E58: The VIP Café Show with Casey Krell - Transforming Lives with Strategic Giving

Casey Krell (cfmv.org), the inspiring president of the Community Foundation in Youngstown, joins us for a heartfelt discussion on gratitude and generosity. Despite starting her marketing and public relations career, Casey found her true calling in the nonprofit sector, using his communication skills to support community causes. She shares the challenges and rewards of fundraising and how her career evolved into a mission of giving back and becoming a beacon of hope and change in the community.

We explore innovative philanthropic practices and the pivotal role of community foundations in shaping a better tomorrow. Listen as we explore how even small contributions can grow into significant support through endowed funds that can help individuals leave lasting legacies. You'll hear about impactful initiatives addressing food access issues and the transformative power of events like Giving Tuesday, which magnifies donations through matching contributions.

Join us for a lively discussion on local eats featuring Youngstown favorites like Bellaria and La Villa, and discover a unique twist—try spaghetti sauce on your pizza. We emphasize the importance of family traditions of giving, especially around Giving Tuesday, encouraging families to pick a cause close to their hearts. With insights from the Community Foundation Mahoning Valley and touching stories from the Autism Society, we celebrate the spirit of giving and the personal connections that make community philanthropy so meaningful.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:05

Hey, hey, hey. It's the VIP Cafe Show coming to you from the Havana House in Boardman, ohio, where you can get what, debbie, what can we get here?

Speaker 2 0:20

You could get amazing Youngstown roasted coffee.

Speaker 1 0:23

Yes, and you're drinking one right now. Yes, I am, I'm drinking a mocha made by the baristaown roasted coffee?

Speaker 2 0:25

Yes, and you're drinking one right now. Yes, I am, I'm drinking a mocha made by the barista Rob up there.

Speaker 1 0:29

Yes.

Speaker 2 0:29

You could get cigars, and they get some new ones in regularly.

Speaker 1 0:34

Yes, they're huge. They just expanded with a walk-in Humidor.

Speaker 2 0:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then there's drinks. So if you want to buy a day pass and come back here and smoke a cigar, you could pick a drink from the cooler, or you could become a long-term member and just come in at your convenience. It's a beautiful place.

Speaker 1 0:53

It's getting close to what Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 0:56

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 0:57

Thanksgiving and I've got to tell you something because it really leads into our guest today. John Maxwell said something amazing. When somebody says something, you go. I wish I would have thought of that.

Speaker 2 1:08

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:09

And he said that people that are grateful, the child of being grateful, is generosity.

Speaker 2 1:19

Wow.

Speaker 1 1:20

Wow.

Speaker 2 1:21

Wow, the child of gratitude. The child.

Speaker 1 1:24

You can't. It's almost impossible to be gracious and be generous if you're not grateful.

Speaker 2 1:32

Wow, wow. And why is it so hard, like, why is it Okay, now that's a whole different thing.

Speaker 1 1:40

That's why we have this guest and you are now going to introduce him.

Speaker 2 1:44

All right, I am so excited to introduce to you Casey, the president of the Community Foundation here in Youngstown Now. The Community Foundation so many people have never heard of but they are connected to and behind the scenes on so much of what we see happening in our region through the nonprofits. But nonprofits by themselves it could be a hard road and the Community Foundation helps support them and we are so excited to introduce to you guys, casey, welcome. Thank you, debbie.

Speaker 3 2:16

Greg, I appreciate you having me. It's good to be here, you're welcome.

Speaker 1 2:21

I'm glad you came, because this would be really hard to do without you.

Speaker 3 2:24

Yeah, and it's VIP. I'm a VIP. No, I'm kidding, we are in the VIP Something.

Speaker 1 2:31

I always do, and we always do with our guests, is we ask you what's the origin story? What got you involved? Why do you care about what you do? What happened in your life or what did you witness in your life that made you think, oh my gosh, this is something I want to do.

