Epsiode 12: Jenna Kern

This week Jimmy is joined by Jenna Kern the Executive Director of the Desoto County Dream Center, which serves Desoto County, MS. Their mission is to meet the practical needs while helping people feel seen, valued and supported. Jenna's team works with families across the area through food assistance, healthcare access, school outreach, mentoring, leadership development and community support programs. 

For more information go to www.desotodreamcenter.org

Instagram: instagram.com/desotodreamcenter
Facebook: facebook.com/desotodreamcenter

www.corkysbbq.com

Transcript

Jimmy 0:00

Hey y'all, it's Jimmy Stovall. Welcome to my podcast, Ribbon with Jimmy. Whether I'm in the restaurant or on TV, one of my favorite things is talking to people and hearing their stories. And I believe the best way to have a great conversation is over a meal. Welcome in, Jenna. How are you?

Jenna 0:20

Good morning. I'm so excited to be here and quite honestly just a little bit nervous. Exciting.

Jimmy 0:25

I am glad you are here. First of all, um you are the executive director at the Dream Center in DeSoto County, Mississippi. And I could not wait to have you on because I like to have conversations over a meal, and I like to get to know the people. And I want to know more about you because you're the executive director of Dream Dream Center, and you are incredibly, incredibly selfless. You have dedicated your career to helping others. And and on top of that, you have four four children and a husband.

Jenna 1:05

So maybe five.

Jimmy 1:06

Five. That's right. That's right. Yeah, you can count that. I'm sure my wife sometimes thinks that um she has three. Um one of those would be me, the big one. Right. And um, and so I do want to I want to learn a little bit about Dream Center quick, you know, first, and then we'll jump into because I want to get to know you better. What makes you tick, what drives you to help so many people um every day. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about uh Dream Center.

Jenna 1:34

So let me tell you have four pillars. Okay. We focus on four main things, which is food, clothing, health care, and education. Yeah. We feel like those four ways are ways that we can really care holistically for a person. Yeah. They're they're part of the social determinants of health. Yeah. That when you help somebody in those areas, you're really helping them to get to the next step.

Speaker 2 1:57

Yeah.

Speaker 5 1:58

So we have a mission of Title One School students and their families. Yeah. But we help anyone who comes to our door. That that's just where we start.

Speaker 1 2:05

I think it's important because in general, people don't want a handout. No. They want to leg up. And if you just do one little piece, it helps, but it also helps for that day. Right, right. And so um, and I've gotten a tour down there before. It's unbelievable. The facility is incredible, and I was just blown away at all the things that it's so comprehensive, it helps in different ways because not everybody just needs this or just needs that. And so um I I love that about it. And so, how did how did y'all grow into what you're doing now?

Speaker 5 2:44

Right, right. So we started um kind of started back in 2012, 2013, having these big block parties.

Speaker 2 2:52

Yeah.

Speaker 5 2:52

Um, the church that I attend wanted to give back to the community. Yeah, and they just they started giving things out, but then kind of paused and said, you know what? What are we doing though? Are we really making a difference? Or are we just at the band aid on it?

Speaker 2 3:07

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 3:07

And so we started asking the families that came, which is, you know, we don't want to ever assume that I know what you need.

Speaker 2 3:13

Yeah.

Speaker 5 3:14

We want to ask you, what do you need?

Speaker 2 3:16

Yeah.

Speaker 5 3:16

And so as we talked to them over and over and over again, everyone kept saying they wanted their kids to do better than they were.

Speaker 1 3:23

Don't we all? Holy cow. We all get that. I know, I know. That kind of hits you, actually. Yeah. Uh I'll tell you real quick, the important thing that I hear in what you're saying is that you listened. Right. You listened. I think it's so important when you're asking somebody what they need versus going, oh, I think they need this. And asking is one thing, but truly listening is I mean, a totally different scenario.

Speaker 5 3:53

Yeah. And it often goes in a direction you don't expect.

Speaker 1 3:55

Right.

Speaker 5 3:56

You know, because we're thinking they want shoes and and food and and they were like, we just want our kids to do better.

Speaker 1 4:02

Right. And then you're like, whoa. Right? Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 5 4:05

Yeah. So how we translated that, we started talking to teachers and administrators at school and said, How can we help their kids to do better in school? Yeah. Because we know when when you do better in school, you're just doing better in life. That's right. Right? That's right. Yeah. So we talked to them, and the same thing, you know, I'm thinking we need to help them with homework, we need to that's not what the teacher said. Yeah. But they said, if you can help them third through fifth grade, because in Mississippi and Tennessee too, they have this third grade test that they have to pass. And for a third grader, when they fail third grade because they can't pass that test. That sticks with them. And it's not always because they're not smart.

Speaker 2 4:45

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 5 4:46

A lot of times they were having a hard year. Right. And some of our students think that they go through with a breaker heart. Yeah. And they're still showing up and smiling every day. But they're carrying these heavy weights. Right. Some of them they maybe had a a learning disability that hadn't been diagnosed. And some of them have test anxiety in so many different ways. So what we do is we bring in the third through fifth graders. This is how we started in 2014. Oh wow. Our education program was our very first program. Okay. We started doing that, and and we didn't want to just give them worksheets. Right. So we're thinking of that at school. I mean, and nobody likes just sitting around writing out a piece of paper. So we try to be game-based. We try to be as much fun as we can, which I know we're old and sometimes it's it's not as great, but but they still keep coming and they love it. So we we do character building because that's always important. Yeah. Little 15-minute, you know, just pouring back into the students. Offer them a snack, and then we do reading and math. Because the teacher said if if you can get a lot of their kids that know how to read. The very first time that I volunteered with that program, because I started as a volunteer. Wow. And the very first time that I volunteered with it, I met a student who had failed the third grade twice. And his first words to me were, I'm stupid.

Speaker 1 6:02

Because he had no confidence. Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 5 6:05

Because now he's graduated. That was long enough ago that he has graduated. That is awesome. It really is. And and to be around that long, I don't know, kind of tells my age some too, but to be able to do that and to see that um and to build that confidence. That's what I tell my volunteers that work with our education program, is you don't have to know math. You don't have to I'm gonna give you the answers. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Don't worry about that. But you're just loving on these students and you're building them up. And we call our education volunteers champions. Yeah. Because we believe that everyone deserves a champion.

Speaker 1 6:38

And that they're important. Yes. They're important. Yes. Everyone's important. And and I do think you fall behind in anything, if you just not don't have any money or you not you don't know math or whatever, then you lose that confidence. And it just I I think it can crush all parts of your life.

