 Hello everyone, I'm James Milan and this is Million Dollar Gift series, which as you know focuses on the efforts of volunteers and people putting the work in behind the scenes for all of our benefit and we like to highlight those issues as often as we can and of course right now in what we call pandemic times around here, that is more important than ever. Today I get to talk to Elizabeth Greenhall who is the vice president at Project Bred, she's in charge of communication and development. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, James. And we just want to talk about the work of Project Bred and how of course it has been affected as we as all of our work is by the current circumstances. I'd like to start by just asking you, you know, I think a lot of our audience would be familiar of course with Project Bred as an entity, possibly without knowing anything about what you actually do, mostly because of course of the high profile of the Walk for Hunger each year. I've taken part in it three or four times myself over the year. Thank you. It's been supportive and with good reason. But tell us a little bit first of all, what does Project Bred do? Sure, so Project Bred the Walk is just a part of of our organization, but it is where our roots are and sort of how the organization came to be. And the Walk ultimately is about, you know, a commitment to taking care of one another and to, you know, coming together as a community to lift the larger group up as a whole. And so as after the Walk, which was founded in 1969, had been through some years of doing it, it just became so clear that there was a lot more that needed to be done and a lot of expertise with people closely associated with the Walk that Project Bred began expanding beyond the fundraising component. Right, being a fundraiser, right. Right. And so today we really act to connect people with resources and have a big focus on federal nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is a staff or formerly called food stamps. And in addition to other programs, school meals, summer meal, free summer meals for kids and teens. And our approach is really about solutions that are focused on families, kids and communities. And trying to make sure that there's a sustainable way to support these folks who are struggling to afford food right now. Yeah, and you know, we have spoken to some other folks in the last couple of weeks about the fact that there are a lot of different front lines, one might say, in, you know, our collective fight against this pandemic. And you are certainly on one of them, the food, the programs that you mentioned that you're already heavily involved in, summer lunches for kids or food, you know, provide provision for kids in the summer at school, the SNAP program, etc. All of these things have been directly affected and dramatically so by their current situation. So let's talk a little bit about the food insecurity ramifications of what we are all going through. Let me just invite you to start to walk us through what it is that we, what you are already looking at and facing, but what we also are looking at as this moves forward from here. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think to start, it's worth just noting that this is completely unprecedented, you know, Project Red has been serving the community for, in the state of Massachusetts for over 50 years and in all of those years, we have never seen anything like this. But before the coronavirus arrived in Massachusetts, we already had a pretty significant problem with hunger that often went unnoticed. And so, you know, in February, if you were asking me what hunger looked like in Massachusetts, we would say it was impacting about 9% of people in our state. And that works out to about one in 11 households or one in nine kids. So far too many large, large number. I mean, if, you know, that's, it is a thousand people or more, I'm sure. Absolutely. And when you consider that that Massachusetts is, you know, a wealthy state in a wealthy nation, well resourced, like well educated. It's really unacceptable that we are kind of in that position. And of course, with the situation that we're in right now, we're seeing this problem that was certainly there be, you know, accelerated and exaggerated in a very short window of time. So some research that was supported by the USDA just came out around food insecurity in Massachusetts since in the month of March. And it was about 38% of people who were saying that they, you know, were food insecure. And just for your viewers, when we talk about food insecurity, what we mean is people who have some uncertainty around where their next meal will come from. They can't, you know, reliably say with confidence that they will have, you know, whatever that next meal may be. Thank you for that. You anticipated my question perfectly. And I do think it is really important that people understand what that means concretely. Food insecurity means literally that at some point or in some way, families are not sure or people are not sure where their next meal is coming from. Right. And I mean, you can imagine the implications that that has on, you know, the stress on a family, other long term like health and economic outcomes. And so I think when we think about Massachusetts as a community, it's really important to recognize that it's not just that individual experience of the person who might be struggling, but it's the whole family unit and then the whole community. And as a result, you know, our state isn't, we're not reaching our full potential, right? And we can't achieve the equity that we want until we can make sure that everyone has the food they need to thrive. You know, you were you have already mentioned the SNAP program. And one of the things that that has really struck us in some conversations that we have had recently is the idea that for instance, if food pantries are under, let's say in higher demand than they, again, an unprecedented situation like depression era. And when what we've heard that has really struck us is that there are stigmas attached, of course, to to both going to a food pantry or, you know, enrolling in the SNAP program or in in what people had traditionally called food stamps. And as between those two things, it seems from what we've heard that people are more or have a bigger problem with enrolling in the SNAP program than with going to a food pantry. Curious about, you know, whether you have any idea or explanation for why that is. And also what we can do about that. Right. Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a really interesting topic. And I think, you know, one of the things that project bread, before you know, we went into crisis mode had been looking at is really starting to unpack those barriers and understanding, you know, misconceptions or fear of perceived stigma around programs that were intended to support people. And I think on the, and this is, you know, anecdotal, but but I think what we hear on the side on food pantry is that that is like a community based program. And, and so in many cases, you know, people feel you know, a sense of support or, or like an intimacy with the organization, just to feel understood. On the flip side, you know, I've definitely talked to families where they are as a kid in high school, who doesn't want to go to the food pantry because he's afraid Somebody's going to recognize them as classmates are volunteering. Yeah, exactly. And when it comes to stigma around SNAP, I think it's hard to it's hard to quantify. But I will say that SNAP isn't well understood. And so a lot of people confuse SNAP with welfare, which are, you know, very different things. And I think that the SNAP program, you know, feels like official in some way, because it is a federal nutrition program. And so I think that people feel like they're somehow like putting down on their record, you know, that they're struggling or or it's, it's, you know, it's, it's difficult to kind of overcome that barrier. But I think what we want people to understand is that SNAP is proven as the most effective anti hunger solution that we have. It achieves a scale that is, you know, untouched by any other program. And it brings money into the Massachusetts economy because it's federally funded. It gives people the purchasing power to choose their own food, you know, if you want to buy the food that's, you know, we all want comfort food right now. But comfort food to me is different than comfort food, maybe from someone, you know, with a different heritage or background. And so we want people to be able to purchase and the food that they, that it makes no sense for them, whether that's cultural relevancy, or to accommodate any dietary restrictions in the home. And really, that's kind of the beauty of SNAP is that it does. It's not putting people in a position where they're asking for charity. It's actually giving people the financial resources to purchase their own food and in a way that's most convenient to them, whether that's, you know, at a big supermarket or at, you know, a corner store. If you work odd shifts, you know, you can do it at night or whenever you want. I think there are a lot of barriers on the emergency food side on that food pantry system, because it is so volunteer dependent that that they're struggling right now. Because we got to keep everyone safe. And so our feeling at Project Red is that there's a number of people who are visiting food pantries right now, who don't know that they're eligible for SNAP have never found themselves in a place where they're looking for assistance in the way that they are now and maybe have no familiarity with what's available. And we really want to help people understand that this is a program that exists. It's proven it helps lift people out of poverty. And, and it's sustainable, right? You don't have to keep going to a food pantry, figuring out that transportation piece. It's the majority of it's happening electronically. Right. And so who is and how does one recognize that that you who is eligible for the program? And, and to those who might be again concerned about perceived stigma, as you were alluded to before, is our applications, you know, the whole application process, is privacy assured or secured? Yeah. So I think, you know, on the eligibility question, like all things, it depends. But I would say there are like, that's reason that's one of the reasons that organizations like Project Red exist is to, you know, help people who are curious about what resources might be available to them. So you can call Project Red. And, you know, we can quickly pre screen you for SNAP. So you know, whether it's worth, you know, going through that application process, you have support through the application. I mean, anyone who's applied for unemployment, or tried to do their own taxes, government paperwork, and is can be really challenging. And, and especially so if it's not in your native language. And so Project Red really helps people find out the maximum amount of supports that they are, because, you know, we know that we need comprehensive supports for people. So we, you know, if you call us and we pre screen you and you're eligible for SNAP, we'll help you through that application process. And we'll also talk to you about free free meals for kids that are near you, we can tell you about food pantries that are open or closed during this period of time. So really, we help people navigate what resources are available to them. And, and that eligibility piece is tricky for a lot of folks. And that's one of the ways that that we help. Okay, so I mean, the answer in part, as you said, is it varies a lot. But you, Project Red, great resource for to figure out whether one is eligible. Yeah, and I would say that, you know, on one, so two things. One, I think there's a lot of opportunity right now to in to really push for making SNAP something that's eligible for that more people are eligible for. The broad as possible scope. Yeah, exactly. So I think people who can should should, you know, try to educate themselves and do whatever they can to advocate for that. But then on the eligibility piece for those who might be, you know, needing assistance right now, there are some resources out there on Project Red's website, we have, you know, some basic information that can help kind of let you know if it's a good place for you to start or not. But again, I think that when you're in crisis, there's nothing that compares to having a