Speaker 3 2:46

Yeah, certainly it's an interesting journey. Before I was at the foundation, I worked at Beatitude House and was a development director there. So I did fundraising. I asked people for gifts, I wrote grants and I always would say I didn't go to school for this. They'd be like do you have a degree in this? I'm like nobody goes to college to learn how to be a grant writer or a fundraiser. But I went to school for communication, saw myself maybe in marketing, pr, but when I got out of college and I started looking at places to apply, nothing sounded that exciting. That would get me up every morning and care I'm just going to raise profits for shareholders at a company selling XYZ. So the nonprofit sector was very attractive to me to think about how I could use my skills as a marketer, as a writer, as a storyteller, to make a difference in people's lives. And it wasn't easy getting into fundraising. I told people I'm in sales, I sell a good feeling that is so beautiful.

Speaker 3 3:50

Yeah it is, but it also, I think, shows how hard it is to do that work, to find people that are so giving of their treasure, and their time, too, and their talent, but to really get nothing in return other than a good feeling that they're making a difference in the community.

Speaker 1 4:07

And I was hooked. Let's go a little deeper. What happened in your life that somebody either gave you something, or somebody helped you or you witnessed it or didn't help you, and you said I'm never going to be in that position.

Speaker 3 4:22

I don't know. I think I was oblivious growing up of how lucky I was in the privileges that I had. So I don't have this amazing story where I can say, oh, this happened to me and I said I want to give the rest of my life to giving back. I'll be honest, I'll tell you the truth. I don't really have a story like that. I think I grew up middle class. I didn't really want for a lot. That's beautiful, yeah that is a beautiful story.

Speaker 3 4:49

I was a first generation college student but my I saw my parents are really hard workers and I think I grew up in a bubble. To be honest with you now were there you?

Speaker 1 5:00

know people around me. Yes and yes and.

Speaker 3 5:03

Yes, and.

Speaker 1 5:04

I think you figured out you were blessed yeah yeah, that's fair.

Speaker 2 5:11

Yeah, and you know what, when I went to New York City, I graduated with a public relations degree. I went to New York City to expand, to make it big, to conquer the world, and I was looking to get my job and I had to have experience and I went to this little apartment sale which they have. Instead of garage sales, they have apartment sales.

Speaker 3 5:27

You know like what's an apartment sale, Right, right.

Speaker 2 5:28

Yeah. So I went and this lady was selling all this nice stuff and so I was asking her a little bit about herself and she said I just I was vice president of a public relations firm and I just retired. And I was like what, oh, this could have been my end to get a job. And I said why did you retire? And she said after I don't know 20 years of selling toilet paper. She said my entire life was about selling toilet paper and other products. And she said I just wanted something different. And I felt like somebody stuck a pin in my balloon and I like deflated, and I was like, oh, that's what I'm here for. So it is interesting that you knew that right off the bat, that you wanted to put your talent in for something meaningful which it sounds like you did.

Speaker 2 6:12

How did you find Beatitude House Job listing in the newspaper.

Speaker 3 6:15

My mom took credit for it. My mom- was like we got to get you a job. We got to get you off the payroll and she said here you go, here's one to apply for. And I remember going in for an interview and asking them what they did and that's when I learned that not every 22-year-old has the life that I have.

Speaker 3 6:43

There were women that were escaping domestic violence with two to three kids, had been completely controlled by their partner and, regardless of how much strength and ambition they had, they had never made decisions for themselves and had the ability to access money resources because they were kept from all that on purpose. And here I am, this bright eyed 22 year old that just graduated and was ready to start making some money and had to come back home to Youngstown. I wasn't that excited about that.

Speaker 1 7:23

Were your parents very encouraging to you when you were growing up.

Speaker 3 7:26

Yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 7:28

There you go.

Speaker 3 7:29

Yeah.

