Episode Transcript
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Hello, hunger weirdos, and welcome back to just a bite. If you're unfamiliar with that phrase, don't be offended. It's a phrase that originated during this years farm bill negotiations to refer to anti hunger advocates and advocates of public benefits. Today, we will be chatting with a Dear network member and friend of the pod, Hallie Corino Lee, with the Mid Ohio Food Collective, and a new friend, Elizabeth Warner of the League of Women Voters Ohio, to discuss their partnership giving you all things elections, voting, and hunger ahead of next month's big day. Hallie serves as a member of Mid Ohio Food Collective's government relations team and has led their robust nonpartisan voter engagement work through this election cycle. I am deeply looking forward to hearing more about not only how nonprofits can be engaged in voter engagement, but why they should. Elizabeth Warner serves as League of Women Voters of Ohio's communications director and oversees communications for the League of Women Voters of Ohio, directing statewide communication strategies for voter education and advocacy programming. Together, these two women and their organizations have been working tirelessly to educate and engage Ohio voters on the importance and significance of participating in the political process.
Hi Hallie. Hi Elizabeth. Thank you so much for joining us for our election episode of just a bite. I'm so excited for this episode and topic. We, like the rest of the country, have been counting down the days until November 5, but Ohioans can vote early from October 8 through the election. I'm so excited to hear how you both are educating voters. But first, I want to make space for both of you to not only introduce yourselves, but your organizations. Hallie, I know you're a longtime listener, first time guests on the pod. So how about you kick us off?
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Fabulous. Well, again, thank you for having us. Really excited about this topic today. But I am Hallie Corino Lee. I am government relations and advocacy manager over at the middle house food collective. So hopefully, if you're a central Ohio listener, you've heard of us. But we are one of the largest food banks in the state of Ohio. We serve 20 counties that encompass the greater central Ohio area and the contiguous counties around here in Columbus and then stretch all the way to the Pennsylvania West Virginia border. So we serve a lot of rural and appalachia counties as well. Maybe you've heard of us as the mid Ohio food bank, but we have been the collective since 2020. Really just to highlight that, you know, we're doing more than just general food banking that, you know, serving our communities looks a lot different today, so we're trying to address hunger as a whole person issue and connecting families to every other aspect of what it means to be nutrition, secure and live a happy, healthy life. So, so excited to talk about voter education, voter outreach day.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: Awesome. Thanks Hallie. Central Ohio listeners are likely incredibly familiar with mid Ohio food collective it services in the programming as they have a deep presence here, as she shared. But I encourage folks, if you haven't, to take some time to check them out. The facility is beautiful and there are so many opportunities to volunteer and connect with them.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: Aw shucks.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: Elizabeth, same question to you. Share with us a little about league of women voters of Ohio and your role there.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: Well, thank you again for having us both here.
Voters of Ohio is, I think, known to many for its very long and venerable history. We have been around for more than 100 years. We formed just before women won the right to vote in 1920. So our initial purpose was to educate women on the civic processes and to advocate for our rights to vote. But since our, our founding, we've kind of expanded so that education and advocacy is for everybody. And now we are fierce champions of voters and democracy generally. And I lead communications for the state league, which includes things like establishing messaging strategy and, you know, working on projects and connecting those projects with our 34 local leagues, trying to develop tools and ideas and anything that we can do to get our message of education and voter support to communities. So I live in Columbus and I am especially happy to be here because I used to, in a former life, manage food rescue programs for a national grocery store. And so I have spent a lot of time in food banks.
I feel kind of at home.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Love that. Love that. Thanks, Elizabeth. I have been a longtime friend and fan of league women voters and admire the work you all do so deeply. In this time of high polarization and erosion of voting rights, the work you do has never been more necessary and needed. Before we dive in, I have a fun icebreaker. I wanted to pose. Do either of you remember the first time you voted which election it was? Any fun stories? Anything fun?
[00:05:07] Speaker B: So the first time I attempted to vote was the 2012 election.
I was a sophomore in college, and I'm originally originally from Long Island, New York, and I was in college here in Ohio. And so the pathway for me to really understand as a first time voter what it meant to vote absentee or vote in general as a college student was very tricky. And so I remember trying to request an absentee ballot, not really understanding if I did it correctly. So don't. You're not, don't shoot the messenger, but I did not vote in 2012 which is very sad, but I was able to vote in midterms in 2014.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: So it's really ironic because, you know, as we will talk about eventually about the lack of access that especially a lot of our neighbors of who we serve at middle health food collective are faced with is just lack of awareness on accessibility to vote, even though it's our fundamental right to be able to do so. So having experienced that and realizing the true barriers to access there is, even for a somewhat highly educated white woman in a relatively accessible area, it was tough.
