Aging America and Community Collaboration

Speaker 1 0:00

No , and that's I tell you . The aging of America is something we're very keen to and we're tracking everything from upwards of 12,000 Americans are turning 65 each day , and so when you have that number , they're graduating from the standard workforce to more of a fixed income , and there's inflation and there's other challenges . Again , it's something where the need is just going to continue to increase .

Speaker 2 0:43

You're listening to America's Healthiest City on Mike King Biz Radio Network on ESPN Richmond 106.1 and Choice 105.3 .

Speaker 2 0:54

Happy Thanksgiving Day morning and welcome to America's Healthiest City . I'm your host , will Melton , and if you're tuning in to the very first time , please hop over to AmericasHealthiestCitycom to learn about our 10-year community partnership to make the entire region the healthiest in America by 2033 . We invite those who represent businesses , nonprofits , government agencies and academic institutions to check out what it means to become an ambassador , so that you too can contribute to this effort . We're in the ESPN studio today with David Wadlick , the Chief Collaboration and Programs Officer for Feedmore . A very fitting discussion for today and , without further ado , we'll go ahead and dive into things . David , welcome to the show . Thank you so much . Yeah , thanks for having me . Well , we start this out with the same question for everybody . Tell us , are you a native to Richmond or did you move here , and if so , what brought you ?

Speaker 1 1:40

I am not a native of Richmond , I'm actually a native of Atlanta , Georgia . And what brought me to Richmond ? I've been here for about five years . My previous life , I would say , is a long career in the US Navy . So I spent over 20 plus years in the US Navy flying off aircraft . Carriers brought me everywhere from Somalia , Afghanistan , Iraq , South Korea , North Korea , kind of all the hot spots and then finished that career and was kind of looking for my next chapter and , in combination with my wife , we found that Richmond had a lot to offer . We moved here about five years ago with our family and just found our next home .

Speaker 2 2:19

So you've been here for five years . You haven't deviated . I'm sure you've taken some vacations . What is it about this community that you've fallen in love with ? Is it where he stays ? Maybe not every reason in love , but yeah , it must be something .

Speaker 1 2:31

No , I love everything from the diversity . It's got a rich history but it kind of a complex history and I kind of see it as a place . It's a . It's a balance of history and tradition with progress . It's a balance of history and tradition with progress . There seems to be a lot afoot to take what we have done well in the past here in Richmond and in Virginia writ large and move to that next chapter which I think has a lot of promise and a lot of hope . And I see that a lot of that's happening here in downtown Richmond .

Speaker 2 3:02

Yeah , I have . I found a lot of the natural resources here to be a great gift and I'm not somebody who , you know , I wasn't always clamoring to be in the outdoors , but as I've had the opportunity to interview people , the river always comes up with something . But I think that you know , you point out that this community has something special and we have a tendency to work together because we know we have to , and I think it's that size , it's that perfect size where you kind of you see your neighbors on a regular basis and people aren't really strangers when you've been here for long enough .

Speaker 2 3:32

So tell us a little bit more about you know you went from the Navy . You told me before this you got your master's degree . Tell us a little bit about that . Yeah , and what you know . Why food ?

Speaker 1 3:47

Why food , that and yeah and what you know , why , why food ? Why food ? Why food ? Great , um , yeah . So I ended up , uh , when I was getting out of the navy I wanted to figure out what is . What is my next chapter ? Um , you know , my second mountain , if you will . I didn't quite know what I wanted to do . Um , figured that an mba was something to be useful in wherever I ended up , and also it exposed me in a lot of different areas and so I went back to the university of virginia , uh , got an MBA at Darden .

Speaker 1 4:07

And as we were moving here , and for the first time in my career , my wife had always been the one that was kind of following in trail .

Speaker 1 4:17

When I was out of the Navy she was the one that led us here and I ended up following in trail , but I took the opportunity to really kind of research and find out what was going on in the community and was really kind of targeting that health aspect of it , exposure into various health care industry .

Speaker 1 4:34

Richmond's got a lot going on when it comes to the health systems we have here and as I was looking through , the pandemic was actually landed over at HCA Healthcare Corporation of America doing some work on the data and logistics side for them and as I was there , an opportunity presented itself at Feedmore and what they were looking for was someone who understood a little bit about the landscape here in the healthcare industry and the health space , because we were really starting to take a look at Feedmore as to how do we look at food , not just as food and sustenance but also as a . You know , food is medicine , food is health , and if we can merge those two together again , we can help move the trajectory of a lot of those that we serve .

