AUDIO:
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CHUCK ROGERS:
Senator, how are you, sir?
SEN. MIKE MCGUIRE:
I'm doing well, how about you?
ROGERS:
You doing doing well. I know you're in a hurry. I really appreciate you taking the time. I know how busy you are right now. So we
MCGUIRE:
Hey, you are so good at what you do and I'm really excited to be talking with you
ROGERS:
Well, thank you very much and let's just jump right into it. We're looking forward to seeing you here on Thursday at the Eureka Safeway and hopefully we're going to help out a lot of people.
MCGUIRE:
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And again, just want to say, thank you, Chuck, for everything that you do for the community and especially KHUM. This is now, the Humboldt Holiday Food Drive is now the largest food drive on the North Coast. It sustains Food for People, our food bank, for the entire year. This is our ninth annual event. And since its inception, working with you and the amazing team at KHUM, 132,000 pounds, one more time, 132,000 pounds of food has been raised and over $200,000.
And I got to tell you, Chuck, this year, the need is never been greater. We are seeing record demand coming in to Food for People. We encourage folks to be able to go to foodforpeople.org between now and Thursday. Donate, chip in what you can, or join us. Chuck is going to be live on the ones and twos all afternoon and evening long at the Eureka! Safeway. And here's what's going to happen, Chuck. We got, I have it on good authority. For the first time ever, Chuck, Santa will be joining us the entire time next Thursday at the Eureka! Safeway. This is going to be amazing. Aren't you excited?
ROGERS:
Well, we're, I was going to say we're making news here. I had not even heard that. So you're, you're telling me something I didn't know. So that, yeah, that's good news. And you know what, one thing that I would like to just follow up on there. Yes, the need is still there. In fact, it's, it's all over. It's not just here, it's everywhere. And don't you think that in the times in which we find ourselves, a lot of people want to do something positive, and this is a perfect opportunity for that.
MCGUIRE:
Oh my gosh, you're absolutely right. Look, I get it. And I know a lot of folks are hurting. So number one, the need is greater than ever. Number two, we live in some challenging times, right? We just went through this massive earthquake yesterday. It was up in Fortuna and Ferndale and Rio Dell. We can't catch a break. We had that big earthquake two years ago this month as well. We had the pandemic, the political strife in this nation.
But here's one thing that I know. The reason why we all love to call the North Coast home is because it's an amazing place to live, to raise kids, and we rally when neighbors are in need. And neighbors are in need right now. And we need folks to be able to either stop by one of the big remotes that are happening next week with Food for People and KHUM and or come by the Eureka Safeway. We'll be out there from one to 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 12th. Drop off some funds, a donation to Food for People. Donate some non-perishable food. And of course, we have a ton of cookies. And yes, the big guy will be making an appearance all afternoon long. You can meet him, you can meet Chuck, and we have plenty of goodies when you stop by the Eureka Safeway Thursday the 12th. And it's gonna be a great event and going for a really good cause.
ROGERS:
You know, one other thing that I love about this drive every year is that the whole community really does pitch in. High schoolers even. I mean, we're talking about several of the high schools around here and it really does bring out the best in this community. Has that been your sense when you've been up here working with us on this?
MCGUIRE:
Oh my gosh, i'm blown away. You have hundreds of students right now. In fact, we were we all met with them on Monday this week. You have hundreds of students from Fortuna, Ferndale, Arcata, Eureka, McKinleyville and St. Bernard's high schools. They're all doing these massive food drives at their school sites right now, then they load up their parents pickups horse trailers dump trucks And they literally drive them down to the Eureka Safeway and for three hours it is a cavalcade of generosity Folks are bringing in thousands of pounds literally thousands of pounds of food that hundreds of high school students in every corner of this amazing county have raised.
So you're absolutely right Folks all across this county are rallying. It's the largest food drive on the North Coast. And we couldn't do it without the students the six local high schools, without those students generating Thousands of pounds of food for Food for People. Snd I'll just remind folks -- you can go right now to food for people.org food for people.org to be able to contribute .100 percent of your donation will go help a neighbor in need this holiday season
ROGERS:
And folks can also go to uh... the KHUM Facebook page for locations and times and all the info that they need, and Senator, I just wrote down "cavalcade of generosity" -- you gave us a new phrase and argument give you credit for it
MCGUIRE:
I love it. I love it. And I'm really looking forward to seeing you, Chuck. Thank you so much for allowing me to be on with you. And how did you fare yesterday with the earthquake?
ROGERS:
it will thanks for asking you know it was uh... it a seven point oh, you know, that gets your attention, right? And here in our building in Old Town -- we've just moved to Old Town -- and the building was shaking and it was intense. Seven point oh is intense no matter how you slice it, but the good thing, Senator, was we were ordered out during the the tsunami warning, and most of the folks I've talked to didn't encounter anyone who was in a panic. Everyone came out of the buildings in an orderly fashion and got out of Old Town. I think as an evacuation goes it went about as smoothly as we could have hoped. So, you know, there's a silver lining there, showing that we know how to do this
MCGUIRE:
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And it just, I was so impressed of the evacuation coming off of the peninsula. Yeah, it's a scary time, right? And folks getting out of Old Town, we evacuated all of Crescent City up in Del Norte County. And it was done with just moments notice, and I just want to say thank you to everyone who put their head down, did the right thing, went to higher ground. Snd a special thank you to local law enforcement and fire personnel for all their work yesterday.
ROGERS:
Absolutely. The alerts were coming through, you know, in a timely fashion and so for an emergency situation it was good to know that we can do this because it will happen again. That's it's where we live. You're absolutely right. Thank you for taking the time. Again, I know how busy you are right now so we really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us and we'll see you at the Eureka Safeway.
MCGUIRE:
You better believe it. See you next Thursday.
ROGERS:
Thank you.