Speaker 1 7:29

Yeah, not everybody has that either. Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 3 7:32

Oh, yeah, and now I can sit here in my late thirties and list all the privileges I've had in my life. So I love that my job and what I do. My job is my life. I tell my husband all the time I need a hobby because you have a hobby, it's your job, you love what you do. He's you don't even have time for a hobby because all you do is all put to work.

Speaker 2 7:54

Yeah, you have a good personality for it and, by the way, I could not tell I would not guess that you were in your late 30s oh because you just yeah, you don't look like you're even.

Speaker 3 8:02

Is that you think I'm? No, I thought you were younger, yeah.

Speaker 2 8:05

Okay, but, and your smile like you could tell that you enjoy being you enjoy. So what about what did that transition look like from the Beatitude House then to the Community Foundation, and can you tell everybody what the Community Foundation does? Yeah, certainly so.

Speaker 3 8:22

I. My story is always I wasn't looking for a different job, loved where I worked and I got an email that the community foundation that I knew as a grant writer. I used to write grants to the foundation and work with our staff. We're looking to fill a position which was the complete opposite of my. What my life was. I was writing grants. This was reading grants and getting to give money away. I'm like, ooh, that sounds nice and easy. I could give money away. No, it's not easy whatsoever. It's actually a lot harder. There are so many amazing things going on in the community, so many worthwhile causes, and there's never enough resources to match that. So I put my application in and here I am, 10 years later.

Speaker 3 9:05

I have always been involved on the grant-making side, so I like to think of myself as a dot connector. So the Community Foundation we are like a charitable bank account. Folks come to us, they tell us what their charitable goals are and we help establish a fund for them. They get a tax benefit. So that's sometimes something folks are looking for when they come to us, or they just want some help finding places in the community to give to. I like animal welfare. I know this organization, but are there others doing good things too? Maybe it's. Are there dog food giveaways?

Speaker 3 9:40

in a neighborhood like that, you can get us connected to, and that's what we do with the foundation. So I did that for 10 years. I'll help people establish funds with us, get them connected to nonprofits in the community that are doing the work that they're interested in. And then my boss decided to retire and I was fortunate enough to get promoted to the president's role, so I've been doing that, yeah, I've been doing this role for about a year now.

Speaker 2 10:08

I love that. So just to back up a little bit, there are some of our listeners who are maybe getting close to retiring. They've worked hard their whole life, they've provided for their family, they've met some of these goals in life and now they have a little bit extra that they would love to see live on past it being in a bank account or even making two or 3% interest, so they can come to the community foundation, say, hey, we would like to start this fund where you guys are able to help that money grow and help people who might, you know, match that need.

Speaker 1 10:44

Correct. So can you talk to people about that? Let me ask you a question Do you? Do you talk to people about that? Let me ask a question do you, do you have an escrow fund that you build and you live off the interest or you just spend the principal?

Creating Lasting Impact Through Philanthropy

Speaker 3 10:52

we have a mix, yeah. So folks can come to us and they can say you know what I want to do, my charitable giving. I have x and I will go with fifty thousand dollars. I'd like to see this invested addressing needs in the community over the next couple years, and in five years I want that spent out. We also have people that can come to us and say I want to create a family legacy. I really would love to teach my kids and my grandchildren about giving back, and we'd like to see this go on in perpetuity. So we established that as an endowed fund and we invested, and then we our board, each year sets a spending policy for how much to give away. So our goal is always to invest it and match what inflation is, because a dollar today is not what a dollar in 50 years will be. So to match what inflation is and then what people want to give away. So we do a little of both. We do some short-term things, help folks get that out the door and then also establish family legacy.

Speaker 1 11:50

So it's $10,000. Go ahead.

Speaker 3 11:52

I was going to say it's $10,000 to start a fund with us, but we also offer a pathway. It's called Acorn Funds. It's for people that don't have quite that much to hand over but have a goal within five years to get to that level. We'll work with you.

Speaker 1 12:05

Love that. Well, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 12:07

That's awesome.