Speaker 5 6:53

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 6:54

Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. So I did not it's I love all your work. We're going to keep talking about it, but I didn't have you here without feeding you. And so I start with the appetizer section where we kind of get to know you. I've got our pork quesadillas, which to me I think is sort of the perfect merriment of barbecue and Mexican food. It's great. Um newer on our menu, but people uh absolutely have gone crazy over them, and we we do a ton of them. Grab here, you've got pulled pork, cheese, that that uh tortilla on the outside. Um, yeah, a little of our barbecue rub, and then we've got some smoky ranch, and then I do a little cheese sauce on mine. Okay. But just dig in. Okay. And then I'll tell you also um because you're from Mississippi and we're both southern, I brought you some catfish nuggets too, which I love. That's a chicken in Mississippi. That's so good. I love I love the catfish. You know the way to my heart. That's right, that's right. Because I've grown up around, you know, restaurants in Corky's. I've been here 31 years. And so I know that it truly is the best way to have a conversation because it doesn't matter if it's at a restaurant or you're at a party and it's something that you've got in your hand and you're eating and you're like, oh, it gives you something to talk about. To me, there's something uh comforting about whether whether it's comfort food like barbecue or um anything else, you connect with people. Right. And so, especially at home, and when you're talking about like food program, um when they get to take something home and enjoy it with their family, it it does more than just fill their stomach. Right. It does. Right. Uh whether that's the intent or not, or whether they know that or not, if somebody's cooking and you're around the table with your family, that that in itself gives you confidence. That in itself, I think, moves you, you know, can move you forward. Right. Versus just you're by yourself and you know, picking something up or whatever.

Speaker 5 9:03

I agree, and I think it tears down our walls. Yeah. You know, when you're sharing a meal with someone, there's a whole different, you know, where getting something in your teeth and you know.

Speaker 1 9:12

Exactly.

Speaker 5 9:14

Yeah, so it it is. And I don't know if that's just southern, because I'm I'm southern all the way to my core.

Speaker 1 9:19

Uh-huh.

Speaker 5 9:20

But when you when you eat together I couldn't tell by your accent. So I moved to Illinois for for a year.

Speaker 1 9:26

Oh, wow.

Speaker 5 9:27

I couldn't even go to Walmart and everybody goes, You're not from here. I thought I sounded just like 'em. Apparently I did not.

Speaker 1 9:34

That's right. Yeah, no. Everyone down here in the South, we always think we don't really have an accent. Then we go somewhere and they're like, Oh, yes, you do.

Speaker 4 9:40

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. I thought I sounded just like 'em, but apparently not.

Speaker 1 9:45

So That's great.

Speaker 4 9:46

So they taught me that for sure. All right. Yeah, get a little catfish in there.

Speaker 1 9:50

Yes. And then I'm going to ask you something. Ask everybody. Your growing up, whether it was your mom or your grandmom, um, what was your favorite meal that they cooked for you? What's your favorite meal?

Speaker 5 10:09

My mom was the most amazing cook ever. And and I it's not just me. Yeah. Now I will tell you one thing. Other people said it. She somehow managed to dirty every dish in my kitchen.

Speaker 1 10:22

Oh, I'm bad about that too.

Speaker 5 10:23

Cooking one thing. I don't know how it happened. Yeah. She passed away last year. And it was special to me coming here because she lived you can throw a stone at her house. Really? And it her past few years, you know, she was getting less mobile, not cooking as much. Yeah. She was here two to three times a week.

Speaker 1 10:40

No way.

Speaker 5 10:40

And she do the drive-thru, and they knew her in the house. I just got chills. I just looked at Andrea.

Speaker 1 10:44

Uh, Andrea's my assistant, she runs the podcast over here. Uh because my big thing is I want corky's. I I love the stories. And people ask me, Why have you been on Corky so long? Or you know, what do you love about Corky's? And the very first thing I say it is the stories. Yeah. Just like this, right? You're telling me that your mom, who's having trouble getting around, she would come here two or three times a week.

Speaker 5 11:06

I mean, every week. Every week. Do the drive-thru. Get she she had like her top three things that she got. And they did. I would drive through with her. Yeah. They knew her. Like Miss Melana. Yeah. That is awesome. Yeah.

Speaker 1 11:19

So what was the what was her what's the favorite thing, favorite meal growing up in childhood that she made for you?

unknown 11:25

Oh gosh.

Speaker 5 11:26

I'm I d I can't pick just one. I will share with you Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And I believe it's because of not just co not just sitting down and eating the food. But my my four kids, they're grown now. Okay. But my four kids, they knew when they were ten years old how to make a turkey.

Speaker 2 11:46

Wow.

Speaker 5 11:46

And how to make her dressing. It's passed down. Yes. Yes. So this did she make good cornbread dressing? Oh yes. See my grandmother. It couldn't be more southern. It's that peop people would try to buy it from her. I love good cornbread dressing. And and so my kids, the past last few years of her life, when she was starting to decline, she just sat there and pointed at them. They they know how to cook her recipes.

Speaker 1 12:11

That is important.

Speaker 5 12:12

Yes.

Speaker 1 12:12

That is that is very important. Because sometimes I mean you try to pass it down and then you know you substitution and it kind of gets lost. I've talked about this when I'm on QVC for years with side dishes. My grandmother made uh her cornbread dressing is amazing. Yeah. And the reason I asked you that question, your favorite thing is I bet you you can close your eyes right now, you can picture the kitchen, you can smell the aromas. Right. It it takes you right back. And I don't think there's anything like that that does that other than food. Music can take you and you can remember the lyrics. Right. And maybe a place. Food can take you immediately to a stove or uh the the feeling in the kitchen, the aroma, everything. It's unbelievable how food can do that. Just mentioning it. Yes. We're talking about cornbread dressing, but eating barbecue. And you can do it. And I I remember my grandmother's big silver bowl. She would hand, you know, fresh baked cornbread, crumble it all up, and the like I can still picture it. I know exactly what it looked like. Right. And that was uh I mean, years and years ago. Yeah. And so, you know, I I think food is very powerful. And I love that at the Dream Center, you know, not only do you do some things with food, you know, um to help, but you also your fundraisers around food. Because that's what it's I know, but that everyone does. Right. And I think that's what makes it so powerful. Right. Um and so let me ask you this. If if somebody was meeting you for the first time, who would you say you are? Who would you say, what would you say you are?

Speaker 4 13:53

Oh wow. Wow. That's a hard question.

Speaker 1 13:56

It is, it's time.

Speaker 5 13:57

Um gosh, I don't even know. I I guess that I would say really who I am at this stage in my life, I I love what I do.

Speaker 2 14:09

Wow.

Speaker 5 14:10

I sincerely um I love giving back. Uh so there was there was a time, you know, I told you I started as a volunteer and then moved on. But there was a time when when we needed a director at the Dragon Center. And I wasn't in that role at that point.

Speaker 3 14:25

Okay.

Speaker 5 14:26

And the board came to me and they were like, We we want you in this spot.

Speaker 3 14:30

Yeah.

Speaker 5 14:30

And I um I put them off for three months because in my head, my kids had just moved out. We were empty nesting. You were like, I already did this. And I thought, you know what? I'm kind of getting ready to we're gonna travel, we're gonna do whatever we want. We're gonna So I I prayed about it and I was like, you know, I really I can do this. Yeah. This is what I love to do. This is what I have so many different ways of experience that I know brought me to this spot or what I need to be doing. And my husband loves for me to be at home. He loves for me to cook. He's a homebody. Right. But he said, You have to do this. This is what and I was like, if you're saying that, wow, what because he could see it in you.