[00:06:25] Speaker C: Absolutely. And people talk about, like, oh, just vote. And it's actually, like, not so easy, especially if you're new at it. And I think that there is this myth that young people and college students, you know, they don't care and they're not into voting because their voter turnout rates are lower than other age demographics. But everything that we experience both, you know, in real life and the data that we see, we know that young people are super passionate about the issues that are happening in their life. They just don't always know how to connect those issues with the offices that make all the difference in those issues. So I think it's uncommon on all of us to be those voices of support, certainly, literally, it's our job at the league, but I think everybody in our community, that's something that we all have a privilege and responsibility to help people connect what's happening at the state House and the White House and the Senate and Washington with the things that they care about in their own lives.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Elizabeth, when was the first time you voted?
[00:07:32] Speaker C: I wasn't sure if I was going to tell this story. So I think the very first time I voted, I was in third grade and I was running for president. And so it was a very partisan environment in that it was an equal number of boys and girls, and it turns out there were an equal number of boys and girls plus one. So I cast the deciding vote. And ever since then, that has, you know, got in me to understand that actually one vote really does matter.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: That's incredible.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: And then my first counted for real grown up votes was in 1992. And I just remember feeling like so grown up and so proud. And to be part of this, I feel like a little weepy thinking about it. So I don't know if you've ever been on election day or during early vote when there's somebody there who it's their first time voting. And often the poll workers who I want to do a plug for. Poll workers are the literal backbone of our democracy. And they are all just wonderful. And one of the things that you will often see in polling locations and in early vote centers is when there's a new voter, the poll workers will ring a bell or they'll come out on the PA and say, we got a new voter in the house. And then a lot of place erupts and everybody cheers, and it just will make, like, the stoniest of hearts, like, crumble.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: I love that, love that, love that. Awesome. For me, I believe it was also 20 twelve's general election, a special time in american politics, for sure. Growing up, my mom was always very keen on bringing me to vote with her, so I always was excited for the opportunity to get to do it myself. In my AP government class in high school, my teacher actually required everyone who was able to register to vote to do so, in addition to attend city council and school board meetings. So it really thanks out to that teacher. I know, she was awesome. It was Miss Whitman. I'm actually going to send this to.
[00:09:28] Speaker C: Especially those city council meetings. Like, that is an education.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. It was, like, mandated.
[00:09:33] Speaker C: And shout out to teachers generally.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, for sure.
[00:09:36] Speaker C: Especially our world's bigger.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a hard time in education.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Shout out to civic education.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: So, yeah, I talk about that class all the time because she really did something for me. So. Yeah. But, all right, it's time to get to it. So this question is for you both. What do you think? Or, I'm sorry, why do you think it's important for nonprofits, especially nonprofits that do direct service, like the mid Ohio food collective, to mobilize and educate on voting.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: So I think one of the biggest kind of misnomers that we hear as nonprofits is that we don't really have the ability to be engaged in the voter education process, the political process, whatever it may be. And that is a big lie, basically. You know, nonprofits have the ability and right to be able to do advocates work and do education work like this. And I think what makes nonprofits really unique, to be able to do that work, is that we're really seen in the community as trusted messengers, and we have really strong community connections to the neighbors that we serve. Food banks, especially, the way that they're organized, is that, you know, we're obviously the kind of conglomerate, the Sam's club, if you will, of trying to get food out into communities. And so we have all these partners that existed. There's roughly about 630 of them with us at the middle. How? Food collective. And that's everything. From your small church pantry to your community center YMCA, to a school meal program, whatever it may be, those are our actual boots on the ground individuals. And so for us to be able to kind of use them as a conduit to spread the word about, you know, things that are important for our community to know those neighbors are really connected to those community organizations. When you have that trust and you have that connection, it allows for us to be able to really be able to share our messaging effectively, as, of course, is. The nature of especially direct service nonprofits is that we serve very underrepresented groups and very underserved communities. And so oftentimes, those are the most vulnerable populations that don't get direct access to voting. And so it's just another notch in the belt of being able to get our neighbors connected to the resources and information that they need to be active individuals in their community.
And food banks, especially, are kind of quasi governmental agencies, so we can be seen as a trusted source of information and resources for community members to be like, hey, oh, the food bank has, you know, voter registration forms. Like, maybe that's a trusted place that I think I can go pick that up from. So that's really our goal and why I think nonprofits are especially unique to be able to do that.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: So I have the exact same answer, and I think that the people and programs that center nonprofits are often those that are the most impacted by policies determined by the people that we elect. And so it's in the best interests of everyone involved with particularly a direct service organization, to kind of grow that access to information that the Ohioans need to be informed voters. Voting is how, you know, a little bit like, we were kind of saying that voting is how we, as regular citizens, influence the decisions that are made by our elected officials. And so, you know, how our budgets are spent, what kind of programs are offered in communities, what we prioritize in government, what we don't prioritize in government, especially local government.