Speaker 1 12:08

Ben Franklin gave I think it was $8,000 to Philadelphia. He said you can't spend it for 200 years. And you can't spend it for 200 years and I think it was worth over $200 million when they finally cashed it out. Maybe even more, I can't remember, because every seven years it doubles, right, so we have to look that up. But that's a good thing for the audience to do. Do a little work. Right right, it was quite a huge number.

Speaker 2 12:29

How much $8,000.

Speaker 1 12:31

He started with $8,000 back when he was alive.

Speaker 3 12:33

That was a lot of money Of course, I had never heard that story, that's really interesting.

Speaker 2 12:38

Yeah, I'll research it myself. You should, I will. It goes right along with your mission.

Speaker 1 12:43

Yeah, I love it and, honestly, there's another story behind that. There was two gentlemen that were in Congress I shouldn't say they were in the Senate.

Speaker 2 12:51

Okay, and.

Speaker 1 12:52

And they wanted to set the United States government up so tax money would go into a fund and we would live off the interest from the endowment. And they laughed at them. So they went back and they left Congress and they started the Shriners Fund. Shriners hospitals run completely off of interest. The last time I checked the budget was $312 million and that was all interest.

Speaker 2 13:18

What. Yes and when you give money to the.

Speaker 1 13:21

Shriners, 100% goes into the fund and then they go off of that. So what she just talked about is huge and it makes a huge difference. And if everybody does that, they have quite a bit of money to use. What else? Tell us some of your favorite organizations that you've helped.

Speaker 3 13:40

Oh gosh, I can't pick. Just give us a couple examples. Oh, you know, I'm going to take the favorite off of it because we— Okay, give us some examples of success.

Speaker 1 13:53

Give us some success examples.

Speaker 3 13:55

Okay, one thing that we've been doing that's really neat is around food access. So I'm sure there's that conversation that goes on in our community. We don't have grocery stores in the city of Youngstown, in the city of Warren, people don't have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. So what do we do? And we know how difficult it is to attract a grocery store and is it even feasible when there's population decline, all the things that are happening? So we've done some funding over the past couple of years to say, okay, here's what we've got, how can we make it better? So we help fund two individuals, both in Mahoning and Trimble County, that go and build relationships with corner stores community stores we call them and we say we know your business model is, you know, cigarettes, lottery, some of the unhealthier things in life, but that make life. You get what I'm saying. And how do we help you build a business that can support having fresh produce in your store? How do we make sure there's demand? How do you get people in there buying it?

Speaker 1 14:59

And it's perishable.

Speaker 3 15:00

So the state has resources that you can tap into and get like free refrigerating systems so you can bring those things in your inventory. Yeah, that's what we've done. There are now community stores across Mahoning and Trimble County that never had fresh produce and healthier products in their stores. That do because of the hard work of a lot of individuals. We don't want to take credit for that.

Speaker 2 15:24

We just help. Yep, you got it. I love that. When I lived in New York City, we relied heavily on the corner stores. I mean, we'd get our breakfast sandwiches, we'd get our lunch, we'd get the bodegas. Yes, yes, I mean, we'd get our breakfast sandwiches.

Speaker 1 15:36

We'd get our lunch Bodegas.

Speaker 2 15:37

The bodegas, yes, yes. I wasn't sure anybody knew what that yeah, oh, my goodness, but those. I went back to my neighborhood about two years after I moved and the guys still recognized me as soon as I walked in they were excited to see me Because those neighborhood stores are so pivotal and instrumental in neighborhoods and bringing people together and making sure.

Speaker 2 15:59

Because, similarly, like now, I have a car but in New York City you walk almost everywhere and so, yeah, that's a really cool thing. And can I segue into Giving Tuesday? Because they have about 40 organizations that they work with listed on their website and during giving week there's a match. But giving Tuesday, for every $10, they add $25. So $10 per week Turns into a $35 gift.

Speaker 1 16:30

So why don't you call it Treasure Tuesday?

Empowering Philanthropy Through Giving Initiatives

Speaker 2 16:32

I love it Treasure.

