 Hello and welcome to a new season of Fort Worth forward. Thank you for joining us for what is going to be an exciting episode here at Archies Gardenland, just off Camp Buoy West. Let's go. And now I'm joined by Randall Archie, who is owner of Archies Gardenland here on the west side of Fort Worth. Welcome Randall. Thank you Michael, great to see you. Great to see you too. So this is a family owned business, I think been around for how many years? So 89 since 1934. 89 years. Yes. Who started it? My great grandfather. Great grandfather started this. I'm the fourth generation. Fourth generation, it's an amazing little pocket over here of West Fort Worth that I think some people don't know about and discover it. And so tell us that story, how did your grandfather decide he was going to get into this business? Do you know that, or great grandfather? Well, yes. So they specialized in planting large trees where they would go out, field dig, like a specimen live oak and bring it into properties that we're working on building here in the Metroplex. From there, you know, it slowly started to evolve with a brick and mortar, I believe around 52. Okay. And moved to this location here on the west side of Camp Buoy in 56. 56. Yes. And so when did you get involved with the business? I've been. Since birth. Yeah, pretty much. I've been here quite a bit. Many weekends spent here, you know, at the garden center for sure. So I've been in this full time now for close to two decades, I'd say. Okay, yeah. And your family still involved? Your... Very much so, yeah. My father's super involved. My wife's up here working with me just about every day. My mom and aunt are heavily involved, you know, and it's a fun dynamic for sure. Sure. Well, it's January. And so we're sort of in a slow period maybe, right? Right. So we talked to that we're sitting in one of your greenhouses here where you're having the plants and then eventually you'll get to the point where you put them outside. Tell us as, what's sort of the process that you go through here with people and when do people kind of start getting into the gardening? What does that look like? Sure. So right now it's kind of the calm before the storm. We'll use January and February to, you know, really just kind of work on planning what this spring's gonna look like for us and, you know, kind of future cast. With that, we will, you know, line up a bunch of bookings of shrubbery, you know, and get ready for what we call kind of the flood of plant material coming in. It's a lot of back and forth. If we have a nice weekend, we'll roll a lot of this plant material from these greenhouses that we're sitting in now out to the outdoor retail while being vigilant and watching the weather really quickly we'll have another cold front and that comes right back in. So it's a lot of back and forth and while preparing for what kind of space we need for mid-February, that's when we'll really start to stock up heavy and then come March, it will be full throttle. Yeah, seven days a week. Seven days a week as people get prepared. I guess there's a planting culture here, a grain culture. What is that like for you? Well, we're fortunate. I think a lot of, you know, our fans and customers are extremely loyal but they're also really focused on having a good curb appeal or, you know, their indoor house plants they want, you know, always looking the best. So really blessed to have an audience that, you know, is seasonally attracted to coming in and shopping us. With that, you've got the crazy North Texas weather and it can throw us some certain curveballs and beat up our plant materials. So we're either replacing things or adding things. I don't know about you, but if something at my house stays for, you know, about 10 years worth of, you know, somewhat stagnant and hasn't changed or been repainted, me and my wife are doing that. We're changing it. So it's always evolving. Yeah. With people like that. Well, we've done a lot, I'll say it kind of fits into that culture, I think. We've done a lot of the city with open spaces and investing money in open spaces. And I know you're involved in a lot of different organizations too. Camp Buie District being one of them. Yes. Give us a little bit about that. What you think about from the business perspective of running a business, what that means for you here as a business? You bet. Well, recently past four, five years, you know, being involved with the Camp Buie District, I've seen it evolve and change. It really in a positive light. The Camp Buie District's focus on, you know, beautification was kind of phase one or pillar one. And it helps, you know, kind of create an environment that seems more retail friendly. And it really is once you, you know, begin to explore off of the bricks and, you know, see some of these small businesses where we can compete and offer something different. Camp Buie District has really helped improve that. And it's nice to see and get to witness firsthand, you