1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Grey Bears recently secured a larger location, acquiring a warehouse (&amp;amp; 2.5 acres) that was previously owned by Palace Arts. which was sold to a Bay Area company (Triple A), but with the local store being managed by a son of the original owner; Grey Bears was built around seniors &amp;amp; healthy food, started in 1973 by UCSC student Kristina Maillard and her boyfriend, Gary Denny; they saw a need to nourish seniors, &amp;amp; food left to rot in local farm fields - they decided to gather their friends, gather the food, &amp;amp; host the first harvest festival; Grey Bears grew to have 3 pillars: 1) healthy food either picked up by, or delivered to, 4,000 seniors, 2) free food available to be picked out &amp;amp; taken from the Grey Bears on site market, and 3) free meals where seinors can gather &amp;amp; socialize with the Monday-Friday Grey Bears lunch; have any other towns in ag country imitated Grey Bears? &quot;Great question!&quot; - the answer is no, but with California law SB 1383 encouraging grocers &amp;amp; farms to share what would otherwise go to waste, maybe we'll see more Grey Bears like activities; their current capital campaign is 81% there, raising money to outfit the new warehouse &amp;amp; create a more dignified shopping experience; the budget is just under $4 million, with 34 employees (24 full time) &amp;amp; 836 volunteers - they have so many volunteers they have a weekly orientation! They still do recycling at their Chanticleer Ave. location, but the county took back the recycling centers at the landfill sites in December; the majority of their budget comes from thrift store sales, plus recycling (the &quot;waste not, want not&quot; mantra is baked into the Grey Bears DNA!); their website is GreyBears.org; Santa Cruz County has the fastest growing senior population in California! An interview on &quot;The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club&quot; with &quot;Dangerous Dan&quot; Orange, &amp;amp; &quot;DJ Spark Plug&quot;, &quot;DJ Spark Plug&quot; (Dylan Estevez) &amp;amp; Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (&amp;amp; these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the &quot;Donate to KZSC&quot; button. Thanks! KZSC Santa Cruz http://kzsc.fm/talk <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/41010955/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/87A93A/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/201167820