Speaker 1 15:17

I I would say if you know when people around you are happy with with what they're doing or uh enjoying things. And I mean that's that's fantastic on him too. That's selfless of him too. Because if if he likes you being oh, yeah, it's hard to go, yeah, go ahead and and do things that you like to do. It's hard. Yeah.

Speaker 5 15:38

Yeah, he got a gold star for that. I bet so.

Speaker 1 15:40

I bet so. Um and so let me ask you another couple of things. What would people what do people assume about you that's not true? Knowing that you help all these people, you know, you you you do so much. What's what someone might assume, but you'd say that's not true. People think I'm nice all the time. Right. Right, Andrea? Am I? No. I try to be.

Speaker 4 16:05

I know, right?

Speaker 5 16:08

Oh, um, what do people assume about me? You're asking the hard ones. You gotta dig deep. You do, you do. Which I love. I love. Um I hear a lot of times that um that we just have such confidence in the truth.

Speaker 2 16:30

Yeah.

Speaker 5 16:30

We really feel just just so amazing about what what's being done there. Um there's not a lot of should we do this? I don't know, should we go in this direction? There's just such yes. This is this is it. And it's it's I don't even know how to describe it. That's amazing. And so having that having that confidence, they I think people assume I'm I'm just that way all the time. Right. Um, but like I said, I came in here and I'm nervous as you're gonna be. So you're nervous as deep so but that that confidence is it it is deep, but um, and I think it's because we're doing what we're supposed to be doing.

Speaker 1 17:08

That's amazing.

Speaker 5 17:09

But um, but yeah, we all have our days that we're like, Of course, who am I? What am I doing? What's going on? You know? Yeah.

Speaker 1 17:14

People most people think because I've done, you know, I've been on QVC for years on television and I do this podcast, that I'm always outgoing and always this, and I'm not sometimes I need I gotta recover and I I like to just I don't want to talk, I don't want to do anything. Right, right because most of the time that's what I'm doing, talking, you know, there's about 300 uh people I get to work with at Corky's and um and then all the uh the business associates and all you know, all that and it's it it can get a lot. Um and I love it and I'm energized by it. And people just assume that that's how 24-7 essentially. Right. But I actually have another side where I'm like, uh uh, I can't, I I gotta recharge. I I don't want to be around anyone, I gotta recharge. But uh and so it's sort of an assumption that people just go, uh I don't believe that. I don't believe that.

unknown 18:01

Right.

Speaker 1 18:01

My wife said I would have everyone living at my house if I could. Uh because I I I enjoy having people around. She she's one of nine children, and so she's had her uh people around forever, so she's more than happy to uh go read a book. And and I'm like, hey, let's have people over.

Speaker 18:18

Right, right.

Speaker 1 18:20

Um so is there a specific moment or a story when you were volunteering that you knew, oh, this is for me.

Speaker 5 18:32

Absolutely. Um so there when I very first started volunteering, um and it was so we didn't even have it was called DeSoda Greats in 2014 when we first started. Um we didn't really even have habit set yet. We we were just kind of figuring out what are we doing here. And I um my very first day, the the leader who who was over at that point, she was like, Hey, I got a group of kids, I want to take them to the park and just let them have a fun day. And so she said, But I don't want to take them alone. And I was like, Absolutely, I'm there. So I came in, sat down in this van, um, and this this student had failed third grade twice. And the very first thing that he said to me is I'm stupid. And it broke my heart.

Speaker 1 19:22

And you still you but you still remember that.

Speaker 5 19:25

Oh, absolutely. Yes, yes. Wow. Yeah, yeah. And and and so I didn't think I who knew where that'd be here. I don't know, I may not have done it, you know, had I seen had I seen all of it. But yeah, but my really my first thought was I gotta help this kid to know he's worth more.

Speaker 1 19:41

So it was one person, one thing.

Speaker 5 19:43

One, one, yeah. Um, and he's graduated now. I mean that was a few years ago, but yeah. Um but it was that, and then so at that point I still had kids at home. Mine are grown now. Yeah but I and I love being involved with my kids. Yeah. I wanted to be, I was at everything. I was a PTO mom. I was the I was all the things. You know, I was everywhere.

Speaker 1 20:03

You're the mom that everybody wants to be.

Speaker 5 20:06

And did the volunteering. And I loved it, and I loved it. So um, so I wanted to still spend time with them, and our program, our education program runs at night. So I couldn't always come, but I would come during the day and I would prepare everything and I would get everything ready and then I kind of started going, you know what? I wanna I wanna see, did what I prepared, did that work? Right. You know, how did the kids use it? Did the volunteers like it? Were they so I started coming some at night?

Speaker 3 20:31

Okay.

Speaker 5 20:31

And then they were like, Hey, why don't why don't you just work maybe ten hours a week? And then a week later it was like, Why don't you work 30 hours a week? Yeah. And then and so you were invested.

Speaker 1 20:40

It seems like you're invested from day one. Like even if it was just a volunteer one thing, you wanted to know the outcome. Oh, absolutely. Because that's what you were doing it for to make an impact, not just I'm doing this because it makes me feel good. Right. And then I go back home.

Speaker 5 20:55

Right, exactly. Exactly.

Speaker 1 20:56

Yeah, yeah. And there's a difference. I mean, it's great to have great volunteers doing that, but I do think that when someone dedicates their life like you have, and it's not like you don't have anything else going on. Um it's it's definitely that you you want to go that extra mile. You want to like like you said, listen, ask people what they really need. Right. You know, and then make an impact, which is whether if you think about it, whether that's in business or uh I always try to do business. I like to do business with people like to do business with the the right way, you know, and if some a mistake happens, we're gonna I'm gonna admit it, you know, and and apologize and you know, I want to I just want to treat people like I want to be treated. Right. And you know, I know that at the Dream Center that's that's really what you do. You I think you build up confidence because you don't i i you build people up. I mean you build people up.

Speaker 5 21:53

Yeah, yeah. And I think when we do that, when we empower people, they they can do the rest on their own.

Speaker 2 21:59

Right.

Speaker 5 22:00

Yeah, yeah. We assume sometimes that, you know, maybe you don't have enough food to eat or you're living in poverty that you don't know what you want to eat. And so every family that comes to the Dream Center, we sit down and interview them.

Speaker 2 22:13

Yeah.

Speaker 5 22:13

And it it's nothing bad, it's nothing. We want them to know us and we want to get to know them. And a lot of times when you're in crisis, you are so stuck in this crisis that you don't see anything going on around you. And you you don't even know you're in crisis. You don't even know why you're in crisis.

Speaker 1 22:31

Yeah. Because it's your it's your whole world. Right, right.

Speaker 5 22:34

And just it feels like everything's wrong. Yeah. And so one of my very favorite questions that I ask every single year, because it doesn't matter how long you're in our program, we interview you every year. Oh, okay. Because we want to build we want to keep building.