kind non judgmental person on the other end of the phone, which is, or the chat, which is what we do at Project Red. That's fantastic. I got to say, as a brief aside, just dealing recently, as I have been on behalf of an older relative with just starting to weed or weighed into Medicare, boy, could I use a resource like that, you know, so I can really appreciate what it is that you are offering. I'm wondering, of course, you guys would have thought about this and made provisions for it, non English speakers and immigrants who might be wanting to or non non English, non native English speakers, I should say, would be wanting to apply. I assume that you you, you can can meet those needs as well. Yeah, so great question. And I think it's a really important point that not everyone thinks about. And I think we all have a responsibility to be thinking about it. Which is that, you know, hunger before COVID-19 was here, you know, we already talked about that this is a real challenge that exists in Massachusetts. And we know that that certain communities and certain demographics are disproportionately impacted by it. So where that, you know, it's one in 11 households, that rings true when you look at the state average in certain communities, you know, it's one in three households. That's right. So it's really, it's really important to be thinking that through, especially people who have, you know, the power influence to be informing the the response. And at Project Brand, we do a couple things to help drive that sort of more equitable, or more intentionally equitable planning and process. So we are always making all our resources available in multiple languages and doing the promotion and awareness building around those resources in multiple languages, trying to connect with people as many people as possible. You know, our site is available in English and Spanish. And then we have translation services for 160 languages through our concrete. Yeah. And one of the great things about, about, you know, Greater Boston and the state of Massachusetts is how many cultures, you know, cultural and linguistic diversity. It's pretty good for this. Very good. Yes. And so we want to recognize that and give support that's really tailored to people. So, you know, when you're in crisis, you want to have as few barriers as possible. But then the other piece that that we are doing is, you know, trying to find opportunities to create platforms for people who are living with this experience right now or experiencing food insecurity to inform the policy and programmatic response. I think that for a long time, hunger, along with many other things has been something that the solutions have been very one directional and usually, you know, like it's generally older white men that have been driving this policy. Absolutely. And so I think, you know, it's really critical that we recognize that, you know, the best way to support someone is to ask what they need and then help figure out how to get it, how to get it to them. And so being really intentional about community engagement is important. And then also research. So looking at patterns of hunger and food insecurity in Massachusetts over the past 50 years. Project Bright is located in East Boston. So we are definitely, you know, well aware of some of the barriers that exist in communities where there's a lot of gentrification happening. So really thinking from a from, you know, both a tactical and on the ground level, but then also making sure that that's getting turned around and brought back into the policy conversations. Yeah, speaking of policy conversations, I'm curious about, you know, the mix of programs that you guys help people to navigate. I assume that there is a mix between those that are administered by the state and those that are administered by the federal government. All right, do you find or are you finding the current moment that it is easier to work with or either of those entities is being more flexible as seems required at this time? And I guess what I'm really asking in some ways is the federal government's role in all of this has not been very impressive so far. How has your experience been with that, I guess, and also with the state government administered program? Yeah, absolutely. So for a number of these programs are administered at the state level, but funded federally. So I think that, you know, it's it's sort of a blended answer, I guess I would say I'll say that Massachusetts just as a state has incredible leadership in this area. So really the national leaders on responding to the hunger crisis coming out of or not like we're coming out of it, but resulting from from the COVID-19 pandemic are congressional leaders. So Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congressman Jim McGovern has been a national voice on food insecurity the entire time he's been in office. Much longer than this than we've been dealing with this pandemic. Absolutely. Congressman Kennedy. So I think that there's a lot to be said for, you know, using whole lifting Massachusetts up as an example of ways to make these things work. I think that pandemic, so something called pandemic EBT has has recently been approved, the governor announced it. And this is something that provides funds to that are federal funds to families who normally are eligible to receive for your reduced price meals at school. And, you know, Massachusetts was one of just a handful of states that actually applied to receive this funding. And, you know, ultimately, when it when it does roll out, it's it's going to reach, you know, over 500,000 kids and bring, you know, $4 million into our state economy. And I think we really have to applaud the collaborative leadership here in Massachusetts. You know, I think, regardless of how you think about things or how you thought about things before or, you know, perceived like dramatic differences in policy agenda, it's really clear right now that people in the community are getting put first and and that our state is is out ahead leading on this and trying to kind of setting an example and showing in real life what the potential impact of these programs can be. You know, never a bad time to pause to applaud anything, but boy right now, you know, more than