Beyond the Bells and Red Kettles: Salvation Army's Emergency Services Unveiled with Bob Bradley-Serving Meals and Hope.

Meals, Mercy, and Mission: Bob Bradley's Journey with The Salvation Army

In this special episode of 'The Wireless Way,' host Chris Whitaker speaks with Bob Bradley, Chair of the Emergency Disaster Services Committee at the Salvation Army's Modesto Citadel. Bob shares his remarkable journey from construction and cable manufacturing to his life of service with the Salvation Army. Listeners learn about the organization's extensive food security initiatives, daily meal programs, and emergency disaster response efforts. Bob recounts personal experiences that underline the impact of their work and the essential role the Salvation Army plays in supporting vulnerable communities. Chris and Bob also discuss the importance of community collaboration and volunteerism. The episode culminates with staggering statistics on the Salvation Army's outreach in Modesto, California in 2024, showcasing the breadth and depth of their mission to uplift those in need.

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
00:41 Guest Introduction: Bob Bradley
02:29 Bob Bradley's Background and Career Journey
08:53 Daily Operations at the Salvation Army
13:02 Mobile Canteen Service and Disaster Response
17:50 Challenges and Community Support
20:24 Community Contributions and Fundraising
21:04 Programs for Kids at the Red Shield
21:40 Public Relations and Awareness
22:20 Collaboration to Combat Food Insecurity
23:40 Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) Operations
25:23 Memorable Volunteering Experiences
28:47 Personal Stories and Reflections
30:50 Final Thoughts and Gratitude
33:42 Salvation Army's Impact in 2024

Learn more about how you can help- 

Transcript

Chris: 0:00

Hey, welcome to another episode of The Wireless Way. I'm your host, Chris Whitaker. And today is a special episode. And and I feel like I say that every other episode and maybe I'm just lucky that I have great guest, great topics that we talk about. And today is a little bit different.'cause, I often bring on either wireless technology or communications solutions and authors and thought leaders. A little history before I even introduced my guest. A good friend of mine, Dennis Callo. He said, Chris, I could use your help, when it comes to technology and he is with the Salvation Army. So Dennis is not my guest today but my guest knows Dennis and we're close with him. But through that relationship, not only did I get educated on a fantastic organization that goes back a long ways and has massive reach, but I got to meet Bob Bradley. Bob Bradley is my guest today. A little bit about him before I bring him on. He serve as the chair of the EDS, and that's the Emergency Disaster Services Committee at the Salvation Army's, Modesto Citadel in Northern California. With keen compassion and unwavering dedication, Bob oversees critical food security initiatives and including daily meal programs. USDA commodity distribution and congregate feeding events, and a little more facts behind that. In 2017 alone, the Modesto Citadel delivered nearly 3 million pounds of food through over 60 monthly commodity distribution sites. Daily pantry services and congregate Meals feeding as many as 250 people every weekday. As a part of that advisory board, Bob contributes strategic guidance to ensure the sustainability and growth of food kitchen operations across the region. His efforts carry forward the organization's broader mission of uplifting vulnerable communities by ensuring regular nutritious meals, especially to those facing crisis. Food insecurity are homelessness, and Bob's leadership combines operational oversight with compassion driven service. He collaborates with his fellow board members and volunteers to plan fun and execute food programs that nourish body and spirit across Northern California. So Bob, welcome to the show. I'm so glad we finally got together and we can have this conversation. Thank you very much.

Bob 3: 2:25

This is my first time doing this, so I'm excited. So I'll just kind. Give you a little bit of my background of what I've done. So I've, I always said before, I used to say I only had two, two lives. I had 18 years after I graduated from high school, I did construction, drywall, and that's a young man's trade. And I realized, ah, as I get older it's, I'm not probably gonna be able to do that. Went through a change of life and figured, okay, I got a do over. And so my brother and I went into a cable manufacturer and we started putting connectors on the end of coax cable. And I did that for about 15 years and built up a business, started out of a garage and built it up to almost having every major cable company across the United States. And had to partner up with other companies to be able to finance. But, through that I was able to retire at 51. So now I always say instead of have two lives, I actually had three lives.'cause I've been actually doing emergency service with the Salvation Army for 18 years now. So it's a whole nother third life that I've been involved in with the Salvation Army. I had nine years with the American Red Cross that got me started when I first retired with excellent training. And through the nine years I was able to receive the Clara Barton Award. With them realized that, I needed more in my life than just going out and deploying on disasters. I needed more, be more fulfilled. So I found the salvation Army and I've been with the salvation Army now for nine years and through the, through the Salvation Army. In my nine years with them, I've actually, it's been incredible. Not only that, with through EDS part of it, I've actually let, they, let me build my own canteen and design it and operational it. I also through that I won the highest award, which is the Salvation Army, which is the other award. And then also when we went from the Citadel to the admin that transition, we built a called ACEs. It's a, it's another part of a shelter. And myself and Mr. Cruzi and Mr. Fisher. We see the first awards ever handed out called The Way Out Award. And so now every year after KK Os they continue with the Way Out Award, which is exciting on that part of it. So that's my bio.