All of those things really affect all of our day to day lives, and especially for people who are, for our neighbors who are receiving those direct services. And like Hallie was saying, there's this unique opportunity that direct service organizations have because we're meeting each other wherever we are. And so, again, it's being that trusted messenger to say, like, no, here there are new id laws, so here's you need to have a photo id, or these are the dates that you need to care about, and just, you know, why your vote is so precious, and to be able to say, like, you know, this program that we got funding for this was a product of, you know, the city council or the General assembly. Being able to connect those, those dots for people, I think, is really important. And so, again, it's being that trusted messenger, I think that's. That's huge.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. That makes total sense. And you guys kind of already answered this, so forgive me for being a little redundant, but just to be very explicit, can you talk a bit generally about what nonprofits, specifically nonprofits with the 501 tax status, are permissible to do and participate in when it comes of election activities? I think. And as Halle pointed out, I think there's a lot of misconceptions out there about what nonprofits, especially those doing direct service, can and can't do. And I want to clear the air and provide folks in our sector with some confidence to be able to just remind their folks. Right.
[00:14:40] Speaker C: Please do.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's funny because the things that would make sense of that are big no nos are the things that are no no's for 501. So, you know, endorsing a candidate, donating to a candidate, you know, doing more of, like, a ranking comparison between elected officials, is a big no, engaging just general partisan activities. And, of course, only hosting, like, one specific party or one specific entity for tours, for events, things like that. We really made it a true mission of ours, especially amongst our staff, to not only have them feel empowered to be involved in the. The civic process, whether they're just obviously going out to vote, but if they want to be involved in general, whether they're signing up to be a poll worker, whether they're volunteering with organizations like legal women voters, or if they even want to do more party related stuff, that. That's totally great, too. And we want you to be involved in the process. But if you're going to be doing party related stuff, just don't wear anything branded when you're there, or don't use your company email for signing up for emails or registrations and stuff like that. So. And we've really made it a priority to educate our staff and our employees and our volunteers to be aware of kind of really what it means to do nonpartisan voter engagement and voter outreach. Thankfully, we haven't had any issues so far, but, you know, for us, it's all about education and engagement. We want our neighbors to feel informed and empowered, doing all the things like handing out information, getting people connected to resources to make up a voting plan. Like, that's our goal. And, you know, if you change someone's mind that never voted before, then that's awesome. Or if you got someone registered to vote and maybe they don't vote, whatever it is, as long as we're making that connection to someone and letting them know why voting impacts our work, then I think that's a good check mark in success.
[00:16:41] Speaker C: 100%. Yeah. And I think, to your point, I think the best way to approach this when you are a 501 organization is just to look at everything through that nonpartisan lens. Right. So, you know, just means that you're not doing anything that would support or undermine a political party or a political candidate. So, you know, providing information about how to be a voter in Franklin county, things like, you know, deadlines for registering to vote or when early vote is happening, or what offices are up for election, how to vote for absentee ballot. Like, you know, we talked about earlier, there are lots of questions that we are in this unique and precious position to be able to answer. And then hosting educational events, too. So things like candidate forums, open houses, you know, having a. Having a webinar about voting rights, particularly if you are serving a particularly underserved population, you can especially be a voice of support there.
And there are distinctions between 501 and 501 that we don't need to get into too hard. But here's another sort of misconception, no more. So I think when people hear nonpartisan, they think that you have no opinions about anything and you are apolitical. And actually, many of us in the nonpartisan space are deeply passionate about things that are happening in the political landscape. And so I just want to make the reminder that issues. Issues are nonpartisan. So candidates, elected leaders, parties, those are partisan. Issues are not partisan. So for a 501 organization to be advocating on behalf of. And I'm going to make a thing up, issue 14, which is a levy that provides breakfast for students, this is a made up thing. Nobody go. Go Google this. But it is completely within the rights and actually obligation for nonprofits to advocate for issues.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Absolutely. And we've taken stances on issues in the past, so it's a great opportunity for us to kind of be able to reiterate kind of what our morals and our values are as an organization to community members, especially if they're rooted into what our work is day to day.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: Exactly. No, that makes sense. And thanks for that plug around issues.
We will be sure to link some resources in the show, notes on resources and materials nonprofits can reference on allowable activities. But I guess my next question to you is, and you've already answered, both of you have already answered this in one way or another. But again, to just be straightforward, how does one effectively engage in elections on a nonpartisan basis? Is that difficult in the current political environment? How do you cut through the noise to get through the facts? There's so much. There's so much, so much, so much, so much out there. And I'm sure, like, you know, you're sharing basic information on voting, and people want to ask you about, you know, a certain candidate or a certain, you know, timely event that's happening and your take on that. And how do you cut through that to just talk about the facts?