Speaker 2 5:19

So keeping the focus on sort of Richmond and leading up to your career now . Obviously , you did your research going into it , but you've been there for a couple of years now . What are some of the lessons that you've taken away from this experience ? And you know how do you think differently now than maybe two years ago about the challenges that your organization is working to resolve .

Speaker 1 5:41

That's a great question and I think what I would say and for those that don't know , feed More is Central Virginia's food bank and Meals on Wheels program and we serve approximately over a million members of Central Virginia , that's 29 counties and five cities used our services last year through various community partners and , as I've learned and something I didn't have exposure to or realize was just how steep of a hill some in our community have to climb Everyone is trying to make the best of what they've been given and some it's a little more challenging than others when it comes to the resources they have access to .

Speaker 1 6:29

There are many that are both in the city of Richmond . It's a very different look if you were looking at just access to grocery stores and you look on the west end versus the east end and it's just a reality . And if we truly are going to become one of America's healthiest cities , there's no question in my mind that food is at the core of everything we do and you've got to have equity and balance across the board when it comes to access .

Speaker 2 6:53

Yeah , well , as a kid , you know , my father was disabled , my mother worked three jobs . I remember standing in line for food stamps . I remember standing in line for government surplus food . I remember the church bringing food to us , and so you know we had a variety of assists to hold us over and I don't think I ever went without a meal . But I understand , you know , how deeply important it is , and we'll talk about some of the partnerships that you guys , you know , pursue in the next segment . But you know , just kind of thinking about you know your trajectory and what's next . I know you guys and we'll talk a little bit more about this just open up a new facility . How do you see your role evolving in the next couple of years ?

Speaker 1 7:33

Yeah , well , as you mentioned , up front , chief Collaboration and Programs Officer is my role and I kind of wear two hats . And the first one when we talk about collaboration , that's the part that actually really excites me , and they both excite me , but you know , this is the one that I think is one that's a little more non-traditional . And when we talk about collaboration , that if we are truly going to work together for things like a healthy community , america's healthiest city , you know we talk about nourishing communities and empowering lives at Feedmore we can't do it in isolation and we can't do it just within our own organization . And I kind of talk about the three trifectas of groups that we need to work with effectively . And it's the exciting part of my role and , as we're moving forward over the next few years , the part that I'm really excited about continuing to engage on is we've got that for profit entities , we've got nonprofit entities and we've got government entities and those are the three groups that I've really been focusing on the last couple of years . But I think we're going to continue to see more traction in a few years of how do the three groups work together , to see more traction in a few years of how do the three groups work together ?

Speaker 1 8:46

And I know we were talking prior to that if you're not aligned on the for-profit sector , if you're not aligned in the government sector , the nonprofit sector and , as you said , even the academic sector , you're just not going to get the movement forward that you need . You've got to have alignment , otherwise you know folks will be working in isolation , there's redundancy , there's efficiency challenges , and so how do we truly come together and collaborate ? We like to be the food people in that , you know , we're not trying to go and take other roles . But how do we bring our expertise of food in a nonprofit world and work with for-profit agencies , work with government entities and make sure that we're all aligned and bring what we bring best to the table .

Speaker 2 9:28

Well , there's so much to talk about , about Feedmore and all that you guys do , so we're going to take a quick break and when we come back we'll dive into that a little bit deeper , including some partnerships that I'm aware of , so we'll be right back . Excellent , thank you for listening to America's Healthiest City on Mike King Biz Radio Network .

Investing in Community Food Security

Speaker 3 9:46

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Speaker 2 10:14

That's kind of cool welcome back to america's healthiest city and happy thanksgiving day morning . If you're just tuning in , I'm your host , will melton . This is america's healthiest city and I've got david waedlick , the chief collaboration and programs officer for feedmore morning . If you're just tuning in , I'm your host , will Melton . This is America's Healthiest City and I've got David Wadlick , the Chief Collaboration and Programs Officer for Feed More Richmond , or rather Central Virginia's food bank and , as David said , meals on Wheels program . So , david , I'm on the board . Chair for Housing Families First , and I know that you guys have a partnership with us . I'm not fully familiar with all the details because we have a lot of different programs , but we certainly rely on your expertise and I'm curious about how do those partnerships work ? Maybe not specifically ours , but the many partnerships that you guys have . How is that part and parcel to your mission .

Speaker 1 10:57

Yeah well , so we don't do what we do without our partners . You know , in our 29 counties and five cities we have over 400 distribution partners , most all of them . What they do is they are distributing food that comes through our organization , through our warehouse and through our partners , so we're able to get them that fresh food , that shelf-stable food and the food that they need . Communities need to thrive effectively and efficiently .