Chris: 4:53

A quick question on that bio. You said you kind, your first career was really more in, in coax cable and like I get a low voltage wiring or whatnot. What, was there some trigger or something that inspired you to get into you mentioned Red Cross of course, but the Salvation Army and Emergency Disaster Services. What how did that happen? Did you just. So I ask you to join or,

Bob 3: 5:16

yeah. So when, I thank God every day that when I was so 51 I was able to retire and be able to move on.'cause I, they the company we were with at that time, they had a place in San Diego and, they wanted to close up Livermore and for us to move to San Diego. At 50 and I had kids in school, I says, ah, I. I need to get out. And so at that early of an age, I said, man, I gotta find something. It's something that really inspires me. And it's the red Cross is right here in Modesto also. And so I went down there, checked it out, and started getting involved in that and started doing more and more for them. And getting deployed out to different places across the country and all that. And so as I, nine years of that and being able to do different things logistically and all that.'cause that was my background with the manufacturing part of it to get, to be able to join other, at the time when I started, they were called chapters and now they're a region outta Sacramento. And so I was able to take the different chapters and create and bring everybody together and that was what I. What got me along for the the Clara Bartner board doing that. But but it was only a one trick pony with that one for deployments and emergency with the Salvation Army. I, there's so much more involved in that. There's so many more things and it's funny'cause most people, when you, if you go nine outta 10 people and ask what is, what is it? What about the Salvation Army? Or do you know what they do? And they say, yeah, they're on the corners during the holidays, ringing the bell at the kettle time, kettle kickoff. And they don't realize that we're so much more, not only we're in sheltering, we're at red Shield, which is with kids and senior citizens that we do. I also work with a RC in Stockton, which is a adult rehabilitation. And that's very rewarding because we get these guys that are coming, they says, we can't do it no more. I have some type of addiction or whatever the addiction may be, and they're just, they're on their last leg and they say, I need help. And so we're able to take'em up to Stockton and get'em into a program and and it just changed their whole life. They have their families back, they get their kids back in their life. It is a Christian organization, the, it's, the turnaround is about an 80, 80% success rate that happens with these gentlemen that go into this program. And we go up there once a month and, we have guys that come up and say, God, thank you for helping us and thank you for getting us in this supreme program. You, you changed our life. And it's, no we just got you here. God changed your life. So it's just, they're the kind of things that are rewarding that. That that we do that is just incredible.

Chris: 8:02

It's funny, as in our pre-show discussion, we talked, kicked around some different questions and, I was gonna ask you, a question here in a minute, but even before I ask you, it made me think about the value of having a meal. First of all, you got to eat. That's definitely right. Food, shelter, clothing. Like the three, the big, the three big ones. But even in my daily life, a business man, we, a lot of businesses conducted over a meal. Me, you and Dennis gosh, who was with us for dinner? Who else was when we had dinner in California, a few a month or so back. That the did in Walnut Creek? Yeah. Oh, captain J was Captain Jeff. That's right. Captain Jeff. Thank you. Yes, sorry, captain Jeff. I knew it was captain something. I just couldn't, I had one of those senior moments, so yeah. Captain Jeff and Dennis, and you and I, again, having a meal is such a part of our, our culture, our society of course is necessary. Having said that, tell us about, or describe, the daily operations of the food kitchen and how you and your team, manage to prepare and serve, large number of meals each day. What does that look like? And, walk us through a standard day. Sure.

