Real Help for Real People

About This Episode

When so many things feel out of our control in this world, how can we provide tangible help to people in need? Changemakers Michael Babin (Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture) and Meghan Ogilvie (Dog Tag, Inc., Dog Tag Bakery) are giving people skills and tools to find meaning and purpose. In this episode of Add Passion and Stir, Babin and Ogilvie describe what drives them to serve their communities and bring opportunities to deserving kids, adults and military service members. “The people who need good food the most are the ones least likely to ever have it show up on their plates,” says Babin. To address this need, his nonprofit Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture brings mobile farmers markets to low-income neighborhoods, runs farm camps for kids, and trains military veterans as farmers. His 16 Washington, DC restaurants also source their food from sustainable farms in the region. Ogilvie’s Marine father once told her: “You’ll find your way to serve.” She found it in Dog Tag, Inc, a nonprofit with a fellowship program for military service members, spouses and caregivers that offers a Certificate in Business Administration from Georgetown University and real-life work experience in their bakery. “We are igniting the human spirit and finding purpose again,” she says of their graduates. Dog Tag Bakery also sources much of its supplies from veteran-run businesses in the DC area. Don’t feel helpless – be empowered to help on-the-ground organizations like these provide real help for people in need in your community.