know, driving up now in the Boulevard every day. Yeah. For sure, yeah. Well, that's part of that. How has, and you kind of answered that a little bit, but how has it contributed to the garden center itself being a part of that? Sure. We'll have folks that, you know, maybe pass by like the red yuccas when they're in full bloom or maybe the pink mealy grass to go with a real, you know, kind of physical approach to that. They'll come in with- That's the beautification part that you're bringing up on Camp Buie Boulevard, right? Yeah, yeah. They'll come in with a photo from the median plantings that I recognize, you know, pretty quickly and say, you know, what's this beautiful grass? Yeah. Along with that, I think it just encourages- So it's good marketing for you as part of that, right? That people see that and go, oh, okay. I want that for my own place. Yeah, I think it kind of sparks, you know, other local shops, too, to maybe step up their curb appeal. Sure. You know, and it definitely permeates- People like pretty things. Yes. Constantly. Well, I get that too. Do you have, you know, worked here for a long period of time, some sort of outstanding moment or moments that you would be cool to talk about? You bet, yeah. Hard to really, you know, compare what it's like being able to work so close with your family, you know, every day. Sometimes you want to strangle them, probably, though. It's certainly tough, yeah. In a retail environment, too. My wife wants to strangle me all the time, but we don't even work together, so it's different. Yes, it's tough. But it's, you know, I think that's real rewarding. To be able to work, retail, you know, you get to talk to anyone and everyone from every single neighborhood. And really quickly, when you add plant material or landscape discussions or talking about a vegetable garden, you dive into a personal connection. And I've got so many customers that, you know, I'll see out and about while I'm getting groceries and we'll talk about how their perennial bed's doing or, you know, different things that we've helped them with or even seeing a tree that we planted, you know, two decades ago at a local school and to see it finally given shade to some kiddos. That's pretty fun to, you know, here's where I'd add something cheesy and say, you know, we're planting memories. But it is really fun to kind of see a tangible actual plant doing well. Well, I think it's fun. Our old house, as you just talked about that story when I first growing up, my dad planted an anniversary tree with he and my mom. They're divorced now, so maybe they didn't work out so well. But we've watched it grow as I still drive through the neighborhood and see it. So that's, that is true. You're really planting sometimes for tomorrow. It is pretty neat. Yeah, we found an old receipt on the wall. My brother actually found it on the wall of a small museum at the Dallas Arboretum that was signed by my great-granddad. And I forget the date, but they had, they had transplanted the bald cypress back in like the late 30s. Okay. All the way to the Dallas Arboretum and to find the cypress here locally, knowing that they had to camp out on a job site, you know, and probably somewhere down in South Texas dig this thing and bring it up. Right. Very big feet, yeah. That is great. It's still there at the Arboretum. It's still there? Yeah. It's a great legacy. So I've read, and you and I haven't talked about it. I wanted to throw this, you're, you've created an atmosphere here. Yes. And now you want to bring a restaurant in. So tell us about that. Kevin Martinez is a great friend of mine with Tokyo Cafe. Yes. So I'm excited about this. Tell our viewers what's going to happen here. Sure. So coming in March, we're going to have heirloom. It's going to be a garden, fresh bistro cafe and mainly soups, salads, sandwiches, and everything that's tied together with a, you know, very fresh and aspect where we can team together a recipe that we'll be able to give to the customer of heirloom with an option of, you know, maybe a plant material here that we could grow as well. Wow. So if it was real like, you know, a strong pesto kind of break down the ingredients and how they could grow it back home. Wow. That is an interesting concept. How did that come together with you and Kevin? So Kevin has- Are there any other partners that I'm not mentioning? Is there- Yo, sure. Jerry and Mary Ho. Okay, of course, yeah. Yeah, from Tokyo Cafe and along with Kevin Martinez. I shared with them the kind of our desire to bring food in, which has always been my granddad's dream to bring food in here. And now finally being able to, you know, to move on it and grow on that opportunity. Exclude on a great idea. They really quickly, you know, the three of them said, let's do it. And now we're kind of along for the ride and holding on. And it's going to be a lot of fun. That's great. So March, March 2023 is what we're talking about. Yeah. Okay. It'll be heirloom Fort Worth on