Bob 3: 9:07

Even during a disaster if anything that brings people together is food, that's the one thing that groups us all together, is a good hot meal. At the Salvation Army, we have we serve over 1200 meals in our kitchen daily. And the food is not just, food is, it is actually excellent. And we go from chicken to lasagna to hamburgers and hot dogs. And tamales, and you name it, they cook it and they get an excellent three meals a day. They get to breakfast, they get to lunch and dinner, also snacks throughout the day. So they're constantly with water and everything and Gatorade or whatever coffee that they need daily. So they're well fed and it's, that's one of the cool things about it is. That, that helps us get that food to our folks is that we have our food warehouse, which is probably about two miles down the road, and we just built a 2,500 square foot freezer and, which that's big. It's huge. And it probably, and I wanna say I don't I don't have the facts, but I wanna say we're probably one of the largest food distribution here in Northern California. So we're able to store. So much more food, bring so much more food in, get it out to so many different other people out in our in our community. But that, and so what they'll do is they'll see what's what we have. They'll put their order in through the week, and then we'll have the food brought over, and then that's what they'll prepare throughout the week.

Chris: 10:36

Is this a 24 7 operation? What time does it begin in the morning? So it's a 24 7,

Bob 3: 10:42

365 days out of the year. They, we usually I believe they start serving breakfast around seven. And there's three different types to, so we have our folks in the shelter, and then we have our, the we have the sheriff program that's in there. And then we have the post-op folks that are in there. And then we also have a day center program where folks that don't have any place to go during the day and it gives'em a place to come in, sit, have a meal, charge their phone, watch TV or something, and gets'em a hot day or cold day. They're, they get'em off the street and they able to stay inside the day center and and, help'em with when anything they need during the day. And and then we also have the county program, which is right behind us, which also they come over and we get food to them and all that. So it, it's quite a. It's for the kitchen staff to be able to pop out the food and the quality of the food that they do is amazing. We will, I'll eat there a couple times a month and just ha and it's just, it's, the food is excellent, it's quality food. And the one nice thing about our county is no one should ever go hungry in our county. There's plenty of food for everyone to get a nice hot meal or meal provided

Chris: 12:03

to

Bob 3: 12:03

em.

Chris: 12:04

And we talked about, so I know you focus on your county but obviously Salvation Army, you're right, everyone in the States knows'em, but everyone in the world knows'em too. Are there similar programs across the country and the globe?

Bob 3: 12:18

I'm s for Salvation Army or other organizations? So

Chris: 12:22

Salvation Army.

Bob 3: 12:23

Oh yeah. Salvation Army. Salvation Army. Army. Yeah. Started, William Booth in England and brought him, came over here. So in Modesto, in my area, he's been here since 1891. When Modesto when they came to Modesto and started to Citadel here in Modesto. And so we've been, they've been around for a long time and it's nationwide. Worldwide. You'll, when you're ever, any type of disaster or anything that's needed, you always see a Salvation Army. They are out feeding or spirituality or, when they somebody needs something, we'll make sure we try to make it happen and get it to'em. And so you got,

Chris: 13:02

yeah. You got the regular day-to-day operations, what you just described, but I know you shared some pictures with me and you were telling me about the this mobile canteen service. Oh, yes. Yeah. I how do you, how does that get called into action and what does that do? A lot of times what

Bob 3: 13:17

it matter of fact, we just two weeks ago we were up in training in Bishop and we took the canteen up. So we go to different places the folks in different areas that are a high potential fire. Fire seasons during the summer, and some folks, we get up there, we train'em, we try to get a crew for'em, and we'll take the canteen up and we'll teach'em how to use the canteen, how to cook out of the canteen. It's basically the canteen. It's what they call around here, a food truck, a taco truck. It's a full-sized kitchen. I have in my canteen I have refrigerator, a warmer a 48 inch grill, six burners with an oven. A freezer. And so I could, we could easily put out 1200 meals out of that canteen if needed. So if we get a call matter of fact two years, three years ago, we had a fire in Palata. Now I'm not pronouncing that but I. But it was a flooding that was up there. One of the levees broke. They called us up and said, we, we have people there that are flooded out of their homes and they're had no way to have food or get food to'em or be able to eat. So they called us up and myself and Captain Jeff and a couple of my other volunteers went up there to meed. And in 10 days we served over 8,000 meals in 10 days. That was 800 meals a day that we were providing for the folks up there. Wow. That didn't have anything. And we'd go out, we cook and they'd line'em up and and that we just, as they drove, it was a drive by. And as they drove up to the window, we handed her food and just went to the next one. So it was like over 800 meals a day for 10 days that we did that. It was quite an accomplishment. Usually, most times we rate. Different kitchens on, a small kitchen could do about 300, a medium kitchen can do about 600. In a large kitchen, you could do over 1200 or so. So we were actually between the canteen and the Merced core, it was considered the medium kitchen. We were still be able to pump out 800 meals out of there and it's something that. We wouldn't normally do. Yeah, I would say at least 600 outta that kitchen. But, we went far and beyond to what we were capable, just to make sure everyone got a hot meal and for their families. So it was a pretty cool to go.

