Podcast

Transcript

Joshua Miller (00:05.36)

Okay, everyone, welcome back to another episode of a special announcement 5 and 20 podcast by Remarkable Academic Foods. I'm your host, Joshua Miller.

Rachel Miller (00:14.789)

I'm your extra special guest host, Rachel Miller.

Joshua Miller (00:18.512)

That's right, everyone. Special guest is my partner in business and my partner in business and life is on this podcast episode with me today on this special announcement episode. And I'm in a different setting. If you're seeing the video of this than what you usually see. And that's because for two reasons. One, this is a little bit more casual. We're talking about tacos. So no need for formal settings with tacos. Right. And two, again, this is a special announcement. It's about an event called tacos for life and I'm sure that that has you intrigued in itself. Hopefully you get some value from this episode and a way that you can A, support the organization if you're local to our area or B, take something, an idea that you can take and use in your organization one of these days. So make sure you stick around for the value we're gonna drop here.

Okay, and as I mentioned, we have a special announcement episode. We have with us a guest, Ben Williams, who is the executive director for the Connect Center for Youth. Ben, welcome and thank you for taking the time to join in this podcast with us today. How are you doing today?

Ben Williams (01:34.796)

Well, thank you for having me excited to be here

Joshua Miller (01:39.664)

Absolutely, and we are excited to help spread the word of this awesome event that you have coming up. And to kick things off, before we get to know Ben, I'm going to ask you a nice record question. And this one is directed really towards you because you are, as you said, recovering chef, which I love that line. I'm definitely going to steal it. And with that in mind, what is your favorite thing to cook?

We have with us, I guess, Ben Williams, who is the executive director of Connect Center.

Ben Williams (02:04.116)

man. I mean, tacos. It's gotta be tacos. It's just, yeah. I mean, we had burger night last night at my house and I squeezed tacos out of it somehow. I had some extra chicken breasts, got an onion, some jalapenos.

Joshua Miller (02:14.064)

That is so appropriate.

Joshua Miller (02:28.784)

What?

Rachel Miller (02:29.573)

That's right.

Ben Williams (02:31.604)

threw it on my flat top, grilled up some tortillas and we were in there, made some chimichurri real quick. You know, it's just tacos are so like diverse and flexible. I just, I love all the things you can do with them.

Joshua Miller (02:39.696)

Alright, I -

Joshua Miller (02:47.184)

I think that's enough value for this episode. We can end it here. Anything you put to a burger, you can make a taco.

Rachel Miller (02:47.237)

Yeah, right.

Ben Williams (02:51.508)

Yeah.

Rachel Miller (02:55.333)

His usual icebreaker question might be a little bit easier. What is your favorite guilty pleasure food?

Joshua Miller (03:00.24)

Yeah.

Ben Williams (03:04.724)

Favorite guilty pleasure food is No No Actually because I've been making tacos a lot healthier lately It's definitely Ben and Jerry's caramel sutra With the camo core that is my guiltiest pleasure ever. It's so good Like I don't I don't need to be like 10 miles near any Ben and Jerry's caramel sutra

Joshua Miller (03:06.736)

Tacos!

Rachel Miller (03:08.837)

Are we going to go tacos again?

Joshua Miller (03:30.128)

Yeah.

Ben Williams (03:35.636)

Amazing.

Joshua Miller (03:36.944)

my goodness, I've had

Rachel Miller (03:37.773)

That's difficult because it's in like every store.

Ben Williams (03:40.372)

Yeah, yeah, I just, I shout fire in my mouth.

Joshua Miller (03:41.168)

And we've had quite a few guests where Ben and Jerry's ice cream is up there. Yeah. Awesome. All right. All right. So let's get into who is Ben. Let's start there. Who is Ben today? Where have you started? How did you get here? Just so you know, give us a quick background on you.

Ben Williams (03:46.324)

Yeah, yeah.

Wow.

Ben...Ben is an interesting phenomenon so I am a recovering chef like like we mentioned before and I say that because I was in the restaurant industry for almost a decade and operated at high levels and it just never really like leaves you once you're in that life

And, you know, in that culture, it's just always a part of you, no matter what you're doing afterwards. You know, so like it's really hard for me to go into other restaurants because I'm immediately critiquing from the time I pull up in the parking lot to the time I leave the parking lot. You know, but at home, I'm always cooking, always inventing. I'm a really creative chef.