Speaker 1 11:27

When it comes to other partnerships , though , it's how do we reach out and find partners that are in areas where we know that there's a need ? You know , I think one of the things that we've done an effective job at , but one we're getting better at , is truly understanding where the various needs are in the communities and finding those that might have slipped through the cracks , and we can't do that . We are , you know , a small , lean organization in downtown Richmond serving a vast area and a footprint , and it truly takes the collaboration and partnerships of those 400 distribution partners to really know who they're serving , what are the needs of the people that they're serving , and then communicate that back to us so we can help get those resources available .

Speaker 2 12:13

Wonderful , wonderful . So you guys have just opened up a brand new facility . $40 million investment . I want to talk about dollars and cents from a couple of different angles here . That's a big investment to the building . What does $40 million buy you and how does that enable you guys to better serve the community .

Speaker 1 12:30

Well , it truly is . I mean , it is a large investment and we are both humbled and grateful , I think , on this Thanksgiving day , to say that the community has stepped forward and invested that money in us , and I will tell you wholeheartedly that this investment in that building is to serve the community , if you were able . I don't know many folks drive past our old facility on 9564 . It was about 110 year old tobacco warehouse . It was not designed for anything that we do . It was not . It's in an area that was not designed for logistics or is no longer designed for logistics . It's become an entertainment district there in the Diamond District and with some of the work that VCU Health has going on , and so , when it comes to the investment in the facility , it's all about functionality .

Speaker 1 13:19

Right now , our warehouse is able to store approximately 25% more shelf-stable food . Additionally , when it comes to our freezer and our refrigerator , we are able to hold about three times the amount . Since the pandemic hit , we have been out of space and paying an enormous amount of food and rent in off-site storage to make sure that we've got space for the food that comes in our doors . And so now we've got that space and we've got space for growth because , unfortunately , you know , the need is not dissipating right now . The need is just continuing to increase for those that need our services . And then , finally , you know , when it comes , there's the space aspect of it . There's our community kitchen , which is doubled in size and will allow us to double the capacity . Currently , we can produce 15,000 to 20,000 meals a week that we're able to distribute out to the community . Currently , as the new kitchen is designed , it can double that capacity . We can produce about 40,000 meals as well with that .

Speaker 1 14:22

And then , finally and this is one that you know unless you're putting your logistics hat on , you probably don't appreciate , but our old warehouse only had two dock doors . You might ask . Well , dock doors like ? What does that have to do with anything ? All of our food that comes to us are about 95% comes from donations and groups that bring it in .

Speaker 1 14:40

We don't know when or where most of the food is coming from . You know , often you know we've got some regular deliveries , but often trucks will just show up . It was not uncommon to see large lines of trucks just waiting to get the food offloaded , and the challenge there is that our teams are not able to get the food off and stored and put away quick enough or turned around and sent out to the community , and so it was really a logistics and a warehouse gymnastics that was happening because we only had two dock doors to bring all of the food in and then get all the food out . Our new warehouse has 10 of those and so , again , it's about three times the amount of efficiency and output that we're able to do with those dock doors . So a large investment . Yes , I think we're grateful . Again , it should be all paid off by next year , so people are not going unfed and I think the community has really rallied behind us , which is great to see .

Speaker 2 15:33

Well , as a business person , I certainly appreciate the organization owning an asset versus expending on rent Housing Families First , unfortunately , is having to pay a lot more money these days to help people get into permanent housing because the rent costs are so much higher and we help with that . So great savings , great efficiency . I'm grateful for that . I think a little bit about the trajectory you talk about how the problem isn't slowing . You guys must have some sort of data capabilities , predictive capabilities , to understand where we're going . Maybe you're not the center for that information , but as I look around and think about this aging population that we have , we're not going to see any abatement in this issue in the near term .

Speaker 1 16:16

No , and that's I tell you . The aging of America is something we're very keen to and we're tracking everything from upwards of 12,000 Americans are turning 65 each day , and so when you have that number that are graduating from the standard workforce to more of a fixed income and there's inflation and there's other challenges , again , it's something where the need is just going to continue to increase .

Speaker 2 16:45

So I think a little bit also about you know , I love that efficiency component and one of the things that and I don't know that much about this space , but I've organized food drives . I used to sit on a board for a soup kitchen up in Connecticut , so somewhat familiar . But people have lots of different ways that they can contribute and get involved . But you guys are probably the least expensive source of meals in the region . I would suspect so if somebody's thinking about ways that they can contribute . The least expensive source of meals in the region , I would suspect so . If somebody's thinking about ways that they can contribute , can you speak a little bit about the difference between somebody buying food off the shelf and donating it to Feedmore versus just ?