[00:20:05] Speaker C: It's a great question. I think it's something that's increasingly difficult for folks in the nonprofit or, sorry, the nonpartisan space to achieve.
I do think that there are a couple of important things that are critical here. I think making it a practice to say that you are here for all voters, making that a standard part of your narrative. You know, we don't care who you vote for. It's none of my business who you vote for. What I care about is that you vote. And so make that a basic part of when you are telling your story about who you are. And then I would continue to model those nonpartisan relationships. I think especially for organizations like ours, when we've been around for a long time, we've built relationships over decades, century in our case. And so the more you have those relationships with people from, you know, across all kinds of different sectors and spaces, I think the more credibility that you have generally.
And I think it's really important, too, to be disciplined about this. There's a lot of big feelings right now in election land, as there should be. There's lots at stake. But those big feelings can make us sometimes gravitate. But just us as humans can make people gravitate toward one party or another or against all parties. And it's just important to just maintain that nonpartisan orientation and that we are here to make life better for everybody. That's our jobs.
And then I would say to reach out, to, to rely on messenger surrogates. So, you know, there are spaces that I would walk in and people would be like, why would I care what you think? And so find organizations that can be the ones who deliver your message. So, like, if I wanted to go talk to a sorority about, you know, why it's so important that they vote, and, you know, what the things are in their life that are directly impacted by the county commissioner or the sheriff, they might not care what I have to say. But if I'm partnering with, like a panhellenic organization or, you know, a student organization or somebody else who had credibility for that crowd, that message, which is what I care about, that has a much better chance of getting in there.
[00:22:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that hit the nail on the head and just going right off of that specific point, I think the importance of kind of coalition building in terms of getting the word out is definitely very important. We've been very fortunate here, especially in Franklin county, to partner with an organization called the Human Services Chamber of Franklin county. Love them and shout out to them. They're essentially a chamber of commerce for nonprofits. They do so much for advocacy and education and just general resource sharing for us all in the nonprofit sector. Kind of to Elizabeth's point about really being able to find good messaging and good stewards of the, of those messages, being a partner with someone like the human services chamber has been such a value for us to be able to really just get on message with not just us as a emergency food assistance organization, but with those in the housing space, those in the childcare space, or whatever it may be, but kind of on this overarching notion that the work that we do and the individuals that we're connecting with, there's something at stake for everyone in this election. And then just being able to kind of be able to spread out that messaging across the entire sector to populations that we might not even get connected to has definitely been a value. And, I mean, Elizabeth really hit the nail on the head. You know, for us kind of pushing through the noise, it kind of makes it a little easy as a nonprofit to kind of push through the noise because there's already so much that we are doing already to be actively nonpartisan and to make sure that our neighbors are just aware of how our services are impacted by who you elect and what type of policies they might support. And so our main goal is, you know, just making sure that the, our neighbors know the, you know, who, what, where, why, and how's the voting? So who and what is on the ballot? Where can they vote? How can they vote? Whether they choose to do it in person, early absentee on election day, and then just ensuring them that they feel empowered and that their voice matters and to even what Elizabeth mentioned before earlier on the session may have just been in third grade, but one vote really can matter. So.
[00:24:49] Speaker A: Yeah, beautifully said, Hallie.
[00:24:51] Speaker C: You guys, I did win.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: Oh, that's so funny. Thanks for that. I would love to hear more. We've talked a little bit about coalition building and partnerships here. So switching gears to that, I would love to hear more about the specifics of your partnership with the League of Women Voters. From what I understand, you have partnered to bring voter engagement resources to the mid Ohio markets. If you could share a bit about how and why you got connected, the resources as you are providing to neighbors, like what is the type of information that's being conveyed and the reception from the community, that would be great.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So I would really say that our voter engagement strategy has really kind of grown exponentially within this specific election cycle. And then at the most recent midterms, we have had the ability to really kind of bolster what our capacity looks like to do more boots on the ground kind of work for things like this. And so we always kind of had a little bit of a relationship with illegal women voters. Very kind of casual. This is a funny story, and I told this before we officially started recording, but our director of programs and partnerships, the lovely Miss Carrie McCarthy, is neighbors with one of our League of women voter of Metro Columbus friends. And so it was a very kind of casual, oh, hey, would you mind bringing this stuff into work to hand out kind of thing? So, great opportunity.
