good, honest, hardworking people, the people we know, we

I think it's wrong to engage in those types of debates because as much as I dislike Donald Trump and JD Vance and the entire cabinet that he runs with, they all deserve to eat. They all deserve to have food. I don't care who you are. You don't deserve to go hungry. I mean, I'm a doctor. I took an oath to do no harm. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I mean, I...

Yeah. Yep, absolutely.

I could no more deny them than I could deny you or anybody else who comes to the door.

I think Donald Trump is one of the laziest presidents we've ever had. He's golfing half the time and not doing anything. I still think he deserves to have three square meals a day, healthy ones at that. So I just feel like anytime people engage in these dehumanizing conversations, it distracts from the very reality of being alive and existing in this world. And I just don't play that game. It's like, don't care. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes, yes, how about some apples?

Yes.

And it's a very space level, very monkey brain kind of a thing

to degrade one another that way. It's a very low level of thinking and thought.

Right,

it has us fighting with each other instead of with the machine that causes all the problems in the first place. And I think that's what we need to get away from.

really good. And

some point, Doc,

What gives you hope?

Gosh, things like this give me hope. Connection with fellow man gives me hope. Knowing that we have, and I know he's not the only one, but Governor Josh Shapiro gave me a lot of hope today. I have to tell you, watching that press conference, knowing that, and I really do mean it, and knowing Dr. Valarkush in that moment and seeing her standing there, and I just thought.

you know, and he was giving her a lot of praise and, know, humble Val

I, that gave me a lot of hope. It gives me a lot of hope that our community came together and like donated huge amounts of food, huge amounts of time. So many more volunteers, so many organizations come together and saying like, Hey, I'm good. We're going to open up on extra hours on Wednesday. Can you guys do extra hours on Tuesday? And we said, yeah, okay, we'll do extra hours. And it is really the connectivity of human beings and humanity.

right in the end. It's only those actions that will save us. It is nothing else. There's nothing else that can save you but the connectivity of one another. That's all there is.

You give me hope, Gigi.

My last question for you is, what are your plans to get you through these next few years?

my

Gosh, that's hard to say. I have learned, I know this is gonna sound a little bad, but I've learned not to take, to bite off too big a chunk. so, and so ⁓ I, know, six months, a chunk is good. Eight months, chunk is good. I can do that. And those are the pieces like I can digest. I re, you know, my dream always is to say that we won't need the work. You know, I, I've said it for years and I'll say it again. Come on and shut me down.

Great, let's make it so everybody has enough food, housing and enough everything that they need that you don't need me to do this anymore. I'm going to sit down. I just said tonight, like the pile of books next to my bed that I haven't finished yet. I will sit down for three years and read some books. I would really like to do that. But I can't give up. I've said it before. I won't give up on my neighbors. I will not forgive. I won't give up on our community. I'm not going to do that. I'm never going to be able to do that. And whether that's in this role or something else I'm doing.

But there's no giving up. There's no giving up. It's not possible. We just have to do as much as we can for as long as we can. And I've said that. I say it all the time. The most good for as much as we can, as long as we can. That's what we're going to keep doing. That's it.

I'm so grateful for you, Gigi, and I just, I'm so happy you're my neighbor. I'm obviously going to promote the Narberth Community Food Bank. Tomorrow, if someone wanted to wake up and help their food bank that's in their area, what can they do? Tomorrow.

Yes. Yes. So

tomorrow, what you can do? Well, first and foremost, contact your local food, you know, soup kitchen, shelter or food pantry. Connect with your elected official and say, hey, we don't have one here and we really need one. ⁓ Start organizing your neighbors like how I started was simply putting flyers on the neighbors that I knew and saying like, hey, we need these five items as fast as you can. And there's so much you can do. Even if you just said to someone, do you know?

How many people are food insecure right here or in our county or in our state? Like, isn't that remarkable? Start those small conversations. That's worth a million dollars to tell people like, hey, I'm aware of this and you should be too. That's worth a lot. It's worth a lot. ⁓

And

I made a donation to the Narberth Community Food Bank. I know that you do need money to buy food and keep the lights on. So please make a donation to your local food bank if you can. Obviously, they'll take food donations, but a lot of times it's even more helpful to donate your time and money. Yeah.

⁓ Yes, we do. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

because what we do a lot

of time is bulk buying. So we'll call up someone in Jenkins Town who is a great vendor over milk, which just happened, and we put in the order for everyone getting it. 290 households will get half gallons of milk, which is an incredible thing. And that's what we're doing. And yogurt, we just bought yogurt for every kid in the program. We just did. That's that. So yes.

I

you're doing amazing work. Thank you is not a strong enough word ⁓ to really relay that to you. I hope our community recognizes what you bring to the table. And I just, I can't wait to work with you in the future. It's gonna be great.

I don't need to thank you. I don't need it.

Thanks, Zeke. I am really thankful for you inviting me on. I don't need a thank you. I don't need recognition. I need us to just work together to help one another. That's it. That's really it. I don't need it. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Gigi.

Thank you so much for joining me here on The Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved and until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.