Joshua Miller (04:42.864)

Mm -hmm.

Ben Williams (05:01.012)

I'm a creative at heart, really, because I've had other creative pieces to my life, such as music and art. And the culinary arts just fell right into that. So I love creating flavor combinations. I love creating emotions with food. I love feeding people and having them react positively. It's one of my love languages.

So yeah tacos are my love language But you know, that's that's a big driving force behind what really started my career down that path was I really loved feeding people and loved the way that they reacted when they got some amazing food like there's there's no other feeling like it It's just yeah, it's such a primal connection, you know, everybody eats

Joshua Miller (05:58.896)

So true.

Ben Williams (05:58.996)

Yeah.

Rachel Miller (05:59.301)

Yeah, very true. So, tell us a little bit about your organization.

Ben Williams (06:05.556)

Sure, so I'm the executive director of the connect center for youth. We're located in Cajos, New York and the connect center is a nonprofit and We are kind of dual pronged. So we serve the community And we have community support services mostly food and security services, but there's other minor Aspects to that. So for example, we have a food pantry that we do emergency food packages for people but also in the food pantry we have a period pantry we have a baby pantry so Mothers can get baby supplies diapers formula wipes stuff like that We also have a school supply pantry so students can get school supplies year -round We have a couple little free libraries, so we do community literacy work

And then we also have our other feeding program. It's called the backpack program that we run in conjunction with the local regional food bank and the Cohoes school system. So we work with the social workers at the school. They refer us families and Cohoes is a Title I school. So, you know, they feed the kids. We feed them on the weekends. So

Rachel Miller (07:12.805)

Love it.

Ben Williams (07:32.276)

Identify the families and then we send them home food for them and usually their family for the entire weekend And I really love that program and it's been Yes, yes, so you know that's that's how I view our place in the nonprofit world and Especially in the community that we serve is really plugging those gaps like you said Rachel Really responding listening

Rachel Miller (07:43.429)

That's a really important gap.

Ben Williams (08:00.5)

to the needs, responding the best I can. And the backpack program has just been an amazing piece of that. I love that part. So the other prong that we do is we do youth services. So we do after school and summer STEAM -based youth programming. So STEAM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.

I love the arts part of it. So that's why we went STEAM instead of STEM So, you know referring, you know going back to my culinary roots. We have a the connect kitchen where we give culinary lessons This week actually we're gearing up for our taco masters camp so it's a steam -based taco camp where the kids come in and experiment with recipes and time and temperature and

Joshua Miller (08:33.68)

Same. Same.

Ben Williams (08:55.124)

You know, we make tortillas and hot sauce and all the components and figure out what happens where it's very scientific. and then so like the other arts, we have a music studio. we do traditional like painting art. So we have a mural camp this week, as well. And then we do digital art. we just love it. You know, we, we love all the nerdy stuff. we also have a technology hub where we do stuff like build your own computer.

Lego League we've done 3d printing We have microscopes we do like environmental study stuff where we look at water samples around town and soil Yeah, what else We have an arcade so we have a whole black box arcade where we do gaming in eSports and game development Yeah, so in our area

Joshua Miller (09:32.188)

Hehehe

I will be there. Name the time and the place I will be there. I'm a wannabe gamer. I don't spend nearly as much time on it as I used to.

Rachel Miller (09:54.277)

So Josh and I can come and play Mario Kart. Yeah. Can Josh and I play Mario Kart?

Ben Williams (09:56.884)

yeah? You're a gamer? yeah! That's one of my favorite things to do is like take a break and go watch the kids play Mario Kart and Smash Brothers.

Joshua Miller (10:12.848)

Yeah.

Rachel Miller (10:13.629)

I'm more of a gamer than Josh is for the record.

Ben Williams (10:16.916)

Really? Alright.

Rachel Miller (10:19.301)

So I am, I am, I am, I really am. So I definitely will and I'll beat you on Mario Kart.

Joshua Miller (10:20.148)

Yeah, seriously, seriously.

Ben Williams (10:23.38)

Come through.

Yeah, you probably you probably will I'm garbage I gotta miss Pac -Man machine because I can I know I can beat the kids at that

Joshua Miller (10:40.496)

Nice.