[00:26:17] Speaker C: But.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: We really never had anything specifically in structure. So I reached out to another Elizabeth that is with our Columbus chapter of the League of Women Voters and said, you know, hey, I'm really interested in kind of finding opportunities on how we can really push out as much information as possible. We have really great opportunities, specifically with our mid Ohio markets. For those listing in who have not heard of our mid Ohio markets are essentially kind of reimagined versions of what a traditional food pantry looks like. There are grocery store like settings, expanded hours of access. There's opportunities for wrap around services there. And it really is a more dignified opportunity for families and individuals to receive emergency food assistance. It's a great way to set up a table and get to talk to people and everything. And so that was kind of our first opportunity, was essentially doing tabling opportunities at our markets. So right now we have a couple shifts a week where lead women voter volunteers are going to our mid Ohio market on Norton Road on the far west side of Columbus, and also our mid Ohio market at Gantz Road, which is down in Grove City right by our food bank facility. And they're just there for, you know, a couple hours. They have voter registration forms. They have some information on signing up to be a poll worker and where, you know, important dates and things like that. Just general information, talking to individuals. Our middle high markets see all kinds of different types of people from all different types of backgrounds. And so we make sure that we also have things in a variety of different languages, which has definitely been a big pressure point for us, is to making sure that we're connecting to individuals who don't just speak English. But that has been a great opportunity. It's something that we're excited to keep on growing even past election season, because getting people excited about registering to vote and voting in general happens all year long.
[00:28:15] Speaker C: It is everything election season. I think that's made up. I think that it is always election season.
And the things that you're talking about, you know, that's kind of the way that you all first came together is pretty organic. But then, you know, both of those groups, you know, the Columbus League of Women Voters and mid Ohio came together with an idea of, like, how can I help you, how can you help me? And how can we work together to collaborate on the things that we all care about? And then, you know, what starts kind of organically is something that you build and you develop into these events like you're talking about. And I think that that is, that's the recipe for success for so much of this.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:28:56] Speaker C: Yeah. You guys are doing great work.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Oh, well, thank you.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: Absolutely. So cool. I love seeing all this stuff out and about. Actually, we're transitioning. Right to events, so I'll get into that. But we at the Ohio association of Food Banks have been also encouraging our member food banks to provide similar resources to neighbors in our distribution lines. The reception has been pretty positive, and every year we get more and more food banks to participate. So that's, you know, as you guys just said, every year is an election here. So that's so exciting. I'm curious, Hallie and Elizabeth both tell me a little bit about your events that you've been holding. I know that mid Ohio held an event in conjunction with the secretary of state on National Voter registration day a few weeks back.
And then I know, Elizabeth, you mentioned at the top that you guys have been doing some events in community as well. So just tell me a little bit more about your events.
[00:29:45] Speaker B: Yeah, so the first thing I want to highlight is the fact that we just rounded the end of Hunger Action Month, which is our la da da da wonderful statewide nationwide advocacy opportunity for really uplifting the work of food banks and all that we do day to day throughout Hunger Action Month. We were finding different opportunities to get our communities engaged, whether they're volunteering advocating, donating to us, to our partner agencies, whatever it may be. And so we had a wonderful partnership this past month with both homage the wonderful t shirt company, which hope is in the room wearing our food is healthy shirt, which is an homage shirt, and with land grant brewing company to host a combined event on National Voter Registration Day, which, lucky for us, falls during Hunger Action Month. So it was kind of a dual combined event where we were able to set up shop at land grant. Ironically enough, Tuesday, which was national voter Registration Day, was also trivia night at land grant. So we kind of commandeered their trivia so we were able to work with their trivia mass to integrate some voting and food bank related questions into them that kind of act as bonus questions. But, you know, we had a table set up with resources for individuals to come on and pop through.
We had, you know, information to volunteer, how to volunteer, whatever it may be. And so it was really great and really the first time that we've ever done an event like that before. And we were just really excited to be able to show up and have people show out, which was wonderful.
Ironically enough, the secretary of state's office had an event right before us, and so they were helped. They were there to kind of uplift. Yeah, they were there to uplift our event and basically said like, hey, you better stick around for mental health food collectors event directly after this, which was really great. So just so important of really just meeting people where they are and in a very casual setting of doing trivia night at a brewery to be like, hey, are you registered to vote?
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Wait, you can't forget to mention the cool glasses that land grant had. It was like the. I don't even remember what they said.
[00:32:08] Speaker B: So those. Yeah, so those came from the secretary of state's office.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: So they. The secretary of state's office has been running a voter engagement campaign called cheers to democracy, I believe. Don't quote me on that. The office was traveling across the state to different breweries, distilleries and wineries and the notion of, like, what a better way to really talk about the importance of voting than over a glass of something alcoholic. Maybe not alcoholic if you're a non drinker, and talk about it with friends. And so it was a really great opportunity to really, again, talk about the importance of voting and being civically involved in a very casual setting and making it, you know, easy.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: Talk about, yeah, I love those glasses.
[00:32:50] Speaker C: That's awesome.
[00:32:51] Speaker B: They were. I forgot to take one. And I'm very excited.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: I'm not even gonna lie. I'm so sorry, Secretary Larose. I'm so sorry.