Speaker 1 22:44

That's right, what's working, what's not going to be.

Speaker 5 22:46

Yes. Is what's your dream? Without fail, every single parent sits back and goes, I dream. I don't I don't know. I I don't they can they can't even dream. So our timeline is dream again. We want to help others. Such a great line again. Yeah. Because when you're in that crisis, you're not even thinking, you're not dreaming. And and their faces just stop, and I'm like, okay, I want you to just stop and just just think.

Speaker 1 23:15

Because you're there it's only in the moment, you're not thinking ahead. No, no. You can't even imagine anything better because you're just dealing with what's going on right now.

Speaker 5 23:22

Right, right. So that that kind of gives us a a a goal. Yeah. You know, uh a way to go. And we've we've we've had families that we got through to that. Wow. So can I tell you a really cool story? Please, please. This one just just came full circle this week. So I knew it was a story for you. Holy cow. Yeah, this is this story. I love the stories. Yeah, yeah. So a few weeks ago, maybe around actually it's been more than a few weeks, a couple months ago, we had a mom come to us and we have an emergency needs closet. It's open every Wednesday from 11 to 1.

Speaker 3 23:56

All right.

Speaker 5 23:56

Anyone can come in. We give them some emergency food. If they need some other things, we sit down with them, talk to them, find out what's going on. And what people don't always see is that people coming to us for help, they don't want to be there. They're not looking for a handout. You said that earlier. They are coming in because they have a need. And so this family, she was a stay-at-home mom, had eight kids. Her husband worked at a local hospital as a nurse manager and lost his job. And they were doing perfectly fine with that. I mean, no problems at all. Here comes crisis. Right. So we helped them. Um we normally just help one time and then we helped refer him to a bigger food pantry. This family we helped a few times because they're in this, they were kind of in this weird, weird area where it looked on paper like they were making more money. Yeah. But they weren't because he had lost his job. Right. So they couldn't really qualify for a lot of other things.

Speaker 1 24:57

And they're also thinking we're not supposed to be here. Yes. Yes. They're they're paying for the thing. This is for somebody else. This is for somebody else.

Speaker 5 25:04

That's exactly it. Yes, yes. So they um we helped them out a few times and she was ashamed and embarrassed, and we just loved on her, you know. Yeah. And no, no, this is exactly where you're seeing. Right. Yeah, that's why we're here. Yeah. Yes, yes. So kept going. He he was working three other jobs. Just be a hard worker, amazing family, very sweet, really pouring into their kids. He showed up Monday with $800 worth of food.

Speaker 1 25:31

No way.

Speaker 5 25:33

He got a job in Georgia and he wanted to give back.

Speaker 1 25:36

Uh-uh. Oh my god, I just got chills.

Speaker 5 25:39

I mean, it just when I saw the stuff he brought in, and just that he he said before I left, I knew I had to come and tell y'all thank y'all, thank you. And I want you to give this to somebody else who was like we were.

Speaker 1 25:53

Let me tell you, that that is unreal. Um I've said, and it really applies to this. Uh I've said so many times. I I I started here at the drive-thru at $5.25 an hour. Like I I mean, you know, um, I feel so grateful. People have helped me out, you know, all those years. And I know that I never can pay them back. I always say I can pay it forward. I can help somebody else out. I never can pay that person. I never can pay those people back who loaned me $50 or whatever it was. But I can pay it forward, and that's why I kind of live by that. And the story you just said, even though it was kind of paying back to y'all, he's actually paying it forward to other families. Absolutely. Because he knew how much it helped. And and I think that whether it's small or big, if someone helped you out, if you just have that mindset of how okay, thank you. First of all, I'm grateful. I never can pay you back, never, you know, because uh it's a different situation now, but I can pay it forward. Right. And I I think that's that is unreal. That's unreal. But that's the impact that you made and you and your and your team at Dream Center. Um let me DeSoto oh hold on. We're gonna have some uh main uh food here. There's more? Yeah, there's more. Yeah, I know. I kind of get carried away, these awesome stories. All right. So um when we get into the meat of it, we've got some forks. I'm just gonna bring in the meat of pork burn-ins and some cheese crits. Let me tell you something. We started these burn-ins, um and this done this sounds like a commercial, but it's not. I'm just I'm telling you because I get excited about food. Yeah, um we started doing these burn-ins uh at QVC only. They were so popular, so many people loved them. And it's a hand-done thing. I mean, that's not like an easy thing to do. Right. Um, we start putting them on the menu at the restaurant and we put them over cheese grits with some sauce and some see oh my gosh, they're so good. Okay, I gotta get it. You gotta get a little of both. I I call it um the best single bite of barbecue that you can put in your mouth.

Speaker 5 28:00

I mean, uh, grits are you got you had me that burnt in? Yeah.

Speaker 1 28:05

And when people hear either like, I don't know. And then I'll I'll take it to a catering or event, or and people are like, oh my gosh, this is the best thing I've ever had. It's like it's like our version of meat and potatoes. Isn't that delicious? Best bite and barbecue. It is. That that burn in, it's I mean, we take our pork shoulders and we smoke them and then we cube them. And I relate it to and then we s um season them and sauce and put them back on the smoker so they kind of get almost like charred and caramelized all the way around. It's like that edge piece of brownie that has the crusty part that everybody likes. Yeah. Imagine that with the the barbecue because that caramelization, that bark is all the way around all the sides. It's delicious.

Speaker 5 28:46

Yes, and then the creamy, cheesy grits within it.

Speaker 1 28:48

And I think I'm gonna have a big bite of this too. Oh, you have to be able to do that. Um I know, and the sauce. Whenever I serve it, and people are like, I don't know about that. I've brought it for like uh we did it for a wedding shower, we've done it Fourth of July, those kind of things. And people are like, oh my gosh, that's amazing.

Speaker 5 29:03

Yeah, you get in trouble eating this.

Speaker 1 29:04

It's like a barbecue shepherd's pie. Yeah. Yeah, so I know. I had to feed you, you know. Um yeah. DeSoto, um DeSoto County, Mississippi. I live in Memphis, but it's you know, twenty minutes away. Right. Um and for people who aren't around here, I have people listening all over the country. And um I think of DeSoto County as a relatively wealthier uh county. Right, right. You know, it's a nice suburbs, uh bigger homes. So what do people what do people not see? Live every day in Memphis, live every day in DeSoto County, what are they not seeing that's there that you're a that you're helping? Because when I first think of it, you're like, well, I would say you think of an inner city, a need. So what's in DeSoto County that the the the where there's need like this?

Speaker 5 30:02

So I think it's even more important, and I'm so glad that you brought that up, because I live in DeSoto County. And I said the same thing. I literally exactly the same thing, like, who are we helping?

unknown 30:12

What?

Speaker 5 30:13

Until I showed up and I meet these kids, and I'm like, oh yeah, that's it. So I think it's even more important what we do because people are suffering quietly. And one of our biggest struggles is people who don't have a place to live. There's not affordable housing in DeSoto County.

