 That's Thursday. This is the military in Hawaii. I'm Jay Fidel. This is Think Tech Hawaii. And today we're going to talk about the Y, is it the YMCA rather than the YWCA. But we have Lori Moore and Randy Jung and they're going to talk about the Y because they're with ASYMCA, Armed Services Y. And they're in the joint base, but they supervise, Lori is the executive director. This organization supervises all the Ys in our islands. Welcome to the show, you guys. Hey Jay, thanks so much for having us. Great to be here. Yeah. Okay, well, let's talk about the Y. We're telling Lori before the show that back in the day, I was on the Armed Forces Dispair and Control Board, and we had a fair amount of authority putting places off limits and back on limits in the Hotel Street District. And we have stories to tell, a number of which we're not going to tell. Suffice to say that the Y in those days, and it was the second Y, I think, maybe the third because the women's Y down the block also is, you know, it precedes all of that. And the men's Y at the hotel, and what's the intersection? Richard. Richard, thank you. Just a block away. You know, we're important places for the troops during World War II, both of them. And they're both beautiful buildings. And, you know, you have to give credit to the Y. The Y was an important part of life in these United States in the earlier part of the 20th century. I remember in New York, whereas a lot of, you know, panaman houses and, you know, immigrants, very impoverished living in, you know, in the immigrant neighborhoods in New York, the go-to place was the 92nd Street Y. And it offered them exercise, it offered them food, it offered them, you know, collegial experiences. It was a watering hole, a rendezvous for so many people. And when you asked them later in their years of, you know, success, where did you learn? Where did you, you know, grow up, essentially? It was the Y. So the Y had a tremendous effect on the development of this country in the 19th century. And people forget that, that it was a national organization. But then you go one step further, you go to the military-wise in Hawaii. It goes way back. The women's, I remember a place called the Fernhurst, which was in Makiki. It was a women's Y just for women. And then there was one, I told you, Laurie, at the location of the Bus Barn, it's a beautiful old building, looked like the Moana Hotel. And women came to Hawaii and had no place to go. They lived there in this really beautiful building. That was replaced, I think, by one of the others. I have to say, it is intrinsically intertwined. The organization is intrinsically intertwined not only with, you know, the military, but with Hawaii in general. So I'm envious of you guys, because you have a tremendous legacy to deal with. So Laurie, tell us, you know, what the Y organization for the armed services is like today? Where is it? What is it? Who staffs it? Who it serves? You know, we all say that we have our Y story. And just like you were saying, Jay, touched so many lives over so many years, you know, and Armed Services YMCA has been in Hawaii since 1917. So the longest non-profit serving Hawaii's military. And, you know, my grandfather visited this Y here in Honolulu in his day. He was at Pearl Harbor. He actually left, believe this or not, the night of December 6, 1941. But he had great stories about his time at the Y. And the Armed Services Y in particular here in Honolulu. So, you know, it's touched so many lives over the years and I think continues to do that. So the focus has changed. Really initially started out as services for, you know, individual single military members. And it was a place for them to go to maybe just get some R&R. Caroline Kale, who's Pearl Harbor survivor here in Honolulu, he just turned 100 on November 29. He tells a story that you could go to the Armed Services YMCA and get a bed, a blanket, a hot dog, and a Coke for 50 cents. And that was a great deal, right? And that's kind of what guys did. And so, you know, there were services like there were games, there was music, there's even help to write letters home. And obviously that's all evolved over the years. And as you know, in the late 90s, that building was sold. Now the Hawaii State Art Museum. And everything moved on base. And so we've got various facilities on our bases. We're at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. We're at White Base, Pearl Harbor Hickam, AMR Tripler, and Wheeler Schofield. And the focus has really become kind of providing services to our military families. And you know, what can we do for our single service members? But what can we do for our military families? And we try to focus our programs around family resiliency, youth development, early education, and then healthy living. Oh, that's a lot of stuff. So Randy, what do you do to help Lori on this? What part of it is yours? Well, I am here to support Lori in anything and everything she takes on. However, my title is the Marketing Director. So really what that means is I have the pleasure of telling the stories that come out of the programs and services we offer here for military families in Hawaii. Well, that's great. Okay, so we have we have some shots and video we want to show now. And we'll play them. And can you guys talk over them and just tell us what we're seeing? Okay. Alrighty, let's start now. Oh, what is that? Wow, I remember that. I think I was there. So there we were. You're at the Black Cat Cafe across the street. I know you. So that is, that's the Armed Services YMCA back in the day. That picture is from probably, you know, 42, 19, somewhere between 1940 and 1942. And that's that beautiful building that we've talked about. And these scalers and soldiers and Marines are all in that photo and probably have taken the bus. There was a bus line direct from the bases, took them straight there. And they're either waiting