Chris: 15:37

So for the disaster services, I mean that, that's who whoever's in need. You don't have to be homeless or down your luck in a sense. That, so it's two different, it's two different groups.'cause you're the regular kitchen we talked about, those are people having food insecurities are different challenges in life. And then the other group are people that are dealing with a natural disaster of some sort from flooding to fires.

Bob 3: 16:00

Is that a fair statement? Yeah. We'll, yeah. So we'll, I'll get a, we'll get a call and say, we have our flooding or fires. We've had many different fires in, throughout the Central Valley or Northern Ello. It's just the last fire we had down in LA I. Yeah. I wasn't able to go to that one, but the salvation was Army was down there feeding and helping all them families that were burnt out at their home, and it was down there for weeks over oh. The time just making sure everyone had a hot meal. And and so that's exactly what we do. We'll go, we'll set up the red Cross will usually come in, set up a shelter, and then we'll come in and do the feeding and,

Chris: 16:39

So you guys work real close to the Red Cross? Yes. It's just like you guys know each other and Yes. And yeah. Yeah. That's fantastic.

Bob 3: 16:48

It's a,

Chris: 16:48

It's a,

Bob 3: 16:48

it's a perfect combination with the sheltering. They take care of that, and then we take care of the feeding and we work excellent together and we have great partnerships throughout our community with OES. And red Cross and all that. So if there is a disaster in Santa Cla County and all that, our OES will call up and have say, even if it's not for sheltering, even if it's just for the fire, there'll be out on the sea for vegetation fire for maybe over four hours, and they bring other groups in to help fight the fire. They'll call us up and say, our crew's been out there for four or five hours and they need water and they're hungry in their food. So we'll get a team, get the water and snacks and we'll head out there and get'em, pizzas and all that. And so they continue to fight the fire and we'll keep'em keeping hydrated and keep'em something in their belly so they can continue to fight on. So

Chris: 17:46

that's so important. So important. So another question for you. What are some of the biggest challenges you face in ensuring that Meals reach those in need? And how do you and your team address those challenges?

Bob 3: 18:00

With the food warehouse we have and everything that we're able to do, we have reefer trucks, we have box trucks, we have all kinds of things to be able to get food to people. So we have like over 28 sites, commodity sites that we deliver to churches and other organizations that we bring them food and they're able to serve their people through their churches or whatever community that they, they deal with, their folks that they have in their area. And we'll take our trucks out and we'll drop their loads of food off to them so they can feed their churches and all that. We'll also there's areas that some folks aren't, they can't make it to the, either the food warehouse or that to be food handed up. So we'll have a truck that'll go to their area. And they'll come, just come to the truck and we'll have it in the boxes through, up through the back end of the truck. So they have, they are able to get food. We. If we get a call and say somebody needs food and we make sure we get it to'em. We wanna make sure that nobody our daily at our food warehouse, we have probably about 50 to 60 people that go into our food warehouse and load up their cars. Probably, I would say at least over 150, if not more. Dollars worth of food that we hand out from boxes, from cans to pasta to depending on what we have in stock. It could be Hamburg, it could be turkeys, it could be chicken, it could be, whatever we have at the time that we're able to receive in, we'll give to these folks and then they can come back. Either once a month or every two weeks, they can come back if needed,

Chris: 19:37

would never turn anybody down for food. That's great. I, it's funny, I have four kids, so a family of six and the kids would always have a few friends over, and I'm sitting there thinking about, man, I. How stressful it is for me to make hot dogs and hamburgers for, a dozen people. Oh. And you guys got it down to hundreds and on a very grand scale. It makes me think too, to do a family barbecue sometimes, man, if you have to. The cost. How are, again, you think Salvation Army, the Bell and the Red Kettles, I know that's a big fundraiser in a sense, but are there other ways that people it make donations to, to help fund the, this operation?