Speaker 1 30:33

Oh well, you're yeah, so you're right about it. There's just not. Yeah.

Speaker 5 30:36

There's not. And and so that's one of our biggest struggles that that I'm working towards figuring out what are we gonna do about this. But what what people don't realize is we have um 14 schools that qualify for Title I funding, okay. And then there are another maybe 10 that qualify but don't receive Title I funding. Wow. So what Title I is is if 40% or more of the kids um are below the poverty line. Uh 30% or more below the poverty line. That's how they get a free line. Okay. So some of our schools have 81% of kids below the poverty line. I think it's shocking. It is.

Speaker 1 31:19

Because it is you know, like I said, you know, I think of DeSota County and I think of the big big homes and the suburbs and you know, swimming pools and this and that. And you kind of and even in Memphis especially, you it's like you you start living in a bubble and you don't see anything else. It it's amazing that many people are under the poverty line, you know and that it just kind of goes undetected almost if you're not if you if you're not looking.

Speaker 5 31:47

Right, right. And I I really do feel like they're even more embarrassed because their neighbors go abide. Right. And and and that's kind of what I tell people is you don't know who's struggling around you. You don't know who in your kid's class. That they're going home and that kid doesn't have food on the weekend. They're getting their meals from breakfast and lunch at school. Wow. And so that's one of our programs that we just started a few years ago, are these backpack programs where we had teachers that were trying to these teachers they do so much. Yeah. So much. But they were going and and they saw kids in their class who came to school on Monday hungry. And to me, I don't care where you're from, that is never acceptable. I'm never gonna have a kid going great. Right. I mean, I want to bring this to every single one of them.

Speaker 1 32:32

Right, right. Yeah.

Speaker 5 32:33

So so what we do is that comes through teacher referrals because teachers see their kids and they know what's going on at home. They they they do so much and they know so much. So we bring in um we have a volunteer that goes to these schools every week. They pick up backpacks where it looks just like every other backpack. It's dignity. We want to start young with it. You know, we want to give them respect and love and not have the people making fun of them. Yeah. We bring it into the Dream Center, we fill it up with food for the whole weekend. Uh-huh. Easy to open stuff.

Speaker 2 33:01

Yeah.

Speaker 5 33:02

Um they can microwave, they can open it and eat. But they don't have to have a parent because we even do kindergartners. I mean, they they need to be able to give us food because our parent may may be single family home. Yeah. Their parents may be working in the weekend. Or two jobs and three jobs. So many times. So that's another way that we are we're giving these kids what they need. Because if you're hungry, you're not listening in school.

Speaker 2 33:25

Yeah.

Speaker 5 33:25

That's the last thing you care about.

Speaker 2 33:27

No.

Speaker 5 33:28

You're wearing the same clothes to school every day.

Speaker 2 33:30

Right.

Speaker 5 33:31

You're embarrassed, you're dirty. Yeah. You're you don't have health care. Yeah. All those things we want we want kids to be able to maybe listen in class. Right. You're realistic. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. We get it. Yeah. We get it. Yeah. But we're trying to help teachers remove these barriers.

Speaker 1 33:48

So that they can learn. Yeah.

Speaker 5 33:50

Because I think every kid deserves that. Absolutely. They deserve at least a chance.

Speaker 2 33:53

Yeah.

Speaker 5 33:54

And and then teachers can teach more. Of course. Because they're not going out trying to buy clothing and school supplies and backpacks and lunch boxes and filling up with food. They're able to teach. That's right. Which is where we need them.

Speaker 1 34:06

And that's what they want to do. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. That's great. So I'm going to I'm going to tell you this because I told I I've mentioned that I've toured with you before. Uh we get to do things with you with um turkeys and and we talked about Thanksgiving and um, you know, you've got a a a wing um cook-off uh competition, and we'll talk about that in a second. I probably toured two years ago, I think. And uh and I've we've mentioned this, I love stories and memories and things like that. I think you know what I remember about the tour, and it was probably what 15 minutes. I mean it wasn't yeah, you know, what I remember, and I thought it was so brilliant, is I love the holidays, I love Christmas, I love you know, uh doing all the excess. Right, right. And I loved y'all's Christmas gift program because, and like I've told you, I've done the Angel Tree where I buy stuff and then you know, take it to somebody, and I just like doing it. Like uh it's fun for me too, you know. And what I loved about yours is um the parents can come in and almost shop um and pick out something instead of you know just whatever someone you know gave or dropped off. The other thing that stuck with me, this is two years, is that you have volunteers that wrap these gifts. So their kids might be there with them because they don't uh they don't have child care, but y'all have got them in a different room playing or something. So that parent gets to pick out gift, get it wrapped, put it in their car, and their kid, their children think, you know, that it's from their parents, not some help center or not Jimmy Stovall who brought his, you know, something in his truck to to my house. Yes. I think that is so incredible because uh talking back to pride, the parents, I'm assuming, because again, I love the holidays, I know how disappointed and um uh defeated I would feel if I couldn't get things for my kids. And so being able to not only give them a gift, but looking as if it came from the parent, that I mean, that is a game changer versus just here's a bunch of gifts that someone else gave.

Speaker 5 36:27

Right, absolutely. And that's one of my favorite times too. Yeah. It is just so special. And you know, poverty takes away a parent's ability to give good things to their kids.

Speaker 36:37

Yeah.

Speaker 5 36:38

And as parents, every one of us want to give good things to ourselves. That's right. All the time. Yeah. All the time. Yeah. So we want to build up families. We want to build up these parents, but and we want their kids to look to them.

Speaker 2 36:49

Yeah.

Speaker 5 36:49

And and so it doesn't just stop at Christmas. We we also try to pour into into families with financial literacy and ESL classes and health classes and all these things, but at Christmas we and and maybe some of the older kids pick pick up on it a little bit, but but we keep them off to the side. And and it is. It's on Christmas morning them giving the gifts to them and them feeling like a parent should feel proud. Yes, absolutely. A a good healthy pride. That's right. And and that's exactly what it should be.

Speaker 1 37:17

And I just I've never forgotten that. And I get to see a lot of things, you know, I'm fortunate enough and and and um I I get to see a lot of great work that people do. Um that just stuck in my head because it kind of goes back to what we were talking about originally, listening, what people really want, and not just, oh, people need Christmas gifts. I'm gonna go buy some gifts and give it to them. Like what they really want is that confidence and that pride of being able to give it to their kid from them. Yeah, I I think that's that's that's amazing. So, all right, tell me about um the the fundraisers that y'all do throughout the year. Because I it's not just, hey, we have this big, you know, Gala and you know, whatever. Yeah. Tell me about what y'all do.

Speaker 5 38:00

Yeah, and we we try not to do a lot of fundraisers because what I want to do is give back to the community.

Speaker 1 38:04

Yep, yeah.

Speaker 5 38:05

But it costs a lot of money. It does, it does. Yeah, we got to get this stuff somewhere. So um we have two main fundraisers this whole year. The first one's in April, and it's something thanks to Corkies. Y'all, y'all support us in this, and we are so grateful. It is DeSoto Wings and Ribs Competition and Festival. Yeah, we couldn't have picked a longer name.