[00:32:57] Speaker C: They were cool. Democracy.
[00:32:59] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:33:00] Speaker B: Every time you have a glass of water or something else.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: Awesome. And yeah, any. What other events has the league of women voters participated in around the state? Any other unique or new partnerships?
[00:33:12] Speaker C: Well, this is. Is a high season for us.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sure.
[00:33:14] Speaker C: So we have 34 local leagues, and so they are all hosting candidate forums and voter registration events and doing all of the things. And then we at the state league have partnered with some of our local leagues that are in college and university communities. And we have a custom wrapped Airbus, or, sorry, airstream trailer that is, like, so pretty. And I kind of want to steal it. And I think that I shouldn't have said that out loud. I will be the first house where they knock on the door. And so we're going from college town to college town. So we have 20 colleges that we're visiting.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: So we started.
[00:33:53] Speaker C: We started at Labor Day, and our last one is going to be on October 7, which is the last day to register to vote in Ohio. And we'll be at Kent University. Oh, that's what?
[00:34:04] Speaker A: Go flash.
[00:34:05] Speaker C: Oh, excellent. No. Heard. And last week was our central Ohio week. So we were at Columbus State, we were at Capitol, we were at OSU, we were at Denison, and we actually kicked it off with Ohio Wesleyan. And, oh, I almost forgot, last week was also Audubon, so we were busy. Like, boom, boom, boom.
And it really has been so inspiring to just be with young people and hear what they're concerned about. And again, there is no question about the passion and interest that young people have about this election and how to be good citizens and how to invest in our future. And so it really is on all of us to be those voices that connect what's happening in the world with how we as individuals can impact all of that. So that's been amazing. And then, yeah, our local leagues, like, if you know a leaguer, just like, give them a hug or say, like.
[00:35:08] Speaker B: Thank you for turkey of you.
[00:35:10] Speaker C: Yeah, honestly, perhaps that beer we discussed, like, maybe that would be it for them. Yeah. So everybody's doing the most right now, but lots of. Lots of cool stuff.
[00:35:20] Speaker B: Shout out to all the boots on the ground people.
I forgot to highlight it, but I can't go without shouting them out. But I couldn't do this work. Internally alone, we are a small but mining government relations team of two, technically two and a half, but I don't have the opportunity necessarily to always be at every single market, every single food distribution, all across our 20 counties, we have so many teams internally that have really, you know, stepped up to the plate to really push out as much information as possible and come knocking on my office pseudo door, because we don't have doors in our open air office, but. And ask for, hey, can I get, you know, 100 copies of this specific thing? So our benefits and customer outreach team specifically has just been rock stars in terms of, you know, they're the ones going out to community events and connecting people predominantly with Snap and Medicaid and other, you know, public benefits, but, you know, also being able to say, like, hey, by the way, are you registered to vote? Which is huge. Our agency partners, of course, and our market staff being able to put flyers in their, in their distribution boxes or as they're checking them in through their drive through, saying, hey, you know, here's some information about voter id changes. Like, are you sure that your address is right? Or whatever? And then, of course, our volunteer staff, our volunteer service team has been incredible in terms of really finding new ways to engage people.
And so we launched, through a different campaign, the idea of virtual volunteerism, which is essentially an opportunity for individuals who may not be able to have access to volunteering with us, whether they are homebound, don't have access to transportation, maybe they have severe anxiety and they don't want to be in public places too long. And so utilizing social media and sending out letters and uplifting stuff for us online has been a great way for virtual volunteerism to really uplift. And so that's been a great thing of sharing out, you know, retweets, tweets, quote unquote, of your guys resources.
And then we now officially have a voter education tabling volunteer shift that's available that's outside of you guys. So if a student or whoever wants to, I have all the materials, and I have, like, a how to guide for getting people to register to vote that they just set up shop like legal women voters does. So on the days that you guys aren't there, they can be there, too. So there's always opportunities for access.
So shout out to all of our teams internally. Like, it's just been incredible.
[00:38:13] Speaker A: Truly love it. Awesome.
Switching gears a bit, in addition to the resources oaf has provided its member food banks to share with neighbors, we have also been doing a very small fundraiser selling vote to end hunger t shirts and sweatshirts. We have been shocked, honestly, with the number of shirts we've sold. Our initial goal was only 50, and we far surpassed that in just a day or two. We will definitely link that fundraiser in the show. Notes our thinking behind the shirts was to provide a little more visibility to hunger as a political priority. We know that in this country, our elections can have a tremendous impact on hunger. And in this upcoming election, we can work to elect and hold accountable leaders of any political party who care about hunger. On that note, I'm curious, Hallie, if you've ever been hit with what does voting have to do with ending hunger? And if so, how do you respond?