ever. So that that really is it's wonderful to hear. Not only again that there is collaboration afoot, but also that it's going to have and more importantly that it will potentially have such concrete and direct results to to to attend to the needs of people that really deserve it. Absolutely. Yeah, it's, you know, I do this all the time and I'm I'm like continually just excited about the how much Massachusetts is pushing for. It's really nice. Yeah, it's it's we're doing OK in this state, you know, by by being residents of this state, I have to say a couple more things. One actually goes back to something you said earlier and that was when you were talking about, you know, people going to food pantries versus not versus, but yeah, pantries and the SNAP program, etc. And you were saying that one of the virtues of SNAP is that it does give people the means and allow them to make the choices of what food they want for themselves. Of course, that's a great thing and right in line with our American values, etc. It also made me think, hmm, how good are those choices going to be sometimes when you are giving those choices over to all the individuals? Are they going to choose well? Project Bread get involved at all with providing counsel or advice or guidance around healthy eating and healthy choices in the supermarket with your food stamps or otherwise, you know, program or otherwise? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a good question. For us, I think, you know, we believe that people can make that choice for themselves and like the best thing to do is to make information available. But I think that trying to limit how prescriptive we are is going to make it easier for more people to access and use the program. And I think, you know, when it comes to health, a lot of us know what's healthy and what's not healthy and still make healthy. I might be living on ice cream right now, but stress eating. And so I think like giving people the right to make those decisions for themselves is part of how we think about it. But definitely there's an education component to make sure that that information and those resources on healthy eating are available and a lot of our partners do that very well. And we try to do, we try to influence the health factor around these programs primarily through the school. So working with school districts to make sure that those three meals that are provided are quality food and you know can help meet the nutrition needs for kids during the day, especially a lot of kids count on school food for half of their daily making sure those calories count. Yeah and I just want to clarify that and asking that question, I wasn't assuming, believe me, that you guys were being prescriptive in any way. I just wondered whether again there was an element of education as you were saying. For sure and and I think that's actually, you know, it's an interesting point. It's sometimes a tension point in the anti-hunger community just from a strategic standpoint. But we're really about access and affordability and I think, you know, we don't, I think we know that there are others who are better suited probably than we are. As I just admitted, I had ice cream for dinner last night. No, you were actually, I thought that was all theoretical. I mean, yeah, it's theoretical. I know that that that Project Bread itself is not, you know, not in any substantial sense of volunteer organization and that really the volunteer aspect of things come from the walk for hunger. That's right. A lot of ways, but I'm wondering if people who are watching are interested or engaged and galvanized by the conversation, is there, you know, beyond the walk and, you know, we should not, just not to minimize that, but is there any, you know, thing that people can do or ways that they can get involved that would be helpful? Yes. So the development person in me has to say, Donnie. And I think that right now, you know, it's been really encouraging and like makes you feel good about humanity to see the outpouring of support. And I think that what's critical and particularly important from individuals who are contributing, whether it's five dollars or five hundred dollars, is that a lot of organizations, that is money that gives flexibility to be able to react, you know, some funding that comes in in other ways is, you know, sort of restricted to a specific program or a specific geographic region. And obviously, like, that's great too. We take that money, but in the crisis response mode, we really do need flexibility because things are changing so rapidly. So every, I think every dollar that comes, particularly from individuals, is really helpful. But on the sort of more action side, I think there's a number of things people can do. Social media is an easy one. You know, Project Red is constantly promoting the resources that are available to others and getting the word out is hard. It's hard to break through messaging and and it right now in particular, right, because there's so much. And so getting the available resources in as many, in front of as many people as possible and and networks as possible is really important. Project Red also has an action team. So this is a group that have raised their hands to say that they're interested in policy and, you know, receive a newsletter where we sometimes say, hey, can you call your elected officials and say that you support this and provide some education there. So that's another way. And then you touched on the Walk for Hunger and, unfortunately, obviously we had to cancel the event this year. You know, it brings thousands of people together. Thousands. Thousands. And it's a really powerful, I mean, you've said you've you've done it. Yep. Thank you for that. I was mentioning to my producing colleague before we went on the air that 20 miles seems like a long time, but or a long way. But when you do it, you know, I've done, I did the full 20 a couple of times and congrats. Didn't feel that way. You know, you just have so many people around you. It's a special morning. A lot of the, you know, a lot of the time it really is. So anyway. Oh, we'd love to hear that. Yeah. And I mean, I think the other thing that kind of is relevant to what we've been talking about about the walk