Speaker 1 17:18

giving dollars to Feedmore , I would love to One . We love the fact that the community does donate food to us . We think that one food helps and they're able to get some that maybe we have more challenges in getting , whether it's in donations . But it also teaches the community to care for those that are in their community and so a lot of that , you know , a lot of the donations we get in come through places of faith , schools , scouts , and so we think that , again , when it comes to educating our community and our population about the true issues going on , that that's one way to do it . But when it comes to , you know , putting on your ROI and the return on investment of a dollar going in to a grocery store and that food coming to feed more , or a dollar going to feed more , we say that you know , $1 can provide four meals , provide four meals if you're able to give us that dollar . And a little bit about that is , or a lot of it , comes from the fact that we have all these wonderful partnerships with corporations . So the dollar that comes to us , it helps us maintain that operation to bring in all of that food that we talked about .

Speaker 1 18:30

Last year I think we distributed approximately 35 million pounds of food , which is equivalent of about 30 million meals , and again , most of that is donated .

Speaker 1 18:41

Additionally , when we talk about some of the food that we do need to procure , you know , like I said , we don't know what's coming our way or where it's coming from , but we're able to supplement that with bulk purchasing contracts so we are able to buy at scale and we're able to bring that food in and then we're able to distribute it out into the community . And finally and this is again back to you know an investment in us . It might be buying food , but it is likely also helping us sustain our operations . We have a staff of approximately 100 full-time employees that work at Feedmore , and it takes about 200 volunteers every single day to make our operation run , and so the dollar that goes to us is keeping . You know , that dollar is helping the fact that those volunteers are the ones doing the work , and so the food that comes in . Again you're able to just get more for your money because we've got donated food , we're using volunteers and the dollar just goes a lot further .

Speaker 2 19:39

Great , great . So I think that we're getting kind of close to the end here , so I'm going to make a quick transition . When we come back , we'll talk a little bit more about the future of Richmond , talk some ideas that we can put onto the ideas board and some other folks who are making a difference out there . Sure , thank you for listening to America's Healthiest City on Mike King Biz Radio Network . Welcome back to America's Healthiest City . I'm your host , will Melton . It is Thanksgiving morning and we are speaking to David Wadelick from Feedmore . He is the chief collaboration and programs officer , talking about the impact that you can make by learning about Feedmore , what they do and getting involved . So I want to go back to that volunteer number , because 200 people a day , that's a logistic challenge right there . I imagine you've got more than 200 people in your pool who you rely on for that . Talk about the volunteer component . Who are you looking for ? How do groups and individuals get plugged in to be able to make that contribution ? What do you ?

Speaker 1 20:38

need . Yeah , well , when it comes to helping out Feedmore , we say you can help via funds . You can help donate money , like we just talked about . You can donate food , which we talked about , whether it's standing up a food drive , and then there's the volunteer aspect , and we've got about 2,500 volunteers on our active roster and about 200 a day that help us , and it is anything and everything . You can get involved chopping food , prepping food , helping with our community kitchen to sorting food in our warehouse .

Speaker 1 21:10

We've also got professional or those that may not want to do as much physical work can help us with our food helpline , answering calls and referring individuals that call us .

Speaker 1 21:21

They're trying to get access to our resources .

Speaker 1 21:25

And then , finally , you know , the other one that most people like to participate in is our Meals on Wheels drivers , where you're able to either adopt a route or get a route where you're able to deliver meals for those that are homebound , and so these many of them are our seniors that just can't get out , and the Meals on Wheels is able to deliver it to the fact that individuals can get involved .

Speaker 1 21:50

You can go on feedmoreorg and you can just click on the give help portion of our website and that'll help you get to some of the other volunteer sources . But additionally , and this is another thing that we love about Richmond is how generous they are and how the corporations that exist here give to us , and so many of our volunteers are also part of companies that sign up through a corporate philanthropy . They come and they do a day at feed more , and we'll they'll help out any of those areas . But again , so it can be an individual , it can be a family , it can be a corporation that signs up and we'll we'll have work for you , I guarantee it .

