WEBVTT 00:00:08.910 --> 00:00:11.609 Hello and welcome to Good News York sponsored 00:00:11.609 --> 00:00:14.289 by ads on the go get ads on the go .com. I'm 00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:18.269 your host Mike Brindisi Follow me on all socials 00:00:18.269 --> 00:00:21.510 at Mike B TV. I am very excited This is actually 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:25.710 our first show back from the kind of small Thanksgiving 00:00:25.710 --> 00:00:29.710 break Matt out of the office actually out of 00:00:29.710 --> 00:00:31.429 the studio. He's here. I don't know what he's 00:00:31.429 --> 00:00:34.159 doing. I think he's buying cucumbers on TikTok 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.039 shop. I don't know what's going on, but anyway, 00:00:36.219 --> 00:00:38.439 it's just me today, but I'm joined by a very 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:40.880 special guest. Before we get to my guest, quick 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:44.460 shout out to my friend Hank Tarr at Whites, W 00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:48.679 -H -Y -T -E -S. It is a repair shop, auto shop 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.679 in the outskirts of Ithaca. I go to them for 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:56.460 everything. I drove here in a snowstorm. and 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:58.740 I was completely safe because of the tires that 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.259 I bought from Whites. Whenever I meet people 00:01:01.259 --> 00:01:03.159 that move to Ithaca, I feel like you always need 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:06.099 a good dentist, repair shop, and a good doctor. 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:08.519 Those are three important things to have. I'm 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:10.260 telling you, Whites is where you want to go. 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:14.939 No BS, fair pricing, they're fast, and I just 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:16.540 love them. I'm not getting paid to say it. Anyway, 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.420 enough about that. I am joined now by a very 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:22.620 special guest from Aaron's Angels of CNY, which 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:27.799 was founded in 2017. my new friend Lindsay or 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:31.219 Lou as I've been told is your nickname. Yes. 00:01:31.739 --> 00:01:35.340 And I didn't know which one to call you. I said, 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:37.000 before we went on, I said, should I call you 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:38.799 Lindsay, Lou? And you said, well, there's kind 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:41.439 of a good story behind the Lou. Tell me the Lou 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:45.500 story. So I changed my name on Facebook due to 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:49.299 work reasons. So when I met Sheila and we got 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:50.780 together and talked, she thought my name was 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:54.090 Lou because that's what my Facebook name. And 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:56.030 so it's stuck. Yep. And it's been my nickname 00:01:56.030 --> 00:01:58.609 for a long time anyways. I love that. Yeah. When 00:01:58.609 --> 00:02:01.790 I first met you, you don't look like a Lou. But 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:03.829 now that I'm starting to know you, I think that's 00:02:03.829 --> 00:02:06.170 an adorable nickname and it's great. Well, thank 00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:10.189 you. And what else is great is the company or 00:02:10.189 --> 00:02:13.550 the nonprofit or not for profit? Nonprofit. Nonprofit. 00:02:13.870 --> 00:02:16.909 Aaron's Angels of CNY, which was founded in 2017. 00:02:17.530 --> 00:02:21.569 You guys are doing amazing things. You are feeding 00:02:21.569 --> 00:02:24.409 children who may be going through things like 00:02:24.409 --> 00:02:27.009 food insecurity. And I think it's absolutely 00:02:27.009 --> 00:02:29.069 wonderful. Tell me a little bit about yourself 00:02:29.069 --> 00:02:32.750 and about Erin's Angels at CNY. So Erin's Angels 00:02:32.750 --> 00:02:35.789 was actually named after a child named Erin Maxwell. 00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:39.650 She was in the Phoenix School District. She was 00:02:39.650 --> 00:02:43.069 neglected. She was eventually killed by a family 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:46.949 member. She showed lots of signs of food insecurity 00:02:46.949 --> 00:02:50.349 while in the school that school staff had seen. 00:02:51.710 --> 00:02:55.569 Sheila Dion, our founder, realized that Phoenix 00:02:55.569 --> 00:02:58.090 was the only school district that didn't have 00:02:58.090 --> 00:03:01.849 a weekend food program. So that's kind of how 00:03:01.849 --> 00:03:03.909 Aaron's Angels came about and that's what's named 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:08.939 after. Equal parts beautiful and devastating. 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:11.800 My wife is a teacher and she works in the Newark 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.740 Valley School to Tioga County and she comes home 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.439 with these awful stories about, she says, Mike, 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:21.240 some of these kids... they come in and their 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.699 last meal was when they ate at school yesterday. 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.199 Sometimes it goes farther than just providing 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.939 them an affordable or free lunch at school. Sometimes 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:32.020 that's all they can have. So I understand the 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:34.340 importance. Also, before I took this job, I worked 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:36.699 as a substitute teacher in the Ithaca School 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:39.159 District, and that really opened my eyes to not 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:42.419 only how important it is to have affordable or 00:03:42.419 --> 00:03:45.939 free lunch, but just how much people need it. 