is that because the walk kind of grew out of a grassroots movement and had as much to do with awareness and raising, you know, forcing people, not forcing people, but like helping to put that food and security piece out in front of people back 50 years ago means that now that's still part of what we're doing and a lot of amazing events in Boston are strictly fundraising based and the Walker hunger is certainly that for us. Fundraising piece is important, but we've made the conscious decision, you know, we don't have a fundraising minimum. You, for those who can afford to pay a registration fee, like we make concessions, it's free people 18 and under when it happens. It's free to everybody right now to do it virtually. And so I think part of the beauty of the walk and part of that experience is really that it brings a good cross section of all of the best parts of our city and our state together. And so, you know, as an organization, I think it's been challenging to know that we're not going to have that opportunity to to be together as a community. And so when those decisions were first made in full transparency, it was hard, you know, it's like breathing. And so I think that are what we've done is kind of switch focus and try to use this as an opportunity when people feel really isolated to leverage the walk to bring people together. So we've had people doing steps challenges with their neighbor while everyone's social distancing. We've had people doing virtual bake sales and doing other kind of challenges through all of the means that we're communicating and that's been so powerful. So I think, you know, encouraging people to still use the walk. And I should say that obviously this year we've made some changes to the way that the money raised through the walk will be used. We're putting it directly to COVID-19 response work. Whereas in years past, you know, after the walk, we we branched out to a number of organizations that period of review and holding out to make sure that, you know, we have all the applications and everything has been eliminated. Right. Okay. So it's coming in, we're getting it back out. Right. And that's what generally happens with the money that comes in you're saying through the walk, which is, as we know, a big haul. And so then you guys redistribute that to local organizations. Far is the scope of the organizations that you are supporting and working with. Does it go all the way out to Western Mass, wider New England? Is it mostly in Eastern Mass, Boston based thing? You know, how far do you go? We are statewide. Okay. Through and true. I mean, I think what we are, what we look at from a funding perspective is, is where is that the most need? And, you know, this year we've launched or last year we piloted and this year launched a program where organizations can leverage the walk to fund race for themselves and they get to retain 60% of what they raise, which means that we can, you know, the money that is raised elsewhere can go to the communities in the state that don't have that kind of capacity within their own community to fund race. And so we're really focused on The great situation. That's, that's Yeah. Yeah. It's been, I mean, it's new and it's been a change, but there's been a really positive response to it and we were kind of worried about, you know, what would happen because this is its official launch and it's actually, it's been great. It's been an important part and people are really rallying around this and we're, we're excited and encouraged to see it and think it will be lasting. That's great. Hey, before we wrap up, I just did want to ask you, you had mentioned before about, you know, getting the word out around resources, etc. Of always a challenge and very important part of what you're doing. So let me give you a chance before we end just to cover anything that we haven't covered or and or talk about and let us know about any resources that have not been mentioned just yet. Sure. So I think from a bias, but from a resource perspective, part of what Project Red does and kind of part of why we exist is to be that central hub of resources for folks who need support. And so the best way to see the full suite of resources available is by going to projectred.org and backslash COVID-19. And I think that there is a list of everything that's available as well as our partners. There's a map of where you can get free meals for kids. There's information about the various federal nutrition programs and some of the other supports happening. So that's definitely a place to send people. It's also for people who want to better understand what the hunger crisis that we're up against now looks like. It's a good way to to get more information. So I think just as the general public, some of the most important work is raising the awareness. So, you know, you made a really important comment before that there is a lot of there are like a lot of different front lines. And I think there are a lot of different crises that are coming out of this. And so just helping people remember that hunger is one of those. And in particular, hunger is important from an equity standpoint. And so just keeping that in top of mind and helping to engage those around you to be thinking that way as well. And then obviously promoting resources and we certainly would love to have anyone who's interested in supporting to join the virtual walk with us and start a fundraising page. And, you know, like I said, it's free to do and every dollar counts and every dollar is going to support communities who really need the help right now. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for your time today, but also for the work that you are doing and facilitating and that Project Red is doing. It is seriously important work and it is to our collective benefit always and especially now. So thanks. James, thank you so much. This has been a real a real pleasure. I love getting the chance to talk about this and it's so great to speak to someone who clearly is equally committed to the community. Thank you. We have been speaking to Elizabeth Greenhall who is Project Red's Vice President of Communications and Development and you have been watching Million Dollar Gift. I'm James Milan. Thanks for joining us.