[00:38:57] Speaker B: I have, and you know, I have to give it a shout out to our wonderful friends at the second harvest of the heartland over in, oh, my gosh, Minnesota. Thank you. Us across the Feeney America network have really found solace in each other of really trying to figure out the best ways to share out why hunger is important, important to vote on and why it matters in election season. And their team over there said this in a presentation and on a call that I was on with her, that hunger is a policy choice. And that's exceedingly profound. That if we want to end hunger in our communities, we need policymakers at all levels to be ready and willing to address hunger in what they vote for and really being able to make sure that they're addressing the root causes of hunger and championing policies that and programs that will alleviate it. And so if someone is actively choosing to support policies that go against hunger, anti hunger initiatives, then that's their policy choice. And so at middle health food collective, especially, we talk all the time about how hugger doesn't live in isolation. I kind of talked about it a little bit earlier, but there was a reason why we shifted from food bank to collective to kind of showcase that we need to be addressing hunger as a whole person issue. So when individuals vote on issues like affordable childcare, like low cost medication, like higher minimum wages or family tax credits, they're, in retrospect, voting on alleviating hunger in their communities. And so because all these factors I just listed and then some, the pains that our neighbors are dealing with on a day to day basis are ultimately the reasons why they're coming to our lines. And so the ability for us to connect with our community members and whether they've donated to us, whether they volunteer with us, whether they utilize our services, is that if you care about what we do as an organization and how we serve our communities, you have to vote at all levels. Local, especially. Like, everything starts at a local level and works its way up.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Preach. That's a word?
[00:41:16] Speaker C: Yeah. And I mean, pick any issues. Voting has everything to do with literally everything that happens in our life. So, you know, the issues that we all care about are, like Hallie was saying, like, they're born from the policy to decisions made by elected officials and can be helped or hurt by the, you know, the policy priorities of those elected officials. So it's not enough to say, go vote, although also, please say, go vote.
We need to talk about the how and the why. So, you know, housing shortages happen because of decisions made around zoning, around road construction, around, you know, neighborhood and school investment, because of the ethics or standards around which contractors get chosen, whether there are laws in place that guarantee affordable housing and new construction or access to healthcare, any of those things because of the challenges that we live with now, like these. The challenges didn't just, like, bloom in the desert. Like these all were born with parents. All of these problems and these challenges that we have, they all, like that, you know, they all exist because of, or at least are exacerbated by actions or inaction coming from the people that we elect to represent us and represent our needs. So all of these elections really matter. And though they get the least attention and to amplify what Hallie is saying, local elections especially have a huge amount, a disproportionate, I would even say, impact on our daily life.
So PSA for all of us voters vote all the way down the ticket. So, like, yes, we all know about president at the top of the ticket. We've got a big Senate race in Ohio right now. We have three open Supreme Court seats, which is a huge, big deal, but we also have county prosecutors. We also have, you know, county sheriff, county commissioners, county judges. And then we have, you know, there's state issue one about redistricting, and then we have local issues. So many communities have issues about transportation or about funding libraries or parks or schools. And those are the things that really have the most impact. And also because, unfortunately, fewer people vote for those things as they go down the ticket. Your vote has even more impact when you are voting in a, you know, a city council race or a county commissioner race than it does when you are voting with everybody who is, like, super into the presidential race. So it's a real opportunity for all of us to have to make real impact in the places that we live.
[00:44:06] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Big plug for local elections, for sure. And also want to give another plug for poll workers because our lovely Sarah, the brainchild of this podcast, your normal host of this podcast, my number two on the government relations team. She is a poll worker, and she has encouraged our other staff to get involved and get engaged, and she loves it.
[00:44:30] Speaker C: And so I think there's some, something like 30,000 coworkers that are needed for this election. And so people get paid, first of all. So that's very cool. You get really strong training so that you feel equipped, because I think some people are like, I love the idea of it, but I don't know that I have enough experience like you do. They will help you. So you can go to the secretary of state of Ohio's website and sign up and get all the information. Also, you can go to your county board of elections website and check that out.
[00:44:58] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Big, big plug for that.
[00:45:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Much needed here.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. Well, that is all I have prepared for you both today. It has been an incredibly insightful conversation, and I am so appreciative of your time today. As we've discussed at length, the election is right around the corner. So I know you didn't have much time to give. I want to make sure I make space for you both to provide any closing thoughts. Hallie, go vote.
[00:45:22] Speaker B: I mean, like, obviously it's not as simple to just say that, but, you know, tell, tell your neighbor, tell your friend, tell your co worker to make sure that their registration is up to date. I have a funny story where I.
So in the August, was it the August election last year? I was very, I had changed my name on my license when I got married, but forgot to update my voter registration. So I was hooting, hollering, preaching to all my colleagues about, make sure you check your registration. Then I go to vote.