Speaker 2 22:27

Well , I , I that signs up and we'll have work for you , I guarantee it . Well , I have a Feedmore shirt at home . I can't remember where I ended up acquiring it , but it's always fun to be out in the community and wearing that and have folks stop you and say you know , maybe work at Feedmore ? No , no , but we all should . So you've been around the world , you know . You've had a couple of different experiences in the nonprofit space . As we think about the future for Richmond , obviously we face some pretty steep poverty numbers . We have food access issues persisting today . When we think about our ideas board on americashealthiestcitycom , what is an idea that you might think to bake into that that ? Maybe it's an individual , maybe it's a group , maybe it's our community has to adopt ? What's something that we can do to make our community healthier ?

Building Healthy Communities Locally

Speaker 1 23:17

I mean , I think , when it comes to making the community healthier , I think it's all about looking local , all about looking local . And you know , one of the things that is , I think , frustrating for a lot of people today is just kind of the negativity that it does exist , whether it's in social platforms , online or just at the national level . But I think if we all look outside and walk out our doors and look at our communities , there's so much good going on , and so I think , the more we're able to focus our efforts on local work you know , whether it is , you know , in the food space or in the active lifestyle space or in the philanthropy space , there's just a lot of wonderful people trying to take care of their neighbors and I think if we're able to keep that as our focus , you know , that kind of help us move the needle towards America's healthiest city .

Speaker 2 24:09

Well , I'm grateful for that response is our focus . You know , that kind of helped us move the needle towards America's Healthiest City Well , I'm grateful for that response Certainly thinking about how to contribute long-term . You know , this idea of building a belief system was what started me off and you know , I think bringing people together on a local level is a great way to stay focused . You know a lot of distractions out there at the national level that can really get you bent out of shape . So another question I'm remiss I don't have a note here as to who referred you guys to our show , but somebody did , and that's the way we keep this going . So is there somebody out there in the community that you would point to who would be ? You know , maybe not necessarily an expert or somebody who's leading , but somebody whose perspective we should hear from as we tell this story and try to encourage folks to join along ?

Speaker 1 24:53

Yeah , I've got one and I'm not sure if you've done much work in the government space , but there's a woman named Tracy DeShazener who is at the City Hall and she helps run their Health and Human Services Department and she has been a catalyst for the community in bringing folks together and really helps . Kind of is that glue that keeps those in the city of Richmond they're focusing on those that are underserved in our community together and just is a wonderful individual . She's got a lot to offer and if you haven't spoken with her , I'd recommend .

Speaker 2 25:30

So I know , tracy I have not had her on the show yet , so I think that's a great suggestion and I'd love to have that conversation , so I thank you for that , you know . Other thing , before we close out I don't know everything about Feed More and I don't know that I covered all the bases , so is there anything that we didn't talk about about today , that our listeners need to know or that you care to share ?

Speaker 1 25:48

Yeah , I think you know Feed More .

Speaker 1 25:50

We're about nourishing communities and empowering lives , and a lot of individuals , when they do think of Feed More and what we do , they think of just the food aspect .

Speaker 1 26:00

But we're on a very intentional and strategic path forward of how do we not only make sure that those that need food have access to food , but we're able to truly empower lives . So we talk about feed for today , which is , get those that need the food the right food at the right time . Nourish for tomorrow how do we make sure that we are part of the health of our community and then empower for lives , power for lives , which is how do we deepen partnerships across those individuals or across those organizations that are also serving our neighbors and clients , and this is traditionally with those that are working in the healthcare space , the housing space , transportation space and , of course , the food access space . So we're more than just food . We're truly trying to make sure that this community is healthier and then also that we're also working in a holistic way with those in the community around us to make sure that we're lifting those in the community .

Speaker 2 26:59

Well , you said it earlier , but feedmoreorg is how folks can find you . Where else can folks find you out there , well , feedmoreorg is the best place to find us .

Speaker 1 27:07

You know we would love to have folks . Also , we've got a brand new facility and anyone that would like to come out and take a look , you're more than happy . You can find us on feedmoreorg reach out to me personally , but we would love to show folks around .

Speaker 2 27:21

Well , David Wadelick , I wish we had more time to talk about this very important subject , but I'm grateful for your time here . Congratulations on the new facility and kudos to all your hard work Excellent .

Speaker 1 27:31

Thank you so much .

Speaker 2 27:32

This was America's Healthiest City on ESPN Richmond 106.1 , part of the Mike King Biz Media Network . You can catch us here each week at six o'clock and if you haven't yet , hop over to socials and subscribe to at America's Healthiest City so you can see our full episodes , our shorts and wherever you get your podcasts , make sure you subscribe there so you can listen on the go . We will catch you next Thursday at 6am . Happy Thanksgiving .