Speaker 1 38:25

That is a long name.

Speaker 5 38:26

Yeah, yeah. So it's about our sixth or seventh year to do it, and it has grown. We we have about 42 teams come out this past year. Or yeah, this year. To compete, cooking wings, cooking ribs, okay. Yes, yes. There are a lot of different ways you can compete. It's a sanctioned um competition. Wow. Um, they it smells amazing. We have, you know, kids fun zone. Yeah. And my goal is one, it is a fundraiser, but I don't charge to get in.

Speaker 2 38:52

Yeah.

Speaker 5 38:53

Because I know I had four kids.

Speaker 2 38:54

Yeah.

Speaker 5 38:55

So for me to go six things, six tickets, yeah. To Liberty Land or whatever, it way too much money. Yeah. So it's free to get in. Yeah. And then there are different areas that you go. You can you can go to a food truck. Yeah. You know, and you can buy something little. You can buy a snow comb from our education kids for two dollars.

Speaker 39:11

Right.

Speaker 5 39:12

Um, so you don't have to spend a lot of money. We have free kids' games, we have businesses that come in and rest a kids' game. Um, but the teams have so much fun. That's correct. They they don't want to leave. You know, they they're just, you know, that atmosphere of that cooking and having fun and your friends and your and it's a fun family atmosphere. Yeah. Um we partner with Olive Branch City Park, comes in and they they're phenomenal. They just take care of us, they help us with everything, and then y'all provide wings, which is huge because what we do with that, it's people's choice. Yeah. And so some of the teams cook, and then you can go buy a people's choice ticket and walk around and taste them. Because that's what we all want to do. Of course. We all want to eat out.

Speaker 1 39:51

Yeah, and go, yeah, oh, that was the best. No, that was the best. Yeah. That's what, you know, in and it kind of going back to food, like I said, those are those stories. And whether you you and when you're at that, I think when you're at that event, whether you can afford to be there or not, everybody's there having a good time. Right. There's food cooking, people are getting to taste food, or like you said, there's food trucks. That is, it just puts everybody on the same level. Yep. I think it's awesome. Yep. Yeah. It's such a great idea. Such a great idea.

Speaker 5 40:21

Let me tell you about this because we have we have all different kinds of cooks. We have some professionals. Yeah. We have some that that's all they do every weekend, that's their fun thing. They go compete. And then we have some that have never done it before. So one of our first years, one of a local business was like, Hey, I I can't really be a sponsor, I can't really do this, but can I pay somebody's registration fee? So we went to one of our education families.

Speaker 2 40:43

Yeah.

Speaker 5 40:43

That you know, just a home cook. She'd never done anything. She was like, Me and my kids would love to come cook. They came and cooked, they won first place.

Speaker 1 40:52

No, they did not.

Speaker 5 40:53

Yes, they did.

Speaker 1 40:54

Oh my god.

Speaker 5 40:54

Yes, they did, and what a fun time for their family. And and that business, I mean that forever. Yeah.

Speaker 1 41:01

Yeah, they'll remember that forever. Yeah. That's really, really cool.

Speaker 5 41:04

Yes. And we've had a couple other education families along the way. That is really cool. Come in and cook with us, and that's just that's so cool to see.

Speaker 1 41:12

Of course. Holy cow. Yeah. Holy cow. That is that is awesome. Yeah. And so you do the wing and rib. Um, and then Thanksgiving, you do a big uh turkey insides, and all the guys are frying turkeys.

Speaker 5 41:26

Oh my goodness, it smells amazing around there. So we um and and y'all work with us on this too. So y'all help us to to purchase these items and keep our prices low because we want to be good stewards of all the money that we have. Absolutely. And we want it to stretch, I want it to stretch for forever. So we we really try to do a great job with that. And y'all, y'all partnering with us to help with that means the world. Yeah. And then the sides and the stuff that we're getting, it's it's good quality. Oh, it is. Oh, it's good stuff.

Speaker 1 41:54

I don't blame you.

Speaker 5 41:55

So what we do is we start at 6 a.m. and we fry 300 turkeys the day before Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 42:01

And that's not a quick process.

Speaker 5 42:02

No, it's not. No, it's not, but they have it down to a science. So, and then we have a million wonderful volunteers come in. We pack food boxes, they get the whole turkey. So they're not getting just a plate just for themselves. They're not coming to us and eating. It's the day before Thanksgiving. They get the turkey, they get the sides, they get the pecan pie, the corky's pecan pie. So good. The sweet tea, the rolls. Yeah. They take it home and they sit down together on Thanksgiving Day as a family. That's important. And they cook it and they eat it.

Speaker 1 42:31

That's important. And yeah, and it's not a here's a to-go box, here's a handout to-go box, and that's great because they might need to eat. Yes. But the opportunity to have that where if you if they didn't get that, they might could only get like uh just a turkey or or not or not much. And this gives them the full meal. Because, you know, I mean, a big Thanksgiving meal, it's a lot. It's a lot. But that's what you want. That to me is memories. I mean, like I said, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the there's only a couple times of year where your extended family or your whoever you have over, that's the only time of year that's a lot of times you see that those people. Right. And and when you cook for people or when you're serving people, you want to do something that's really good because that's the only time you might see them. I think it's like the most important meal of the year, you know. Right. And so for y'all to do that for those families, it's it's amazing. It's amazing.

Speaker 5 43:30

It's really cool. It's really cool. I love to see it. With and with that, we did have a this was a couple of years ago, but we had a mom come down and she um was from another state and she had been in an abusive relationship and one night enough was enough, and she somehow showed up in DeSota County. And the shelter that she was working with was like, You gotta call a trip center. I don't know what they're doing, but they can help with something. And so she said, I didn't even know where we were gonna live, what we were gonna do, and I sure didn't think we're gonna. But here we are and she said that gave me hope. We're we're gonna be okay.

Speaker 1 44:05

And that's where the last thing on our mind was Thanksgiving dinner. Holy cow. So what are you excited the most um about moving forward with the Dream Center?

Speaker 5 44:17

So I don't know if you know this news yet.

Speaker 1 44:19

Uh oh. But Andrea, she's about to drop something on me that now I'm nervous.

Speaker 5 44:24

But we there you go. Okay. There you go. Now I'm like, yeah. So we um are opening a second dream center.

Speaker 2 44:33

Wow.

Speaker 5 44:33

In Olive Branch, Mississippi. Really? We um we had a donor come to us and they helped us purchase the bri the building. Yeah. It's under construction right now, and by the end of the summer, we're gonna be in it.

Speaker 1 44:44

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 5 44:46

What we realized is when you're in crisis, yeah, especially with gas prices how they are right now, even getting across the county, it's a struggle. Yeah. It it is a huge struggle. And so we want families to be able to have easy access to someone in their backyard where they are that they can get help from.

Speaker 1 45:04

Wow. So Congratulations.

Speaker 5 45:07

I am so excited.