Instagram. Okay. Yeah. Okay, well good. Well, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you. It's a great concept too about giving a recipe and here's what you can do to grow it at home. I hadn't really thought about that. It's kind of fun. So we've done a big focus on small businesses. I personally invested a lot of time as a small business owner myself, making sure that we at the city are doing the right thing through our permitting process, through any other incentives that we can give to grow small businesses. Cause I know that they are really the staple of America and Main Street. We talk about that as a thing, but it's really true. You're a small business owner. Tell us about what that's like, what you go through and what advice you would have to other small business owners. You've obviously been in operation for a long period of time doing something well, but I know you have your challenges just like anybody else. Sure, yeah. I think challenges, they come up daily. With retail sales, I think you're always in competition with a very saturated social media market and a saturated schedule. No one seems to really have free time anymore with kids. I don't. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, everything. So I think some advice I could give would be you've got to create an environment that folks plan to make time for and come to. I mean, that's tricky. That's changing things up. We'll try not to leave a display or an end cap sitting for longer than like a week and a half. Knowing that that repeat customer has something new to see really helps them come in more, I feel. So yeah, it's tough and knowing that it's gonna be tough. So marketing, getting your name out there letting people know you exist. Those are obviously challenges for a small business. What about just the staffing, back of house? I mean, how have you worked through that? So we are very fortunate right now to have probably one of the best teams we've had going forward into this spring and it's been a good curve up in growth. When you've got somebody good, you've got one, to let them know that and two, you've gotta spoil them a little bit because we couldn't do this without any of our team. So really focusing on them, while trying to keep things fun and fresh, not just for the customer, but also for my staff is one of our goals while it's tough. We're at, I think, 36 full-time employees and most retail garden centers don't operate with that many folks to a degree. So it really helps. But there's this customer service oriented focus. So it's important to have that. Yeah, everything from the unloading and processing team to the final sales team, we've got a really great crew. And keeping that team element is huge. Great. Well, with any business that's important, taking care of the people that are taking care of you, for sure. Well, we joked earlier that we're in a live greenhouse. So there were drops that were coming out of that as part of it. So that's proof to the audience that we are literally sitting in one of your greenhouses. I love it. I love the authenticity there. But Randall, thanks for being with us today. Thank you for telling us a little bit about your story and appreciate all that you do. Thanks for sharing your time with us, Michael. Thank you. Great to see you. Great. Now I'm here with Lauren Anton, who is the executive director of Saving Hope Animal Rescue. Welcome, Lauren. Thank you. How are you today? Great. Well, I'm not gonna start off this and be awkward and not introduce the other person. Who did you bring today? This is Frisco. He's a little scared from the drive over, but he's super sweet. Super sweet. And how did he come to be with you? Well, one of our volunteers, the mother and her babies were all being euthanized, and so we went in and took them in and mom's been adopted and most of the siblings have been adopted. He's still available, so. Okay, well, that's good to know. For people that don't know Saving Hope Animal Rescue, how did you get started? What did you do on a regular basis? Well, I started as a board member on the foundation board, which is Saving Hope Foundation. And that was started by Kit and Gloria Moncrete? Yes, and that was probably in 2000. It's been at least 15 years, I think, since the dog was found and that foundation was started. And then we were meeting with the city, meeting with the Humane Society, Spay & Neuter Network, TCAP, a lot of nonprofits, and I started seeing the need and I offered to foster, and then friends started to foster, and then we started pulling a lot of animals and we've saved over 6,000 since 2017. Wow, wow. Yes, so then we started our own 501 because the foundation is now focusing on Spay & Neuter, mainly in education throughout the schools. Okay, so what your executive director is on rescuing these animals? So they're not euthanized? Right, and I'm still a board member, but my focus, I mean, on my phone is for somewhere 10 to 14 hours a day, probably. Trying to find