to go back or something exciting is about to happen out on the street. I'm not sure. Yeah, I recall there was a rotunda there. There was a driveway that went right right around now. It's all filled in with grass and there's a monument of some kind. But it was it was very active, always people coming and going. And it was only a block away from where Ernest Borgnein and Frank Sinatra and Montgomery Cliff spent their time on Hotel Street. I mean, I say that again, Hotel Street, what a convenient opportunity for those guys back in the war. The movie was half made there on Hotel Street. Convenient. It was world famous. You know, we had a show about what was it, prostitution during World War II in Hawaii. Okay. And I thought, oh my God, this is slightly tacky, but no, we had a really good host to it. And she covered that in great detail, what was going on on Hotel Street. And that is one of our highest ranking shows ever here. We have like 14,000 shows that's right up at the top. Story story. Anyway, yeah, so we got some more clips and photos. Let's look at that. Yeah. And there we go. I think you can you can see that's 1945. And there we are. We've got some of our military members in front of the old building there. And let's see the same thing you'll see, because this is the war is over. And quite a celebration going on that night at the Armed Services YMCA, which at the time, by the way, it was called the Army Navy YMCA. So the name did change. And these are some of our military members, you know, being welcomed home from from the war and little hula lay the special time. And what an incredible place Hawaii was, right? For these military members who many of them, you know, never left their home state, and much less come to this amazingly gorgeous place. So this is a fun story. Let me let me have Randy tell you about this one. I think we just lost. Oh, there we go. Yeah. So the these two photos with the I guess he's a DJ. He's a DJ. Well, these photos came to us via Facebook. Just actually a week or so ago out of the blue, a gentleman put this on message us with this photo and he so I'm going to read what he said. He said I was in the Coast Guard at Pier 4 Honolulu, not far from the ASYMCA. That was at the corner of Hotel and Richard. I spent many evenings there playing records for the dances. I have many great memories. Thanks to the ASYMCA for these great memories. And his name is Mr. Robinson. And that's him. He had these photos and he wanted to share them with us all these years. That was 56 years ago that these photos were taken. Yeah, in 1965. So that's the kind of place and the kind of programs and services we provided at that time. That's a little sneak peek into where where where we started in our history. That's great. There are people around with photos. Oh, you're putting that in the in the scrapbook, I assume. So you're a scrapper. You're part of American history. Sitting right on it. Yeah. Pretty neat legacy. Very special. And that continues today, you know. Continues serving our military families and their and and providing services for them that, you know, they need in challenging times. Well, let me let me ask you why, you know, this is so it's is the is the armed services YMCA a part of the United States government. Because I thought it was a nonprofit. It's it's nationwide, maybe worldwide even. And it's funded by private contributions, I think. Is that am I right about that? You're exactly right, Jay. So you don't receive any federal funding. We have the name armed services YMCA. And but we are a 501C3 funded by private contributions. We do occasionally charge a small program fee for some of the programs we offer like of our early education programs. Just because, you know, everyone needs a little skin in the game. And that does help pay our bills. But for the most part, it's it's all based on on private donations. So that's really important to us. And despite the name, we don't receive any federal funding. Okay. So here's a question for you. Where is the dividing line between, you know, the services that are provided by the military branches and the services you provide, because arguably, you know, they could provide arguably they could provide all these services, but you provide them. Where's the dividing line and why are you better at it? Yes. So that's a good thank you for asking that question, because I do think we're better at it. And I think I do think we're better suited for it. You know, the military is is in the business of protecting and defending. And we're in the business of taking care of families so that our service members can protect and defend. They are very gracious and allow us space on their military facilities, so that their families have access to the programs and services that we offer, which is really beneficial. But you know, I think one of the reasons we're very good at what we do is we can fill in the gaps, you know, we fill in the gaps of services that are not provided by the military, we were very closely with our commanders here to do so. And because we are not a government entity, we can and we'll use this word because we've used it a lot lately, we can pivot very quickly and you know, provide what's needed at a moment's notice. That's that's one of the big differences. And you know, it's a little bit of a touchy subject, but just to kind of touch on what we've done this last week, you know, we knew that there was an issue with with water for some of our military families. And that that was determined Monday night. And by Monday, we were providing water for families that needed it. You know, so a very quick turnaround. And now the military is doing that. And they're doing it very well. And I think they've stepped in and are really taking care of our families. But, you know, initially, we were the ones that that were able to do it for some of our families at AMR and Joint Base. The water