Speaker 1 45:08

You know, that is amazing because if you didn't do the job that you do, if you didn't make an impact on the people that you make an impact on, families, children, whoever, a second location would never that would never come about. I hope and I'm sure you are, but I hope you're unbelievably proud, not just to have a second location, but why that is even possible.

Speaker 5 45:35

Right, right. And let me tell you a little bit about my staff involuntaries.

Speaker 1 45:38

Okay. I know. So you're deflect because you're deflecting. And you know it's the truth. I know I can't do all that. Oh, I know.

Speaker 5 45:46

I can't I can't even do why uh any of it. Yeah. But my staff, they pour out, and we've we got a little bitty staff. Yep. I mean it's it's little bitty. Yeah. They pour out things that humble me and just make my heart ten times bigger when I see what they give. And it's not just them, it's the volunteers. We have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that show up at our events, we have volunteers that show up every day, we have volunteers that work all day in Memphis and then come and spend two hours with kids that are a little bit crazy and stinky. And they pour into them things that that are making an eternal difference for these families. And and they are the backbone of what we do. Um and then the donors and partners that we have, businesses that partner with us to help our money go further, that help us to do more things and make a bigger impact.

Speaker 1 46:39

Yeah, I mean, I just think you'll do such a great job. Uh, you wouldn't have those businesses, you wouldn't have those partners, you wouldn't have the if y'all didn't do an amazing job every single day. You just wouldn't, you know, because people like to see an impact and and you you are definitely and your team is you're definitely making it. Um so I get this sometimes where people want to volunteer or want to help, um, but they don't know what they can do or what impact they could make. And so sometimes you might go, I don't know. I would like to help, but I don't know what I what could I how could I contribute? What would you tell people like that? And just in general, whether it's Dream Center or anywhere volunteering or helping out, what would you say to that?

Speaker 5 47:25

Right. My my first thing is it can be scary to step into something new.

Speaker 2 47:30

Yeah.

Speaker 5 47:31

But just do it. Just do it. And show up and also so many volunteers, we get there and the first thing that we do in in our cup of tea, don't give up.

Speaker 3 47:42

Okay.

Speaker 5 47:43

Because you may come in and say, say you're at the Dream Center and you come in and you work with our education program. Yeah. And you're one time we're like, no. Yep. This is not a good one. This is why I didn't do it before. Yes. Don't stop. Say, hey, what what else do you have? Yeah. At the Dream Center, and there are so many, we are blessed in this area to have so many amazing organizations that want to give back and that have great hearts.

Speaker 48:06

Wow.

Speaker 5 48:06

So so find one and then keep going. And and talk to the people there. Hey, this is what I'm good at. We had we had a teacher um maybe a year ago. She got out of school and she said, Hey, I got the summer. I I don't want to teach kids. I do that all year long. Right. But I'm great at organizing. Can I come and organize your work?

Speaker 1 48:24

Oh my god. Hey, I need her number.

Speaker 5 48:26

I mean, absolutely. Yeah. Something that I hadn't even thought of. You know what?

Speaker 1 48:30

That's great. Because I do think a lot of people do want to volunteer help. And especially when you hear a story, you're like, you know what, I should do something. And then you're like, Well, I don't know what what I would do or what how I could help. Right. I appreciate that perspective. Just do something. Yes. Just show up, do something. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 5 48:46

Some of my best things I never I didn't think of it as being a job. Right. There it is. There it is. We have a a guy who managed huge warehouses. And he came in, he made me a list of things that we needed to get checked every year. He's like, you need to have your forklift checked at this time and this checked at all.

Speaker 1 49:02

Oh, and you're like, oh, I mean, how helpful.

Speaker 5 49:04

Right. Everyone can help. Yeah.

Speaker 1 49:07

That's that's great. Because I do think that there's a lot of people who go, you know, I should do something, but I don't know what I don't know what. Or who I I don't know how to help or how to do this, or you know. So I think that's really, really cool. Just show up. I love that.

Speaker 5 49:20

And I think it I think it's really important when you're not feeling good about yourself to do that. Because when you don't feel worthy, doing something of worth.

Speaker 1 49:30

I I totally agree. One of my and I've mentioned on this podcast before, but one of I call them kind of triggers. Like so whenever I'm uh down um and I catch it the very first thing and I know what it is, and I need to do something nice for someone else. Right. And it doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter who it is, I don't want anything back. It could be as simple as a card.

unknown 49:54

Yes.

Speaker 1 49:55

Send somebody a nice text, whatever it is, taking somebody something or whatever, I'm telling you, I get ten times more out of it. But I that is my way out. If I ever start to feel, you know, kind of blah or down or whatever, I'm like, oh, this is this is my sign. I gotta do something for somebody else. Right. And you know, it helps me, it helps them, uh, or or just make some someone else feel good. But I think and that's what I use personally. Uh I think it's so important. That's that's a that's a great that's a great thing. Okay. We're gonna move to dessert. I got some banana pudding there. You mentioned pecan pie, but I did do some banana banana pudding. I mean, you can't you can't beat uh banana pudding.

Speaker 5 50:37

I want a to-go box. I know you're getting a to-go box.

Speaker 1 50:39

You're getting a to-go box. Yeah, yeah. Your husband would be very upset if you were like, oh yeah, hell that's corkies food.

Speaker 5 50:45

Oh no, that's for him.

Speaker 1 50:48

You're not sharing. That's so funny. And so the dessert so the dessert round. Oh, here we go. Um I just kind of do a um lightning round, rapid fire. Sh I call it short and sweet for dessert. Um how's that banana pudding? So sweet and creamy and that's just what it's supposed to be. There's something about and like I and I've say this probably every time, but you know, this this podcast is not about corkies. It's about getting to know people and understanding them, what drives and you know, all the stuff that people other people are into. Because I I just I find that interesting myself to listen to people's stories. And so that's gonna do it. But I can't do it without serving food. I mean, I I I I'm I'm in the business of food.

Speaker 5 51:32

Yeah, I don't think you should always be here.

Speaker 1 51:34

That's right. That's right.

Speaker 5 51:35

I just want to come visit everybody.

Speaker 1 51:36

And then I got this huge old desk that's perfect. It's like it's like a table. And so it's perfect for food. But um, all right, so I'm just gonna do some rapid fire kind of first thing that pops into your mind. Um, what's your favorite meal in DeSoto County?

Speaker 5 51:50

The parish.

Speaker 1 51:51

Oh.

Speaker 5 51:52

Have you been down to the parish? No, I have not. I'm writing it down right now. Fernando, I'm telling you, number one place it is now we have some phenomenal restaurants. Oh, I know, I know. But the parish, anything you get there. Okay. Anything my husband is a homebody. I told you that earlier. He likes meat. My wife is too. The only place he'll go is the parish. Wow. And it is, I mean 100% top notch.

Speaker 1 52:16

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Speaker 5 52:18

Night owl.

Speaker 1 52:19

Are you?

Speaker 5 52:20

That's why when y'all said morning or afternoon, it's like afternoon, afternoon.