Oh, hey, by the way, this is your last name. I'm like, oop, that's my maiden name. So I voted provisionally, but that's okay. I am providing experience for everyone. So firsthand experience of the sometimes trials and tribulations of trying to vote so that you all can learn from my goofiness.
[00:46:18] Speaker C: Well, and I want to just get informed, pivot on what you're saying. So Ohio has new laws about ids that are required. And so for people who didn't vote in the August election last year or the November election on the issues or in the primary this year, it may come as a big surprise that you can't have the same kind of id that we've relied on a really long time. So it is really important that you have a state issued photo id. So it is an Ohio driver's license. It's a BNB issued state id, it's a passport, us passport, us passport card and veterans id. Go to the secretary's site so you can go to voteohio dot gov to check your registration to see what kind id is required. And so what we saw a lot was one people didn't know about the rate id. So make sure that you have your driver's license. But then for the people who are like, of course I have my driver's license. And they get there and they're like, oop, accepted, expired last week. So just make sure that if you are, you know where we were in Libra season now. So if you are in Libra or Scorpio, just make sure that you get your id updated. And I would say generally make a plan because as I think we've kind.
[00:47:43] Speaker B: Of made a plan referenced a couple.
[00:47:45] Speaker C: Times, like, yes, absolutely, go vote. But don't expect to show up on election day and be ready to go. Like, that is not how Ohio plays. So you need to be registered by October 7, which is very, very soon, by 09:00 p.m. on the 7th. So really, really soon. And again, you need to have that photo id. And even if you have registered before, it's important that you check your voter registration because sometimes voters might get moved off the rolls if they haven't been active for a while. And so it's really important that we all check if you've moved, if you've changed your name, like you said, like, update all of that. So for people who, you know, are in the situation that you just described, you get to the polling place and you're like, oop, don't have the right thing. And a poll worker, our wonderful, wonderful poll worker, say, okay, you need to vote a provisional ballot. Do not freak out. This is totally okay. Your vote will still count.
[00:48:42] Speaker B: So I freaked out for you all.
[00:48:45] Speaker C: It is totally normal to freak out, but it is also totally normal for your poll worker to say that to you. So as long as you bring back your id within a couple of days and all of that information is on the secretary's side, it's on the league of women voters site, you will be fine. So just make sure that in all things, listen to your poll worker, and if you end up having to vote provisionally, they will tell you what to do. So just remember, so make a plan.
Know, do you want to vote by mail? Do you want to vote early? Early voting starts next week. On October 8.
If you wanted to vote by mail, absentee ballots are being sent out next week. You can request one now. And in fact, I would just did. Yesterday, many Ohioans did receive absentee ballot requests in the mail. The secretary's office sent those to registered voters this year. And that's great if for some reason you didn't, another reason to check your voter registration. But if you didn't get one, go ahead and request now. And then early voting has hours that check your board of elections website or the secretary of state's website to see what the hours are because they're not consistent throughout the next couple weeks. And then there's also voting on election day, which is extremely special, too. So there is no wrong way to vote. Just vote the way that is best for you.
[00:50:05] Speaker A: And make a plan.
[00:50:06] Speaker C: And make a plan. Yeah. So once you know how you're going to vote, make it so. And then, yeah, tell everybody, be that, like, model of voting, Excellency, because it's really important that you are that messenger for the people in your life and in your community.
[00:50:22] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I just wanted to say, Elizabeth made a really, really, really important point about October 7 and ensuring that you are registered to vote. Because I know on social media I see like celebrities and friends and family, like, talking about the voter registration deadline, and it is not the same state to state. So it's really like, you know, it's really easy to look at, you know, your Instagram Stories of your cousin in Wisconsin and who's like, you know, I can same day voter registration or Oregon or, you know, not here. No, not here. So it varies state to state to state to state. And it's really important that you keep that October 7 deadline in mind because, you know, your friends, family, celebrities do have, you know, nothing but good intentions, but not, you know, not understanding that it's not consistent state to state. And so I just wanted to make sure that that was said aloud so that folks are aware that unfortunately, it's not a national standard on every state.
[00:51:18] Speaker C: Makes their own rules.
[00:51:19] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:51:20] Speaker C: Some of us are more quirky than others.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: Absolutely, absolutely. And there's nothing wrong with that. We just got to keep spreading the message on the deadline and the day and making sure that folks are aware. All right, thank you both so much. It was a pleasure. I hope you had as much fun as I did.
[00:51:36] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:51:43] Speaker A: To our listeners, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Hallie and Elizabeth. I want to thank our guests for taking the time to share their expertise with us and for being such great partners in this work. To learn more about their organizations, view election resources, or order a vote to end hunger. T shirt. Please take a look at the show notes. Thank you for listening and we will talk with you next time.