you're talking about is a part of the Red Hill issue. Correct. Interesting. We just had a show about that last hour. So I want to ask Randy about this. You know, you have to get the word out. If you develop your guys pivot, whatever it is, you develop a new program to deal with new new exigencies, you have to let your members so to speak. I don't know if there's a membership arrangement, or it's just everybody under the same umbrella, whatever it is, then you have to let them know. Likewise, you have to maintain a certain image in the community, because in a funny way, you are the face of the individual members of the of the military and their families. You build their brand, so to speak, in this community. That's very important, because we need to be together on this. You know, you gave dates, Laurie, you know, the Navy came here in 1850, in case you were wondering, 1850. That was right in the middle of the monarchy, right? So anyway, Randy, how do you maintain that? How do you get the word out to the members of the services and their families, and to the public in general? Sure. Yeah, thanks for asking that, Jay. Honestly, our team makes it very easy for me. I rely on them. I think I have the easiest part of the job. I helped, I helped draft up some messaging, and then, you know, find some images that align with that messaging, and then share that with our branch directors, and they get the word out to their families and their communities. As Laurie mentioned earlier, we have three brand, three main locations on the island at different military bases. So here, Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam at Wheeler Army Airfield and Marine Corps Base Hawaii. So the communities at each of these locations are a little different. And so our branch directors are very tied into those unique communities and know exactly who the word needs to get out to. And we trust them to do what they're so good at doing. And then for the general public, we have a very amazing active following on our social media pages. So once we put the word out there, everybody goes off to share the good news or, hey, you know, let's see yesterday, pivoting with the water issue. Now that the military is providing the water, we worked with the Navy League to provide some sandwich boxes for the displaced families who may need some quick grab and go type meals. And I mean, they, we got them in probably around one or two. And by the end of the day, they were gone. That's how quickly the word got out. And so really, it's our, it's our community and our families that make my job personally fun and easy to do. Well, if I could guide who came out with the photographs from 50 years ago, right? He's got a kind of umbilical connection with Hawaii, with the military in Hawaii and with the YMCA military, you know, armed services YMCA here. It's not just him. You know, there are virtually millions of people on the mainland who have a soft spot for Hawaii. And undoubtedly that includes their experience here in the service. And so I wonder if you have any contact with them. I wonder if you speak to them about, you know, their experience here and, and try to give them a nostalgic lift, if you will. You know, every once in a while, we do some social media contests where we try to collect these stories. And we had a huge push for that in 2017, during our 100th anniversary. And really tried to connect with, you know, families on the mainland who had utilized the services over the years and, and, and get some of these stories. And you know, who came forward, I say more often than not, we're World War II veterans who just, it was such an incredibly meaningful place for them. And I think it's such a place to get away from the effects of war and all that was going on. And, and, you know, just kind of let their hair down, so to speak, and, and relax. And, you know, recoup a little bit. Let's do a case study, Laurie. Okay, a couple of weeks ago, we had a really remarkable show with the executive officer of the Daniel K. and O.A. brand new, recently commissioned and it was Christian a couple of years ago, but recently commissioned missile, missile, guided missile destroyer at Pearl. And so here we have, you know, the men and women on that ship, they might take a trip across, across the ocean, anywhere in the world. And they might be gone for months, maybe many months. What can you do? What, what, you know, would you do for their families and kids and what have you in order to soften, you know, the, the stress of, of being separated? There you go. Well, you know, it's so great that you asked that because just last night, I met the prospective new Exo and was telling him about our programs and services so that he could help share the word with the sailors. And because of the age of his kids, I said, all right, you've got to check out our preschool program at Marine Corps Base, Hawaii, check out our preschool program there. We've got an operation hero program, your elementary age kids, that particular program is for children of deployed parents, or maybe they've just moved here, they've just transitioned. And sometimes it's not the easiest move to make Hawaii, you know, it's beautiful and fabulous and we all love it. But, you know, any move for a child can be difficult. And so we really work with them and give them the skills to make new friends, resolve conflict, kind of resolve anxiety that they may have. We talked about those programs. And then, you know, inevitably, there's going to be the occasional failure that runs into some financial difficulty. Maybe they need to visit our branch and visit what we used to call the food pantry. And we are now calling it the arm services YMC marketplace. And, you know, get some great things to make. But you're giving them food. Yes, we're giving them food. So they're, you know, on occasion, our military members need a little extra help. And so we'll