Speaker 1 52:23

That's kinda I I used to be a night owl. Could be in the restaurant business because I worked at night. I mean, uh I was only a night owl. And now it seems I do get up earlier and love to go to bed early. But but um What's your coffee order? Do you when you if you go get coffee, what are you getting?

Speaker 5 52:43

A different thing every single time. But maybe my easiest is a dirty chai.

Speaker 1 52:47

Oh.

Speaker 5 52:48

But I I every time something different. A matcha or a cold brew or I it's never the same. You like trying new stuff.

Speaker 1 52:55

That's awesome. What what's one word your friends would use to describe you? See, it's not super easy, but I think confident.

Speaker 5 53:04

I hear that all the time. And I just laugh at it because if you know me, you know I can be the most confident person in the room and also have the lowest self-esteem in the room. And I don't know, my own.

Speaker 1 53:14

It's a dichotomy. Yeah.

Speaker 5 53:15

How can you be both of those at the same time? And I'm like, I don't know. But I'm 100% in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 53:21

Um I'm laying it all out. I it's a good idea. I do the same thing. No, uh-uh. Nobody else's. What's your favorite place to escape or clear your mind?

Speaker 5 53:32

Uh really a good book. I mean, not even I'm not a big TV watcher. Okay. Um never have been. There are movies from the 80s that my husband's shocked that I hadn't seen. Wow. But but just in a good video.

Speaker 1 53:46

Of course that makes me instantly want to list like, did you see this? Did you see that? Right, I probably haven't. And so so you like books? I do. I do. So that's your escape.

Speaker 5 53:53

Yes. I used to have a goal where I would read 50 books a year. Oh. And then this job has kind of Yeah.

Speaker 1 53:59

Yeah. That's right. That's right.

Speaker 5 54:01

I don't know. Not quite as many.

Speaker 1 54:03

I think it I think you're probably learning just as much from so many people helping. Um who's one of the most inspiring people you've ever met?

Speaker 5 54:12

Oh, that I've met.

Speaker 1 54:14

Yeah. Or or that just one of the most inspiring people to you. You don't have to have met me.

Speaker 5 54:18

Yeah, yeah. Well, I can even say um one of the ones that I've met, and it um it's my pastor. Um he is just someone who serves with such integrity. So I get to I get to know him in a professional sense because he's the chairman of my board. And then I get to know him as a pastor, and then also as one of my husband's good friends. Yeah. And so I see who he is as well.

Speaker 1 54:42

All the way around.

Speaker 5 54:43

And that that me that means a lot because I'm watching you close.

Speaker 1 54:45

Wow.

Speaker 5 54:46

And and he um he loves people in a way that it's genuine. It's genuine. Yeah.

Speaker 1 54:53

Wow.

Speaker 5 54:53

And I I didn't expect to say that. That's kind of funny. That's awesome. But that was the first person that came to my mind.

Speaker 1 54:58

Wow. Then that's the one. I mean, yeah, the first person. Um best advice you ever received, or or advice you want to pass along to your kids. Because I always think like, okay, I need to make sure my kids know this. You know, because this is what I believe, and I believe the world's like this, and and this is how you should treat people, and this, you know, what what's some of the best advice that you can either give or have been, you know, someone gave it to you?

Speaker 5 55:24

So the best advice that I've gotten that I every time that I give it, someone's really grateful for it is we go to other people expecting a quarter. And we need a quarter, and we want a quarter. But the only thing that person has to give is maybe a nickel, or maybe a penny. And we need a quarter, and we expect them to give a quarter, and they probably should give a quarter. But all they can give is a penny, and we have to be okay with that. And we have to know that's not on us, that's not our fault, that's not because we don't deserve to give a quarter, but um not everybody has a capacity to give a quarter. Wow. And and that's okay. That's okay.

Speaker 1 56:07

That's pretty powerful.

Speaker 5 56:08

It when you're going through something that it's in just the right, when you're when you have an expectation of maybe it's a family member, maybe it's a spouse, maybe it's a a a child, I don't know, but they're they're not giving you what what they should. Yeah. But to be able to be okay with that has made me okay.

Speaker 1 56:27

Wow. That's that is great. That's great. Final question. At the end of your life or in the end, what do you hope people remember most about you? Because you already you're so selfless and you want to, you know, the credit for your team and you do it for all these other people and all this. What do you want people to remember about you?

Speaker 5 56:47

I want them to to feel loved. I want them to think she loved and cared about me.

Speaker 2 56:53

Wow.

Speaker 5 56:53

Um, and and to do that, I I have to make myself pause because I feel I know it. Yeah. But we get so busy in this stuff. But I want them to know she really cared about me. And she really loved me.

Speaker 1 57:05

That's pretty awesome. That's that's definitely a good goal to have. Well, I want to thank you for joining me today and being able to eat a little bit of food. I know we talked a lot, but we're you know, you get to take it home. Yeah. And uh so how do people find out uh and get a get a hold of the um um whether you or to tell people how they can help or well I would tell them first to go to our website, okay.

Speaker 5 57:32

DeSotadDreamCenter.org. Okay. All the information is on there. We have Facebook and Instagram, DeSoda Dream Center.

Speaker 2 57:38

Yeah.

Speaker 5 57:38

Um and there are so many amazing ways. And let me tell you real quick about one thing coming up next week. Next week. It starts on the twenty-ninth of May and it runs for a week. We have a race in in September. So that's kind of far away.

Speaker 3 57:52

Yeah.

Speaker 5 57:52

But it's called matching week.

Speaker 3 57:54

Okay.

Speaker 5 57:55

Anything given, any donation, any race registration, any anything is being matched. So you give a dollar, we get two dollars. Wow. You give a million, we get two million.

Speaker 2 58:07

Wow.

Speaker 5 58:08

So anything that you give is matched for that week.

Speaker 2 58:10

Wow.

Speaker 5 58:11

And if you sign up for the race, that's matched too. So it's just an exciting week because we all want our money to go for it. Yeah, right. Of course. But all that information and information on ways to get involved, information on if you need help. And that's why I love that. I think that's important.

Speaker 1 58:26

Because whether it's you, I'm gonna be honest, whether it's you or not you, a lot you might know someone that does, and and being that person that bridges that gap, like, hey, I actually know someone, I know a place that can help. I I think that's right. Yeah. I I think everybody, whether you don't want to just go, oh, I don't need anything, you know. Right. It could be for someone else.

Speaker 5 58:49

Yeah, yeah. And we never know. I mean, we're all one or two crises away from from needing help. And something we didn't talk about was Trinity Health Center. Yeah, it's it's a healthcare facility for the working uninsured, but you can find about all those things in our website.

Speaker 1 59:02

Okay, awesome. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for driving into Memphis. I'm just glad that you got to see the place that your mom would come two to three times a week. I mean, I love that story. I'm I'm actually going to give a speech in about an hour, and I'm going to talk about that because that's still I always love to share the story since that's a perfect one. So thank you. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. I love this.

Speaker 59:22

Awesome.