Speaker 3 16:34

Tuesday Giving Tuesday.

Speaker 1 16:36

Yeah, Boosting, yeah, definitely. But I mean in life, you give your time, talent and treasure. And that's what I'm saying, and I think it's wonderful. And what I'd really like to know is how do people give? Tell us where they go, what the website is?

Speaker 3 16:53

Yeah, you can give right through our website. Cfmv CharlesFrankMaryVictororg.

Speaker 1 17:03

CSMV, cf, cfmv.

Speaker 3 17:06

See, you're not alone. Why do you think I know those? It's all right.

Speaker 1 17:10

So that's okay. Cfmv Because you hear letters.

Speaker 2 17:14

So Community Foundation Mahoning Valley C-F-M-Vorg you got it.

Speaker 1 17:20

There you go Dot org, not dot com Dot org, dot, org.

Speaker 3 17:23

So Giving Tuesday, if you didn't know, is a national thing. It might be international, but it's that idea that you have Thanksgiving, then you have Black Friday, then you have Small Business Saturday, I think. Sunday you get to take a break.

Speaker 2 17:35

Monday is like Cyber Monday Cyber Monday.

Speaker 1 17:39

I forgot about Cyber Monday. Do you know why it's Tuesday? I'm going to give you a little trivia. Do you know why it's always Giving Tuesday? Because it's the only day that God created two things. What? When you look in the Bible.

Speaker 2 17:54

What did he create?

Speaker 1 17:55

Fish, no, he created two things on Tuesday and that's why it's double blessing, and that's why Jewish tradition is to get married on a Tuesday.

Speaker 2 18:06

Really. Oh man, I have to remember that when I get married.

Speaker 3 18:10

You're full of fun facts. I love it.

Speaker 2 18:13

That's just to start with this guy, wow, okay. So for those heathens out there who don't know what God created on Tuesday, what are the two things?

Speaker 1 18:23

I don't know. That's another thing for the audience.

Speaker 2 18:25

Do a little bit of work you got to go Do a little bit of work, I'm not going to give you all the answers I love it, I love it.

Speaker 1 18:30

You know what? Struggle a little bit.

Speaker 2 18:37

Wiggle in your seat a little bit if you don't know. I'm just pretending not to know because I really. No, I'm kidding.

Speaker 1 18:40

I don't know. Don't look at me.

Speaker 2 18:41

I used to know. I used to know this, but I don't right now.

Speaker 3 18:45

Sorry, it's called Christian guilt. So, yes, giving is your day, but all week we're doing something. So it starts on monday and it runs through sunday, the 8th. Every day of the week besides tuesday, we'll get to that. Every other day of the week is a dollar to dollar match. So we go on our website and we have we had 40, but I think we actually opened a couple more agency funds. These are are funds held by nonprofits in the community.

Speaker 3 19:14

They establish them with us for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's a rainy day fund that they might need to tap into, or maybe it's a specific project they're raising dollars for, and sometimes it's an endowment, like we talked about. They have the ability or the foresight to say we want a long-term savings account. So these are all local nonprofits. Go on, look. I guarantee there'll be ones that you've heard of and you know of that are on there, but if not, take a look and read about them. There's amazing organizations doing great work. We will match your gift dollar to dollar On Tuesday, though, on actual Giving Tuesday, we're going to do a $25 boost on that. This is the idea that you don't have to be a high-wealth individual to be a philanthropist or to be a part of the community foundation. Everybody's contributions matter and they add up. So this is to really attract more $5, $10, $20 donors. So they they understand that together, when those dollars are pulled, become something huge and they have such an impact on these nonprofits.

Speaker 2 20:23

Love that.