provide the food. And we provide holiday meals. And so, you know, we just wanted him to be aware of the programs for all of his sailors because we've really got something for everybody. Well, I wonder if that includes a situation where things are not going so well, Randy. I mean, for example, you know, matrimonial issues, abuse issues. As Lori was talking about, you know, financial issues. See, anything and everything could happen while this young fellow is deployed in who knows where or who knows how long. And I wonder if you guys offer a soft place for a, say, wife to come in and share and say, look, I really need help. And I need medical help special. I need psychological help special. My kids are sick. It's beyond me. It's over my hand. What can you do for me? And the answer is, do you entertain that kind of request? Do you help them? How do you help them? Absolutely. The answer is, you are welcomed here. We, we understand that military life can throw so many curveballs. And usually those conversations will happen while they are in here visiting our marketplace, picking up items to supplement meals. Or, you know, we even have diapers and a baby formula here at different times. So come in to pick up those items and we should chat with them, right? Because they're signing in and we get to know them. And that's when that conversation begins. And because we work very closely with military commands, we know chaplains, we know the people who need to have this conversation with these individuals. Including, we have something called the Children's Waiting Room at Trooper Army Medical Center. So, you know, we have our... So you operate, you operate the waiting room. Correct. Oh, how lovely. It is. Yes. We love our children that come to see us there. We have new families coming to visit us every day. Basically, there's a lot of clinics and appointments where mom and dad cannot bring anybody with them, even if it is a sibling. So they will bring their children to us and we will watch them for them while they're away at their appointments. And so, yeah. So at Tripler, we have that network that we've established. And so if we do have somebody that comes with those concerns and needs, we know who to contact and, you know, do like that soft handoff too, so that they are cared for and are supported during difficult times. That's great. So speak of difficult times, Lori. We are in the middle of the second, well, we're at the end of the second year of COVID and going happily or unhappily into the third year of COVID. And who knows how long. And, you know, you've been with the organization long enough to have seen the dynamic of the way it was and the way it has been over those last couple of years. And I wonder if you could just speak to the question of how it has changed your operation. It has changed life for your staff. It has changed life for your clientele, may I say. It's got to be a little different now, right? You're absolutely right. And, you know, it's added a layer of difficulty to everything we do, as you can imagine, especially working with young children in so many of the programs that we do. So we have had to, you know, we've taken extra precautions. We were fortunate in that we had a very complex, but very detailed reopening plan. So we were actually only shut down for a couple of weeks in 2020 and reopened very quickly because of the services that we provide. We were an essential service that it had to reopen and do it safely. We actually have not stopped any of our mitigation measures just because, you know, we want our clientele, we want our constituents, we want our participants who all be well and safe when they're here in our space. And so we continue all of that. And it's not easy. It's very complex. And like I said, it just adds another layer, is sometimes a very complex program anyway. You know, it's, I think for our families in particular, it's been very difficult for them because not only have they had to deal with the regular challenges of military life, they're also dealing with the challenges of COVID like the rest of us. But again, it's just this added addition of a challenge to a life that sometimes can be very difficult. One of the things we're doing now is we have a program called Operation Ride Home, where we're sending military members and their families home for the holidays. And this is in conjunction with Jack Daniel. To the mainland. Yes, to the mainland. And we saw a record number of applicants this year, just because people have not been home in so long. There are military members that, you know, their applications dated because of circumstances. I haven't been home in five or six years. I haven't seen my parents in five or six years. And these are very young people, you know, who have been isolated from their family members, just because of circumstance, you know, whether it be deployments or moves, and then certainly the last year and a half COVID. And so we feel that that is from a standpoint of mental health. It's so important to help these families gather back together. And, you know, it's interesting too, because there are many military members who will come here, and the families will stay on the mainland for whatever reason. Everyone has their own personal reasons for doing that. But because of those situations and COVID, we've had families that, you know, haven't seen each other in over a year and a half. That's a lot of stress. That's a lot. And so, you know, it's just, it's it's made things difficult like it has for everyone, though. And you know, Randy, I think Lori raises a very interesting question in my mind. And that's this, you're talking, having personal conversations with members of the military on, you know, on active duty. And they may be having problems at home. They may be having problems themselves as a result of problems at home. And they may be stressed out. They may be having psychological