Bob 3: 20:11

So they have, there's all, they could, they a lot of our are some our. Our community, folks in our community, sending checks. We have different events that we do. We have a golf tournament that help contribute. We have the KKO that helps contribute. It's just any just. Or just people normally just donate out of their pockets, or they have that, what are that? The barcodes. And we have barcodes out there that you can scan and, help contribute that way. During it the think about during it the e dfs part of it, a lot of people don't think about, the money during, for emergency, during a non-emergency. So we don't think about, keeping the ed s emergency side up and running'cause there's no emergency going on. So you don't think about, they need funds or help or any of that until the disaster happens. And then we're able to get more funds during that time. But yeah, there's just we had a kids day that helps kids. We have a paper. For kids that we do once a year, and it helps the kids at the Red Shield. For summer, they have a pool to go to. They have programs that they have a basketball and they have softball boxing that gives these chance for these kids to get off the street and go to a place and have a time to spend during the summertime. So it's just, they're all different types of things that we do, and like I said, most people. If you ask, they say, really? Oh, you do that? Oh, I didn't know that. And it's just amazing. And it's one of the bad things I always say about the Salvation Army is we don't do very good in the PR part of it. You don't, we just don't. Except at Christmas. Yeah. Except for Christmas. And they rigging the bell. Yeah. That, that

Chris: 21:54

one everyone knows. I even I was that guy. Until Dennis called me up and shared me what what his mission was and what he was doing. It was very enlightening for me. I. And gave me faith and hope that, humanity's gonna be okay as long as there's organizations like the Salvation Army around.'cause it's we need more of this. There's a lot of folks, around the country, of course, around your county, but, globally it's such a need. Another question for you. The food kitchens, how do you guys collaborate with other local organizations or programs to combat food insecurity in the Modesto community? And I imagine what you're doing in Modesto is probably mirrored across the country and even further. Right?

Bob 3: 22:34

So we all do the same thing. We all like I say, we have different places that churches that we reach out to, we just they either come to us, we go to them we have a, like I say, 28 different commodities that we deliver to, to get the food to whoever needs it. And like I say, with the food warehouse and all that, we have plenty of the plenty of food for for us to be able to get the food to the other folks out in our community. So that's, wow. We're very fortunate in Central Valley here in Modesto. If there was a major disaster or anything like that. Our location here is we could go two hours to Sacramento, two hours to San Francisco, or two hours down to Fresno, and then meet up with anybody in between to be able to, if there was an earthquake or whatever that may happen, able to get the food down to them to where they can take it from there and get it to the folks that need it further on. And, wow.

Chris: 23:32

So we're so that so the food kitchen Yeah. That's really the daily food kitchen, that's, yeah. Pretty much for the Modesto community. You oversee. But the EDS portion that, is that all of Northern California? It's a big Oh it's up and down

Bob 3: 23:46

all, like I say, across the United States. And our areas, our region is from San Francisco, and then we go all the way to. Bakersfield to, down to Redding in that area. So that's our territory that we cover here. And then then you have the Del Oro, which covers the Sacramento area, the San Joaquin Valleys and different areas in that area. So we're covered all across the California. The one thing that we take pride in, what we do here for EDS. Is the captain and I developed a zone chart to where we're able to. And within two hours to any of our responses up and down the San Joaquin Valley respond within two hours. Once we get the call now, that's once we get the call that's getting water and snacks to the people that need it. And then as long as we get that to them, then we have our crews that'll come in with the meals and all that. But we wanna get on site, get'em water, get'em snacks. Get'em hydrated and then as our teams roll in we're able to provide more and more, but it's least we are able to get on site within two hours of receiving that call, which is pretty amazing. That's getting a call, getting your teams set up, loading up, heading down there in the two hour zone, throughout the area, throughout the Central Valley.

Chris: 25:13

Yeah. That's that's still, it's pretty fascinating you think about the logistics needed, the volunteers the funding and how it's been making a difference for so long. So another pivot here. Could you share a memorable experience or story from your time volunteering and and overseeing this organization that highlights the impact of the food kitchen on individuals and families?