homes or place these animals? All of it. So even if it means going into the shelter, picking 10 or how many ever, like some groups say, can we do this and go to the shelter and save 15 like we did last time? And then we have to find fosters. We have to make sure they're vaccinated, washed, tagged, collared. Then for the fosters, provide food. We provide everything for fosters. And then it's an ongoing communication with each foster about how the dog is doing, whether it's ready for adoption. Usually it's 10 to 14 days. And right now I'm focusing a lot also on our Alito property, which is almost 15 acres in Alito. And we're breaking ground on the senior sanctuary this coming month. So, and that will help us not only save more, but save more animals, but also save more animals by saving and vet bills because we'll keep them quarantined there 10 to 14 days. And then they go to foster care to where we don't have as many that are worried about, you know, the animal sniffling and things like that. Since in the last two years, things have really gotten worse. They, if a dog goes to the shelter, it's most likely going to either get really sick or be euthanized. The live release rate was 93% by three years ago. It's, I would say 70% right now. And maybe even less. I haven't checked lately. Let's break that up a little bit because you talked about going to the shelters. And right now you're going to shelters and finding puppies, I believe, is that right? For the most part, folks own puppies with some of the foster, but then you brought up the senior. So let's break that up for you. You go in because our shelters cannot hold the populations that come in, right? Right. And they can't properly, you know, take care of all of them. Care for them, sure. So, and really we have over 1,000 animals in our care, all in foster care, which is like a shelter, but it's individual homes. And so they can properly care, make sure they get to vets and- And love on them. Right. And there's a lot of sickness going around right now. I don't know if you've heard about it, but influenza, which most vets don't even vaccinate for, is all of a sudden has a resurgence. I'm not sure why. And then distemper, which is super deadly. Sure. Parvo, you know, the sicknesses, and I think people are surrendering at an all high, but we take all dogs, it's based on our foster base. So if a foster is a senior foster, we have hospice fosters that just want to get them out and give them even sometimes a few days, few weeks, sometimes a few months, and then we have puppy fosters. So there's for certain fosters, if I get a poodle, for example, I know who I call. Right. And we have an adoption coordinator, a foster coordinator, a medical coordinator, several people that, I mean, we have hundreds of volunteers, which is great. And I know. For a second. But so you'll find fosters and all, and then you brought up the senior center, and I was at the event where a big fundraiser, raising funds for that. And so that's really focused on older dogs and giving them, as you said, maybe a few more days of life in a nice environment, not in a cage, or it may be rehabilitating them in some ways so they can be. Yeah, okay, so. And some people, you would be shocked, adopt senior dogs. Sure. And some, we had one recently that had cancer and this guy adopted her, her name was Juno, and she was fostered by a lady that works for Bank of Texas, and who's amazing. And she, I thought that dog was stuck with her and this guy wanted a dog that was, you know. So they're. Termally ill. All ranges of people that, and dogs that would be available, maybe someone doesn't want a puppy that's might trip their shoes, but they want to care for something. That's wonderful. It's a balance. What, you've talked about this a little bit. What's your favorite part about being involved in this sort of rescue care? You know, I've talked about this a lot lately. I feel like it's the only thing, and I never knew this to begin, you know, in the beginning, but it's an immediate reward. You know, so many people volunteer and you don't see that. I mean, you can recognize your difference in an hour. Sure. If you pick up a dog, the difference that dog is from the shelter to even the car. It's a smile versus facing the wall. So it's, it's, we have transporters that just transport. And it's because of that, it's a reward. And you can, you know, you're making a difference. And with a lot of charities, I think it's hard to see that. And it's more long term, you know, to where you're giving, but you can't see it as quickly. Sure, sure. You can hold a puppy or hold a dog and understand. And, you know, being in politics, people say if you really want a friend in politics, you get a dog. Yes, yes. It's true. Dogs are very... And I believe that for sure. For sure. Owning a pet's a responsibility, right? It is, and you see around major holidays, people would buy them, but it is a responsibility. People need to understand that. And that