issues. And you may wind up referring them, you know, to care providers and all that. Now, one of the things that goes to a military career is how well an individual is doing. And if, you know, that individual on active duty is having trouble, such as requires psychological assistance, this wouldn't necessarily be good for that person's career. So do you treat that as confidential? Do you treat that as outside the can of the command? Or do you have to report back to the command about it? That's not an easy question, by the way, you guys. And I think it depends on the circumstances. It really does. I mean, if someone is in need of immediate care and there's self-harm or harm to others, absolutely, that's reportable. And then that's for that person's good and perhaps their family's well-being. But when it's appropriate to keep it confidential, we definitely do that. And again, it's important to be able to provide the resources to people to get the assistance that's needed. Let me go to one last area I want to cover. We're running out of time here. And that is the challenges, you know, every organization, every nonprofit, every 501c3, you know, has challenges. And I know that sometimes, Lori, Randy, you wake up at three o'clock in the morning and those challenges are dancing on your brain. So my question is, you know, what executive challenges do you have to cope with? And how do you cope with them? Lori, you first. Oh, thanks. Well, you know, what we've really noticed lately is staffing is a particular challenge. Finding qualified staff who are eligible for our programs and doing what we do and being able to coordinate that. So, you know, staffing has certainly become, I think, more of an issue in the last, you know, year and a half than it was previous. And then, of course, you know, there's always fundraising, right? I would say that 2020 we did very well, because a lot of our foundations and individuals dug very deep, right? They were like, oh, my goodness, we're in crisis mode. How can we help this organization provide the services to our military members? And I think we're seeing some donor fatigue this year, you know, 2021 has been a little bit different. And it's been a little bit harder to raise the funds that we need to set ourselves up for success for 2022. Like everything else, it changes and people go through, what do you want to call it, fatigue? I think you used that term. So what would you add to that, Randy? Anything else that you would consider a challenge to the management of the armed forces? Why? Nothing to add. Just to reiterate what Lori was saying, I think the first thing that came to my mind was probably funding. You know, the most recent with this whole water thing happening, we did what we could, but you know, if there was immediate funding available, we could have done a little bit more. For example, coming up right now, a project that we're working on an annual project is called Operation Holiday Joy. So that's a project where we work, partner with commands and chaplains and different military support organizations to create and provide food baskets, holiday food baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And we anticipate seeing a bigger need for Christmas locally because of, you know, the increase of displaced families we have in our immediate joint base for Harvard Hickon vicinity. And we are, we are seeing people respond to the need. But you know, if there, the more resources that are available, the more we can do and the more families we can help. And you know, our donors, our supporters are amazing. They've always risen to the occasion. And we are in no doubt that that will happen again for a Christmas miracle. Okay. We're almost out of time. Randy, what message, you know, the message person would you leave without viewers about the armed services? Why? How should they see the why? How should they help the why? My message is that the, our message, the organization's message is that we're here for you. We have our core programs and services. But if there is something that you are going through, come to us and we will do whatever we can with whatever we have to set you on a road to success. We know that being a military family comes with unique challenges. And that's what we are here for support you to make sure that you are supported and you have the resources you need to get on your way and work through a difficult situation. Wow. You cover the Coast Guard, don't you? Absolutely. That's my service, you know. And the National Guards, sir. Yes. Okay. Oh, really? Okay. You know, I hear you talk like that and I, I believe it. I've been completely integrated and it makes me want to re, re-up, you know, right now. So Laurie, what is your message? What do you want to leave with people about what your organization does, what it wants to do, what it hopes to achieve now and in the future? Well, I just want to say thank you to, you know, all of our community supporters. We have so many corporations, individuals, foundations that come together to support our military and allow us to be the vessel for their support. And that is an honor. And we're very blessed to be able to, to carry that on. We are so fortunate here in Hawaii that, you know, we've really value our military community members. And that shows in the support that we're given. And so we're very thankful for that. We're looking forward to 2022. We'll be expanding our programs and, and really hoping that things will be getting back to the old normal. I'm not sure I love the new normal. Laurie, Randy, it's great to talk to you guys. You, you demonstrate kindness and care and concern. And I really appreciate that. I think that's what's happening here. At the same time, you represent caring for those who protect our nation. It's a great spot to be in. And I admire you for it. Thank you so much, Laurie. Thank you, Randy. Aloha. Thank you, Jay. Aloha.