Bob 3: 25:37

So one of the things that, during a memorable story was during COVID and we were doing probably at the, and this is at the food warehouse. We were probably serving over 120 some cards coming in, handing'em out boxes of food and giving to whatever they needed that at the time. And as we ran outta stuff, we had a. We some folks may have gotten turkeys and then once we ran outta turkeys, we moved to something else. It might have been hammered us or something. And as we're giving this food out, we'd have some people that were very appreciative and then you had some that were not very appreciative. And so we have one time where I was handing out foods and they says that person got a Turkey. I want a Turkey. I said we just ran out of turkeys, but you're also getting the same amount of food. Just, unfortunately we don't have the turkeys to get you. And then they'd get high, right? And I thought. Wow. Come on, you're still getting, you're still getting a good, yeah. Going hungry. Good amount of food, so I, at the end of the day, I started doubting myself and I thought, man, I'm driving home and I'm thinking, God, am I really making a difference here? Am I doing, it's just my. Purpose in life. Am I changing anybody's life and thinking, maybe it's time for me to start looking somewhere else. And this happened the same day. And so I'm driving and I get a call and,

Speaker 4: 26:56

and

Bob 3: 26:56

the lady calls me and she says, Bob, would you mind help me? I says, sure. What do you need? She says, I have a gentleman. He's he's stuck in his home. He can't get out. He's disabled. He has no food. Nothing. And he doesn't know what to do, and I said, no problem. I'll load up and I'll head to his house and I'll deliver, I'll get some food to him. And so I got everything. I went, knocked on his door, and I came in with a, it was about a 50 pound box of hands and pastas and all that, that I handed to him. And he said, oh, thank you. And I said no, I got more for you. Did she do? I said, yeah, and I brought a whole thing of frozen foods of, it could be bacon, it could be hamburger meat, depending on what we had at the time. And then I had a whole nother bag of snacks form chips or crackers or whatever. And so I went in there and I did'em, and it's just, oh, this is all for me. And I says, yes, sir. And I says if you need any more, you call me up and I'll be more than happy to, I still get, I'd

Speaker 4: 27:55

still get choked up on this one. And so I walked out that door God just told me then yeah you are doing the right thing. This is what you're supposed to do. So after that moment, I never I never questioned, I never

Bob 3: 28:09

questioned that again. So that's why I continue to do what I do and I know, as things go, and even now with you if somebody was to say, you're gonna do a podcast, 10 years ago I would've said, you're crazy. There's no way I'd be doing that.'cause I wasn't a, I was never a public speaker. I always was the behind the scene guy. I did all the logistics and all that and I let the other people be in the front. And do their job. And I was more than happy. I was kinda like the people like in the movie stars are out front And all that. Yeah. And I was the guy behind the curtains making sure they look good, and that was always my kind of role. So for me to step out in front, it's been a little hard'cause I'm not used to it. But

Speaker 2: 28:47

yeah.

Bob 3: 28:47

But that was, and I got one other story that was always that, tell me when I grew up I grew up back East and South Amboy, New Jersey. Anybody out there from South Amboy? It's a shout out. We had our house, we had a coal furnace back then in the day, and that's how we got our heat. And my mom would go down and shovel coal into the furnace. She overstuffed the coal and the house started smothering in the cellar. A coal in the black soot it just covered the whole house of black, so you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. And the fire department came out and they says I don't wanna, we can't, we don't know. We don't know how to, what we're gonna do here. So I think they ended up cutting a hole out the upstairs in the bathroom window.'cause they said we can't go in there. We can't see. And so they cut a hole out of the bath upstairs where the bathroom was and they brought us downstairs. And each one of our, my other two brothers each family took one of my brothers. And the one family that took me was the Salvation Army. Guy and he lived two doors down and he actually, my mom told me this story that they used to help my mom when we lived in south Amboy, very poor during the time as growing up as kids. They would bring food and they would do things for us. And I didn't know that story. And this is funny how it just, here it is, 360 degrees and back.