might, maybe, I don't know, does that contribute sometimes to some of the pets that you receive? We make it very clear with, you know, our foster guideline package, our adoption package, but you would be surprised about how many are uneducated and people that you wouldn't think. We had one lady fostering the nicest person, but she thought vaccinated meant vaccinated once for their whole life. And, you know, that's a question for the foster out, are your dogs vaccinated? Right. That means yearly. Right. And do y'all provide those services for foster care? We do for foster care. But she was saying her dog was vaccinated. And so, education is huge. Heartworm prevention, spaying and neutering is absolutely mandatory. People don't understand. I wish everyone could go to the shelter and see how many are there. One female in a lifetime can produce up to 67,000 offspring, unwanted offspring. I know, I keep being, I'm shocked by that number. And every time we have a, we have a graphic of it. And it explains, you know, visually, but I still can't get my, you know, head wrapped around it. Right. Right. That's a lot. That kind of care piece of it, making sure they have their vaccination, et cetera, is one sort of piece of advice. You have other advice for pet owners that are? Another huge thing is a lot of people, there are a lot of surrenders right now. And a lot, or I don't have enough time. I don't have the money. I don't have this. There are a lot of resources. I spoke to someone recently that called and said, we need to give this dog to you because he's too hyper. They were creating them during the day. And, you know, some things, you know, is a money fact, exercising. Also, putting in a kennel is probably, I mean, it can be a good thing, but we have to realize that, you know, they say a tired dog is a happy dog. Sure. You know, and a stimulated dog is a happy dog. So they started using doggy daycare. Dog is a different dog. Their household is calmer. So there's always, you know, options. You've got to wear the kid out. And you just have to look at, like, there's don't forget to feed me. They give food to people that. We've interviewed them before. Okay, yeah. And they're wonderful. Great resource. And, you know, even rescues, we've given a lot to people in need, especially if it's food. Or if it's, even if it's an apartment complex that won't allow them, we'll call the apartment complexes if they are really, but some, there's a lot. And I think. So you have a lot of resources to help people to get pets in homes, make sure they know how to care for them. Retention, and retention, and spay and neuter. If, for example, we get calls, my dogs just had babies, can you help? And I said, if we spay and neuter the mom and dad, we can take the babies. So a lot of times they want to keep the mom and dad. And we're not opposed to that, but we cannot keep having babies and babies and babies. They're euthanizing for the first time in years. They are euthanizing full-term pregnant moms and babies. We just save one with two torn ACLs that was being euthanized, three months old. There are a lot that are, and I don't blame the shelter, but we have to start enforcing laws. And, you know, people want change. They just don't know how to help make this change. A lot of it's education. And, you know, for example, we have several cruelty cases we take too. There's two, there's warrants out for the arrest for these, you know, and they haven't been caught or arrested. So there's no accountability. Even if the laws are there, they're not enforced. So, which is another huge problem with spay and neuter too. And so it's very complicated. Yeah, very, very, very complicated. Well, Lauren, thanks for all that you're doing. Thank you. How can people find you? SavingHopeRescue.org. Okay. And they can email savinghopeorg at gmail.com. And we would love volunteers, especially at our new facility in Alito, or even if it's towels, blankets, fosters, adopters, any thing you can think of, we're open for. Any needs. Or those on your website too. People can go and here's how I can help. Even if I can't foster an animal, I can give blankets, I can give other things. There's always something someone can do. And transporting even a dog from a house to a vet and then take it back. I mean, there's tiny things that take 30 minutes, but it makes a difference. Definitely. Well, thanks again for all you're doing. Thanks for being with us today. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Now I'm here with Lauren Rashard, who's president and CEO of Campfire First, Texas. Welcome, Lauren. Thanks, Michael, it's great to be here. Thanks for being here. So Campfire First, Texas. I think people have heard of it, but may not know exactly all the services that you provide. Tell us a little bit about the organization. Sure, so I think most people know us originally as Campfire Girls. Yes, yes. Bluebirds back in the day. Yes, yes. And today we have morphed into primarily after school and out of school time programming for children and youth, both in schools and at our camp out in Granbury, Texas, Camp El Tesoro. But we also work with early childhood educators. So one of the ways that we scale our impact is by working with educators who then work with hundreds of other children. Okay, okay. So. And what do they do? What's the interaction that they have with them? With the teachers? Yes. Yeah, so we have an early education apprenticeship program which is brand new. It's backed by the Department of Labor and it's really intended to help elevate the field of early childhood. Okay. And help educators kind of do an earn as you learn program. So one of the barriers to becoming obviously an early childhood educator and retaining them is wages. Okay, yes. And we also want to increase the quality and we increase the quality by training the teachers. Training teachers, yeah. And that's something that I think that's interesting for people to know. I know the numbers flowed out there from childcare of sorts that a Bucky's employee makes more than most average child care here in Tarrant County. And also this fact that for a long time and even when I was growing up, kindergarten was pretty new. I mean, you did maybe half day and then, et cetera. And that expanded to full day kindergarten. Now we have pre-K, but there's been a lot of emphasis on this zero to six, like really focusing on that you learn more in zero to six. Your brain soaks up so much during that. So giving that education to them, I think would be important to the educators, right? Right, and that's one of the things I think that differentiates campfires. We really focus on those two times of really explosive brain growth. Which is zero to six. But also early adolescence is another time when your brain is just making so many connections. And so we work with teens as well. Okay, yeah. Well, I've got two teenagers right now and there's a lot of hormone explosion. There's a lot going on up there. There's a lot going on up there. Well, you mentioned, and I think this is a special thing too, Camp El Tesoro, all three of my daughters have gone out there during their summer program. Tell us a little about that for people that don't know. Cause you do things here in Tarrant County. I mean, and then Camp El Tesoro. What's special about that? Camp is one of the most special parts of us. We have a 200 acre camp out in Grandbury, Texas. And we provide resident camp, day camps, grief camp for kids who have lost a loved one. And then we also do outdoor education groups for schools. Sure, sure. What's your favorite part of the camp? Oh gosh, so many things. I think it's, you know, we talk a lot about finding the spark at Camp Fire and thriving. Okay. And those are the two things that really, you know, I don't know, growing up, I didn't really have teachers talking to me about like, what's your spark? What's your... So like being aspirational. Yeah, like what's your gift? What's your, what are you interested in? Like nurturing that, helping them figure that out. And camp is a great place to do that. And how many years has that camp, I mean, how long has that camp been? Well, we were founded in 1914. Okay. And that was a staple from the very beginning where it's some of these camps. Yes, yeah. Okay. My girl's favorite part is the stick at the end. Yes, the walking stick. The walking stick, I think after three years, and then you can pass it on and bring it back. Right. When I, when I Greek family's coming in, I always know if they're returning or not, if they have a stick in their hand when they come up. That's great. What do you think makes Camp Fire First Texas so special in North Texas? You know, I literally can't go a month without someone coming up to me or if I've been a speaking engagement saying, you know, I was a campfire girl or I was a bluebird or I was speaking with leadership for it worth recently. And one of the attendees said, you know, my brother really wanted to go to camp, but it was all girls and then y'all integrated. We were one of the first ones to go co-ed. Wow. And she's- What year was that, do you remember? That was in the fifties. In the fifties, wow. Yeah. So very early in that, yes. Yeah. And so she, you know, she said that he had that experience and we were able to share it together. So I think we're always trying to be responsive to the needs of the community. When you've been around for a hundred years, you know, you have to continue to iterate and really- Adapt. Adapt. And that's one of the things that I think has been most special about our organization and why we've lasted so long. That's wonderful. What, do you have some special projects planned in upcoming in North Texas? Oh, yes. Okay, let's tell us all about them. So our new early education apprenticeship program, we're actually taking that statewide. Oh, wow. Because during the pandemic, we figured out how to do virtual mentoring as well as education. So we're serving, we actually serve a