Speaker 2 20:24

Love that. So I got to actually interview some of the nonprofits that the community foundation works with and it's amazing when you sit down and you actually listen to what people are doing in the community Like I'll just use it for an example the autism society that you guys work with and one of the places that people can donate towards they. I never thought about this need in one of. One of the things that they do is for people who's maybe only kid is autistic, or one of their kids is autistic when they go to pass on their wealth or their inheritance. That child may not, or that even adult may not, have the wherewithal to know what to do with that. So, knowing how to handle and knowing how to set up something, Trust, A trust that will actually take care of that child.

Speaker 2 21:11

That's a need that I would have never even thought of, but this organization actually helps families walk through that process Incredible.

Speaker 3 21:20

It's the biggest gift. Right, it's the biggest gift. Yes, it's the program.

Speaker 2 21:22

Yeah so it's amazing, yeah.

Speaker 1 21:25

I'm going to go out on a limb here because I want the audience to take this as serious as we are. I'm going to tell you right now I'm going to get you a check for $10,000 for the next 10 years to set up a fund in the name of my father, and I'll let my sister decide what the charitable will be, because she will want to do that. My sisters, I should say I just got in trouble, so you don't know which sister.

Speaker 1 21:51

I was talking about. I will make that pledge to you right now on this podcast.

Speaker 3 21:57

We'd be happy to work with you on that. Oh yeah, Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 22:01

And now I want the audience to think about things, because if we're willing to do that C-F-M-Vorg. She gave you the hand signal. And you know V V, v, v, V, v, v V V V.

Speaker 2 22:13

V V, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v V V.

Speaker 1 22:29

V. We wouldn't have survived as a species unless that was put into our.

Speaker 2 22:33

DNA, isn't that something?

Speaker 1 22:36

People are always worried about their legacy. This is one where it will always be there.

Speaker 2 22:42

Wow, I love that. I heard the other day that people are actually you know, you hear the title, the term survival of the fittest, which means like, oh, fight until you get to the whatever they said. Actually, it could be more accurately said survival of the nicest, because people who are literally know how to who, how to be nice and how to get along with people and how to leave legacy, those are the ones who actually survive. They're the nicest, the ones that learn the power of connection and, I think, legacy I'm sure it's something that you touch on all the time. I think legacy is so powerful.

Speaker 3 23:22

Could we work with folks that don't necessarily have the means to open a fund right now, but would, through their estate. So we set up legacy agreements where you can lay out how you want everything done.

Speaker 1 23:34

Yeah.

Speaker 3 23:35

And then, through your estate, would gift over the funnel.

Speaker 1 23:38

If everybody in Youngstown gave $10, you'd have $640,000. So that's how powerful a $10 gift is, yeah.

Speaker 2 23:46

So don't underestimate what you can and can't give.

Speaker 1 23:49

Every little bit helps, and something's better than nothing. Yeah, you're right, every little bit helps and something's better than nothing.

Speaker 3 23:53

Yeah, last year I think we matched a hundred thousand dollars. I wish I were at the numbers. I'm sorry I apologize, but I know, I think, from our foundation. We had to put up a hundred thousand dollars in the match Cause. We didn't budget for that. We had to go looking for coins in the couch. The nonprofits were so successful and like the average gift size was like $12 or something. I'm saying the numbers wrong, but it was yeah.

Speaker 1 24:18

Where's this couch at? I want to find it. I need a couch.

Speaker 2 24:21

That's a heck of a nice couch. I need to find a couch a tree 100 grand and a couch.

Speaker 1 24:28

Got to find this couch.

Speaker 2 24:30

Real quick. Oh sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1 24:32

Greg. No, I think we're getting close to rapid fire.

Speaker 2 24:35

I was just going to say do you want to take a minute to shout out your team?

Speaker 3 24:40

Oh, absolutely yes, let's do that. Oh, that's why I don't know these numbers, because the people on our staff there you go.

Speaker 1 24:47

That's why we have a team.