Chris: 30:05

Full circle. Full circle. Absolutely. Wow. And that's the, yeah, both of those are amazing stories. And now you're right, Bob. It that's just impactful. And I do believe God he's working through you and your team. That is an amazing story and I'm so thankful you shared that with us, and especially your upbringing, how that ties in. It's just, it's funny that God works sometimes, I tell people all the time, he does miracles every day. You just gotta open your, you just gotta look around. Yeah. Just be alert. We take so many things for granted and don't, sometimes you call it coincidence or I got lucky. It's no. Our father in heaven will, they'll look out for you. They'll take care of you. You know what? Sometimes we make bad decisions and, you get ourselves in a bind. It's always, his time is a lot different than our time and as they say, absolutely. Church. Let's wrap it up here. Man. This has been a great conversation. I'm so grateful you shared with us. I'm grateful we get to tell the story. The Salvation Army is more than the red kettles and the bells at Christmas is that's a big part of it, but it's just so much more. And the Emergency disaster services serving people in a time of great need. No one expects. A tornado, our flood our fire earthquake. There's so many things, it's just natural disaster, you can't plan for those things. So I'm grateful that there's organizations like like the Salvation Army and your team Bob, and of course Dennis and Captain Jeff. That's I know. It's a big team effort. Is there anything we didn't cover? Any last words, anything else you wanna share with us? I know it

Bob 3: 31:34

one thing, last words of my, my, my saying is always be humble. Be kind and work hard. And that's how I went through life and

Chris: 31:46

that's So be humble. Be kind and work hard. And work hard. That's a winning combination. Those are some great words to end on. Be humble. Be kind and work hard. That's something we can all take a lesson from. Bob, thanks so much for joining me today. I really am grateful you shared your story and the work, the great work that the Salvation Army's doing especially in that Northern California area. I really appreciate it.

Bob 3: 32:13

Thank you. It has been a pleasure. And I, yeah, thank you. I hope I hope people realize out there that, we do make a difference in life,

Chris: 32:21

you

Bob 3: 32:21

know?

Chris: 32:21

Oh yeah. I think, yeah. There's no way anyone listening would I think everyone listening is probably one, probably I was just surprised and shocked.'cause you're right. Unless you've gone through those moments. It's easy to not realize that there's a need. For those of us that are fortunate enough to have food in our refrigerator, in our, cupboards and not have gone through a disaster, it's easy to take that stuff for granted. That was really my hope with this conversation. We can just bring some awareness to it and again, all the work that you and the team are doing. Bob, thanks so much for making time today. I've enjoyed it. I appreciate it. Oh, thank you. Me, myself also. Thank you. There we go, man. Hey, that's another episode of The Wireless Way. Thanks for listening. Definitely check the show notes out. I'll have some links in there. You can learn more about the Salvation Army, and especially the Emergency disaster services that they do. It's a very well organized and honorable organization. Obviously these men and women are serving families and people in all stages of life, and it's just so important. So please check the show notes and if this, if this episode hit home for you, if you were thinking of someone as you were listening, that needs to hear it, please share it with'em. I think sharing this kind of information is a rising tide Rises all boats as we say. So please share this this episode to those you think will find it beneficial. And thanks for listening today, and we'll see you next time on the Wireless Way. Just a little additional information that Bob shared with me later that I wanted to include in this episode in 2024. The Salvation Army in Modesto, California made an extraordinary difference in the lives of thousands of people. They provided over 383,000 Meals to homeless and low income community distributed nearly 232,000 food boxes. And served over 87,000 snacks for people for seniors, 1044 home delivered meals. Ensure Care reached those most in need. Their working, housing and homelessness was equally impactful. Offering 132,000 nights of shelter. Seven 18 clothing sets. 284 hygiene kits and rent or utility support to over 1100 families. And again, well over 3,500 people receive social services throughout the year. When it came to youth and family, they delivered 2,500 backpacks, well over 800 days of care and 59 kids enjoyed camp programs. They also provided well over 1200 transportation vouchers, distributed nearly 5,000 toys and engaged more than 22,000 individuals in sports and educational programs. 1,736 people took part in community center activities and 81 seniors were supported throughout a dedicated day program. In total, the Salvation Army in Modesto, California. Again, one region and one state. They do this around the globe in practically every country. The Salvation Army, Modesto served well over 9,300 individuals and recorded an incredible 19,866 volunteer hours just in 2024. And they've been doing it for a mighty long time. So it's definitely my honor to get to know Bob, get to know of course I've known Dennis Callo for some time and Captain Jeff doing great work for for people. All you know and there's really setting the stage for so many other regions of the Salvation Army to follow. It's been a real honor to work with them and learn more about them. So next time that kettlebell ringing around Christmas and the holidays, dig deep, give them more than your pocket change. They're doing great work in the shadows, in the background. Long after the media has left, after disasters they're helping people year round, every day. So thanks for checking this out. Have a fantastic remainder of your day, week, and look forward to seeing you on the next episode of The Wireless Way.