five county area. Terrence is the most one people know about. But we're, you know, we have clients in our EAP program in San Antonio and Glen Rose and all over the state. So we're working on expanding that and reaching as many educators as we can. We're doing really significant improvements to camp. We just built a new lake last year. So the water, water. In Grandbury? In Grandbury, yeah. So we didn't have really any water activities. So now we do. Okay, wonderful. We are also building a new art. It gets hot out there in the summer. It gets hot. And we have a new arts village that we're building. So kids can explore their creative side. So we're doing a lot of enhancements to the camp. And then we're also. I know you've improved the dorms too. Oh, yeah, the cabins, yeah. My daughters, the older daughters are very jealous when the younger daughter went and they're like, we did not have this. Yeah, that's not fair. That's not fair. And then our teens in action program, which has been really kind of beefed up by our new VP. She's really looking at college and career readiness. So we help them find their spark and figure out what they want to do. But how do we get them there? How do you get them there? So taking that next step. One of the most fun events I attend every year is your artist Christmas. Tell our viewers about that, how you source the art. We've got several art pieces in our home. From it that we love and end up using. I think I put one actually at our office too. So it's great. So tell us a little bit about that. Well, yeah, it's our signature fundraiser. We have artists from all over who come to showcase their art. And we have a panel that judges the art and decides who gets in. And then we do a best in show and that sort of thing at the event. But it's really a fun evening of great art, great food, really good company and for a really good cause. And it's been going on for 30 plus years and people are still attending it in droves. It's normally in the fall, November time frame. Yeah, November time frame. November time frame. And then people can purchase the art, right? Yeah, it's all auctioned. That's right, they can purchase the art. I've had some folks tell me they're like, I don't have any more wall space. So we're actually trying to get new folks to come to the event that haven't been exposed to it before. Yes. It's a younger crowd too. So it's been really successful. Well, it's a great event. I appreciate what you're doing. You've talked a little bit about this. I've got three daughters. But what advice do you give as part of this? And I guess it's children in general, but it's Campfire Texas. Just you talked about Spark, et cetera. What can you leave our viewers with about what's important about investing in children? Oh yeah. So I think after school time, or out of a school time really, is sort of an underrated piece of how we help develop our kids. We're all focused on, that's right. We've got to cook dinner and do all these things, but. Right, we're focused on the school day usually and what's happening there. The licensed educators have that covered. We're here to help with the rest of it, right? We're here to help with social emotional learning. We're here to help with helping them find their creativity, find what they like. It's supposed to be a fun time, right? Not a real highly structured time. And so I would say, go to our website. We have 10 locations for after school. We have 17s in action programs. We have four day camps during the summer and then everything that happens at our camp. But I would say also make sure that you're looking for licensed programming because a lot of after school sites are not licensed and that's one of the other things that we're really committed to is being high quality. Do you pick the kids up from school or if a parent wanted to have after school activities, how would they engage? We do have a couple of buses where we bring kids to the site, but we also do it at elementary schools. So they're already there. Except for some sites like Diamond Hill, which you mentioned earlier. But yeah, we do do some transportation. I wouldn't say it's not. We don't have a fleet of buses. It's every school, every school. It's good. Well, thank you very much for being able to say thank you for all you do for the community. Really appreciate it. It's a great organization and I'm glad you're helming it. Great, thanks for having me. Of course, thank you. Surprise, thank you for joining us for this episode of Fort Worth Forward at Archies Gardenland. Zach Galifianakis has his version of Between Two Verns. This is my version with the corn plant, dressena here at Archies Gardenland. Stop in, they can help you with all your needs. If you have ideas for our show, please share them with us. We love doing this for you, bringing great stories, great people, great organizations to tell you a little bit more about Fort Worth. Send us your ideas. We'd love to feature it if you keep watching. Thank you.