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:48.159 And I just think it's absolutely wonderful what 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:50.919 you guys are doing. So how how did this all come 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.840 together? So Sheila started building Aaron's 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.060 Angels. She started the we just were sending 00:03:57.060 --> 00:04:00.139 home food on the weekends and then it grew to 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.120 holidays like we have a two week holiday coming 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.319 up next month for all these kids. So we're sending 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:07.580 extra food home for that. So we'll cover that 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:09.479 since they won't be in school to have access. 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:13.419 And we've even branched out to summertime. So 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:16.199 not only are we doing weekends and holidays, 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.660 but now these kids are getting food during the 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:20.879 summertime when they are out of school for how 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.220 many months? Yeah, three, four months, whatever 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:26.000 it is. I think it's about three, so that's a 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.699 big time period. Now, you do currently serve 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:31.500 children in the Phoenix Central School District, 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:34.220 but I know... It talks about your long -term 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:36.879 vision to expand and provide food to kids experiencing 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:39.920 food insecurity across central New York. Talk 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:41.259 a little bit about that. Have you been able to 00:04:41.259 --> 00:04:43.279 do that or is it something that you guys are 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.860 working on? So we're working on it. Phoenix was 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:48.300 our main goal to start and then we started branching 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:50.779 out. We actually have an outreach program and 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.399 the outreach program recently got a grant from 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:55.680 the Oswego County Community Foundation and it 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.129 was $2 ,500. And that was divvied up between 00:04:59.129 --> 00:05:01.550 all of the weekend programs in Oswego County. 00:05:01.689 --> 00:05:03.470 So each of the school districts got a little 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:07.970 bit of it to fill the food needs. That is absolutely 00:05:07.970 --> 00:05:10.750 wonderful. I mean, you guys are feeding thousands 00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:13.990 and thousands of kids, which is so important, 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:17.029 especially around the holidays we see. It's a 00:05:17.029 --> 00:05:19.990 stressful time for families financially. You 00:05:19.990 --> 00:05:21.629 guys have some campaigns coming up. What I love 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:24.529 about this is not only are you obviously feeding 00:05:24.529 --> 00:05:27.329 children in need, but you're out there doing 00:05:27.329 --> 00:05:29.470 it with a lot of different campaigns. The first 00:05:29.470 --> 00:05:32.029 one I want to talk about is your Giving Tuesday 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:33.569 fundraising campaign. Talk a little bit about 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:38.060 that. Yeah, so Giving Tuesday is it's a nation 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:41.319 or a global campaign and it's about giving back 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:44.759 to charities and non -for -profits. So we have 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.899 angel cutouts which you can go right on our Facebook, 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:49.920 you can donate a certain amount, you will get 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.560 an angel. We want you to sign those angels because 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:54.680 they are getting displayed all over storefront 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:56.579 in Phoenix. That's awesome. Like all throughout 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:58.519 the windows and the walls and wherever we can 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:01.209 put them. And you can do it online, but you can 00:06:01.209 --> 00:06:04.290 also go to Monterey's Generations Bakery and 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:06.089 Fat Man's Treasures. Great name, by the way. 00:06:06.149 --> 00:06:08.389 I love that. If I can get them there today with 00:06:08.389 --> 00:06:11.730 the weather. Oh, gosh. Barring that Lou is not 00:06:11.730 --> 00:06:14.649 on the side of the road, God forbid, parked because 00:06:14.649 --> 00:06:17.029 of the weather that you can get it there as well. 00:06:17.430 --> 00:06:20.209 Some other things that are going on right now. 00:06:20.529 --> 00:06:22.870 You can go to Lock One Distillery in Phoenix, 00:06:22.889 --> 00:06:26.629 and they have partnered with you for a special 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:29.009 purple drink, which, by the way, sounds delicious. 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:31.279 It is. What is in this purple drink and what 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.399 happens when you purchase it? How is that supportive 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:40.420 financially? So part of the money comes back 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:42.379 to Aaron's Angels. So when you buy one of these 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:44.839 drinks, a certain percentage of it comes back 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:47.759 to us. Excellent. And this drink is actually 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.040 made from the vodka that they make in -house. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.160 It's called Rice Vodka. And it's delicious. It's 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.860 got a little bit of cranberry juice. It's got 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:59.439 a splash of lemon lime soda. It's got some grenadine. 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:02.860 And I know I'm going to murder this because I 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:06.360 always do, but it's called Blue Curacao. Curacao. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.680 Thank you. I've bucketed for many years. And 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:11.540 for the first couple of months, I used to call 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:17.199 it Blue Curacao. Curacao, I couldn't, no, you 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:19.480 got it. It's blue curacao. It sounds amazing 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:21.920 and I love the tagline, every sip helps us feed 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:24.180 more children in need. So if you're looking for 00:07:24.180 --> 00:07:26.699 more reason to have a few cocktails during the 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:29.500 holidays or any time, you're doing it for a good 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:32.319 reason. And let me tell you the best part about 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.040 this drink, it's got a bubble on it. A bubble? 00:07:35.699 --> 00:07:39.199 They have a little contraption that puts a bubble 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.350 on top of the drink. You pop that bubble, smoke 00:07:42.350 --> 00:07:45.550 comes out. Whoa. And it smells like berries. 00:07:45.990 --> 00:07:48.629 OK. It's a whole experience. I'm in my 40s at 00:07:48.629 --> 00:07:50.930 this point. Like, I remember growing up and it 00:07:50.930 --> 00:07:54.699 was like, we have La Bat? Bud Light, Michelob. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.639 Bush. Bush. Bush Light. If you want to get crazy. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.160 If you want to cut some calories. And now, it's 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.100 unbelievable. You've got beer that tastes like 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:07.720 pumpkin pie, cocktails that are smoking. So this 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:09.540 isn't just your run of the mill, like, hey, order 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:11.740 this gross purple drink. It's to help charity. 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.350 Just drink it. You're going to really, really 00:08:14.350 --> 00:08:17.230 enjoy this. Oh, absolutely. Did anyone from your 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:19.810 organization have a hand in the recipe itself, 00:08:19.810 --> 00:08:21.009 or was this something that they came up with? 00:08:21.009 --> 00:08:22.930 It was something they came up with. I love it. 00:08:23.269 --> 00:08:26.970 Also, we have the Giving Tuesday TV commercial 00:08:26.970 --> 00:08:29.649 campaign, which apparently was shot in your parents' 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:32.090 basement. Correct. Which I love. We're going 00:08:32.090 --> 00:08:33.970 to pull the curtain back, a little behind the 00:08:33.970 --> 00:08:36.330 scenes. Talk a little bit about that, because 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:38.769 it's running on the ABC News Affiliate, WSYR 00:08:38.769 --> 00:08:41.340 News Channel 9 here in Syracuse. How was that 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:43.259 experience and tell us what that's all about? 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:48.200 So we recruited a local child, a friend of mine's 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:50.960 child, and we shot a commercial in the basement 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.919 and it's her writing a letter to Santa. She drew 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.159 food on her letter and asking Santa for food 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:03.500 for Christmas. And then at the end it shows that 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:05.519 Aaron's Angels was able to deliver that food 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.559 to her home. Oh, that's beautiful. So she was 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:10.879 a great little actress, too. She had some great 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.840 facial expressions. See, I'm at an age where 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.879 I am now crying during commercials, and I think 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.799 you've just leveled me up to now. I almost just 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:23.080 cried with you talking about a commercial. That's 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:26.279 how effective it is. Listen, what you do is absolutely 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:28.539 amazing. Tell me a little bit more about Lou, 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:31.360 a little bit about Lindsay. your background and 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.360 how you were inspired or how you got involved. 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:36.419 I'm from Phoenix, born and raised, grew up there. 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.460 I live in the same school district now. I have 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:42.860 children in the same school district now. It's 00:09:42.860 --> 00:09:46.039 funny because my mom always told me that growing 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:51.139 up, find a job where you help people. So I do 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:53.399 that. I work in the community now. And then I 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:56.759 wanted to continue that once I saw Sheila doing 00:09:56.759 --> 00:09:58.820 all these things in the community. I had to reach 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:02.460 out and talk to her. Yeah, absolutely. It's so 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:04.460 important and it's amazing what you guys do. 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:06.519 I don't know if there is a God, but if there 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.899 is, you are doing God's work. Tell us some of 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:12.639 the plugs. Where can we find people? Where can 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:15.679 we donate? Where can we come to any events just 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.440 to get involved? Oh, so we have events going 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.450 on. literally year round. Our next one is our 00:10:21.450 --> 00:10:24.230 purple party. So that is a celebration of Aaron 00:10:24.230 --> 00:10:27.509 Maxwell's birthday. And we usually have guest 00:10:27.509 --> 00:10:30.110 bartenders like we had the mayor of Fulton and 00:10:30.110 --> 00:10:33.389 the mayor of Phoenix kind of do a little competition 00:10:33.389 --> 00:10:35.970 last year to see who could raise the most money 00:10:35.970 --> 00:10:38.350 for the purple party. And that goes to our scholarship 00:10:38.350 --> 00:10:41.419 program. Oh, that's amazing. So that's our next 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:44.440 one. We also have an appreciation dinner and 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.100 we have bingo for bags for any of the women who 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:49.019 like their high end scale bags. You can come 00:10:49.019 --> 00:10:51.740 play bingo and win a bag. Oh, look at this. Yeah. 