Speaker 3 24:48

So we have an amazing staff led by a team of directors. So we have Sarah Lowry and Rachel Chacon and Devin Cleland and Chante Burton, and then we have May Medor and Robin Perry and Kat McLaughlin. So if you're one of them in the community and you didn't realize the amazing things that they do on a day-to-day basis, now you know. And we have such a great board of directors as well. I appreciate everything they do for us. That's why we're able to do all the great things we can for the community.

Speaker 1 25:17

Awesome, you know what's time for.

Speaker 2 25:20

Rapid fire, something we did not prepare you for I know I'm like what's happening. All right, favorite book or podcast.

Speaker 3 25:35

When people ask me that question, I'm like I have to tell, tell you, it's my instagram account and all the parenting pages that I follow. They get me through life. One of my favorite things that I ever saved on instagram is games to play with your child while laying down yeah it's exhausting.

Speaker 3 25:47

Being a parent of a five-year-old, this is a very important resource. You can yeah, you can play spa. You can play doctor's office. There's a lot of things you can do to engage with your child while you're able to lay on the couch love it all right okay, north or south vacation.

Speaker 3 26:04

South no alaska cruises for you I like to vacation when the weather here is not super ideal, okay. Or I just, I love the winter but I can get cold, got it. So I like to go south in the winter. Yeah, to warm up the insides. I see All right, turkey or ham. Turkey I agree, I agree.

Speaker 1 26:25

Coke or Pepsi.

Speaker 3 26:27

Neither Sprite Sprite.

Speaker 1 26:29

Oh, oh.

Speaker 2 26:29

Maybe more ginger, ale.

Speaker 3 26:31

Ginger ale, ginger ale. Yeah, I like the clear ones, like the light ones.

Speaker 1 26:34

Oh okay, ginger, ale's, so good for you. After RFK's done, you're going to have pure sugar.

Speaker 3 26:39

You won't have any more fructose in this Good I look forward to that.

Speaker 1 26:43

Yeah, we do.

Speaker 2 26:44

Sweetened with real sugar, not the high fructose kind. Yes, what about a mentor? Just somebody who has really mentored or spoken into your life?

Local Pizza Favorites and Giving Tips

Speaker 3 26:54

My first boss, sister Patricia McNicholas. Yeah, nothing like the nuns, they get stuff done. So I really learned a lot from her about leadership and community and giving.

Speaker 1 27:07

Yeah, for sure. Awesome, it's powerful.

Speaker 2 27:09

It's wonderful, that's so deep.

Speaker 1 27:11

Okay, we need one oh favorite French fry.

Speaker 2 27:12

It's wonderful, that's so deep. Okay, we need one. Oh, favorite French fry.

Speaker 3 27:16

Favorite French fry. French fry I love them all, I don't discriminate.

Speaker 2 27:19

You don't All right.

Speaker 1 27:21

All right Favorite pizza place in Youngstown, or a couple of them.

Speaker 3 27:26

I like Bellaria.

Speaker 1 27:27

Yeah, everybody does.

Speaker 2 27:36

Bellaria, I'm lucky.

Speaker 3 27:37

I live in Strullers, which I'm partial, I think is the best one which, la Villa, is my other favorite pizza place. I think there's like a hidden. Yeah, let me give you the tip. The tip is get spaghetti sauce Instead of pizza sauce on the pizza. Someone told us that long ago and I don't know, but it's like always when we order it spaghetti sauce instead of pizza sauce on our pie, please.

Speaker 2 28:00

Really, I have never heard that we are in the pizza capital of the world here Now you have to pay for that tip.

Speaker 1 28:06

Go to the foundation one more time.

Speaker 3 28:08

You tell me to Giving Tuesday. Find us on Facebook, community Foundation Mahoning Valley or go to our website, cfmvorg.

Speaker 2 28:19

And can I just real quick, a great idea would be, after all the Black Friday and all the things that people love to do together as a family, sit down with your kids and let them pick an organization. Give $10. That would be, so much fun and it'd be a good tradition.

Speaker 1 28:33

Wow, great shot. Love that. All right. Thank you so much for being with us today. You're welcome.