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:54.720 Any websites or social media that we can? Yes, 00:10:54.899 --> 00:10:57.659 we are on Instagram. We are on Facebook. Aaron's 00:10:57.659 --> 00:11:01.899 Angels of CNY. Our website is www .aronsangels 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:04.139 .com. Amazing. And I'll make sure that we flash 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:07.059 that on the screen. I do have to ask. Obviously, 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:09.519 I'm not going to bring up politics. We don't 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.059 talk about that on this show. But with the new 00:11:12.059 --> 00:11:14.740 administration, there has been some changes in 00:11:14.740 --> 00:11:18.580 funding for some schools in some states. Are 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:20.980 you guys noticing? Are you feeling the squeeze 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:23.799 of that at all? We did, especially when the government 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:27.100 shut down. We do Amazon give giveaways as well 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:29.360 from our storefront. So we get products from 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:31.559 Amazon, whether it's food, it could be clothing, 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:34.519 it could be hygiene, cleaning supplies. And we 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:36.000 do a giveaway. We try and do it at least once 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.649 a month. So we saw an increase of the amount 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:41.610 of people probably, I think it was like an extra 00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:45.029 25 people coming in at our last Amazon giveaway 00:11:45.029 --> 00:11:47.350 to get whatever they needed. That's amazing. 00:11:48.110 --> 00:11:51.090 Yeah. Anything else that you want to add, to 00:11:51.090 --> 00:11:54.129 talk about, to promote, to plug? I just want 00:11:54.129 --> 00:11:56.090 to let people know that one in five children 00:11:56.090 --> 00:12:00.230 in Central New York go to bed hungry. And that's 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:03.169 about 5 ,000 kids in Oswego County that have 00:12:03.169 --> 00:12:06.620 food insecurity. It's a huge issue. and it's 00:12:06.620 --> 00:12:09.299 very concerning, and we're gonna continue doing 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:12.799 whatever we can to try and bridge that gap. I 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:16.159 love that. I just thought, you're hearing the 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.419 term food insecurity a little bit more these 00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:20.960 days, and there might be some listeners or viewers 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.480 wondering what exactly that means. How would 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.980 you define that, the food insecurity? Well, it's 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:30.200 pretty much when children are going without food. 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:33.039 Sometimes families don't have the means to get 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.470 it. Poverty is a big issue that I don't think 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:39.470 if you're not in it, you don't know about it. 00:12:39.470 --> 00:12:42.929 That's right. So these kids will go to school, 00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:44.870 which is great now that they can get breakfast 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:47.190 and lunch and school. But without that, what 00:12:47.190 --> 00:12:50.649 would happen? Right. Without that safety net, 00:12:50.649 --> 00:12:54.509 it makes you wonder what else is out there that 00:12:54.509 --> 00:12:57.330 would be able to provide that for these kids. 00:12:57.730 --> 00:13:01.240 And you're doing that. So thank you so much for 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.259 coming on the show. You have so much going on. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:09.220 Aaron's Angels of CNY, absolutely amazing. They've 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:12.039 been around since 2017. We'll have all the links 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:15.240 up on this episode. They've got the Cut Out campaign. 00:13:15.620 --> 00:13:18.659 You can head to Purple Drink. You have an excuse 00:13:18.659 --> 00:13:21.419 to do so. Grab fun. And look for their new TV 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:26.000 commercial on WSYR, ABC affiliate here in Syracuse. 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:30.019 Lindsay, Lou, thank you for all you do. And come 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.779 back any time to promote this stuff. I'm a father. 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:34.899 And more importantly, I'm a human being that 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:36.879 cares about this kind of stuff that we all do 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.220 here. And I understand the... importance and 00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:42.539 no child should ever go hungry, whether it's 00:13:42.539 --> 00:13:46.960 for a day or a minute. So thank you for all you 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:49.340 do. We really appreciate it. Thank you very much 00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:51.740 for having me. You're very welcome. And with 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:55.059 that, it is Mike Brindisi saying goodbye on this, 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:57.879 what is today? Tuesday? Tuesday. Giving Tuesday. 00:13:57.879 --> 00:14:01.080 It is. A Giving Tuesday edition of Good News 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:02.820 York sponsored by Ads on the Go. Get ads on the 00:14:02.820 --> 00:14:05.379 go dot com. Follow me on all socials that might 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:06.659 be TV.