Rachel Miller (10:43.973)

The reason we're here, insert huge announcement lights going off, Tacos for Life. This is what drew me to ask Josh to have this podcast. I'm excited to eat tacos in general any day of the week, but tell me why I'm even more excited about these tacos. Tell me all about the event.

Ben Williams (10:53.396)

Yes.

Ben Williams (11:12.084)

Well, these tacos are going to help kids. So that's the theme of Tacos for Life is eat tacos, help kids, right? So the event was created three years ago when I threw my first taco camp. And a lot of what we do here on our youth programming side is career exploration and workforce development, right? So really giving the kids exposure. Myself and my professional chef friends, but also exposing them to You know culinary like dinner service Was what I was really wanting You know to kind of teach them and then put them through the ringer a little bit so they can see what it's like in a fast pace You know do it now type of environment right? And that's what we try to do with a lot of our programs. We like to train and teach the skills, but also bring in professionals to show kind of like, hey, here's how I got here. Here's some paths you can take. Here are your options in this industry and stuff like that. So Tacos for Life became that vehicle. And the first year we served maybe 100 people.

The next year was like 250. Last year we hit 400 people. My space was completely jam packed. So we set it up like an all you can eat your ticket. You've just come in. We had taco catering stations all around the room with the kids assembling and serving, you know, so they got that one -on -one customer service piece to it. you know, we talked about time and temperature and, and station cleanliness and station readiness, mise en place, you know, all the things. And, you know, in the gamer arcade section, we had like a nacho fountain and like walking tacos. And it was just insane. We had like four different DJs and it was 96 degrees and people stayed and it was hot, sweaty hugs and fun and just dancing and like people didn't care. It was just a taco -tastic time.

Ben Williams (13:35.412)

and So we kind of maxed out Yeah, it was so fun. But after last year I was like, alright, I can't like literally I literally can't serve any more people with myself and the kids So how do we make this bigger? Because I'm always trying to grow every year do something bigger and better and more challenging, right? That's just kind of my my personal work ethic so this year

Rachel Miller (13:38.245)

I cannot wait.

Ben Williams (14:04.564)

We truly made it a community -wide event, so we're shutting down the block outside of the connect Center. We invited Dozens of restaurants and we have about 12 that are competing So they're coming in taco professionals from all across the capital district are coming setting up competing for the best taco in the 518 so we got a golden taco trophy It's a whole thing

It's going to be so incredible. So my kids will now be competing against other taco professionals this year. So they're going to learn about market competition and about food costs and scaling and, you know, all that type of thing. So I'm really excited. We also have another youth culinary program that is participating in competing to.

Joshua Miller (14:50.416)

Okay.

Ben Williams (15:01.108)

So it's really great to be able to collaborate with another culinary training program in the area from the Seat Center. I'm really excited about it. And it's really becoming a community lift. So we have restaurants from all over the area. Price Shopper became our presenting sponsor this year. So they're selling our Tacos for life tickets out of all of their stores. They're also bringing in professionals from their company during taco week.

to talk to the kids, you know, like a nutritionist, a marketing people, you know, just to talk about different professions within the food industry. And I'm really, I'm really excited. We're just getting bigger and bigger every year. So yeah, tacos for life. So everybody that comes this year is going to get a taco pass and they become a judge. So you'll get to try tacos from every vendor. You become a judge. So you better come hungry.

Rachel Miller (15:49.637)

That's fantastic.

Joshua Miller (15:54.544)

Yeah.

Ben Williams (16:00.34)

There's gonna be a lot of tacos there. And then we have a panel of final judges that make the trophy decision. So I'm really excited and scared. It's the first year we've ever tried it this way. But I think good things are coming.

Rachel Miller (16:19.205)

I'm obsessed. So tell me location, time, place, give me the details, cost. How do you get there? What do you do? What time is it?

Joshua Miller (16:19.248)

Yeah.

Ben Williams (16:27.892)

Yes.

Awesome. All the things. So the date is Saturday, July 13th from 1 pm to 4 pm and it's at 49 Johnston Avenue in Cohoes 12047. That's where the Connect Center is. So the Connect Center is a project that we've been renovating a giant Catholic cathedral. So it's the former St. Agnes Cathedral.

So literally when you're in Cohoes look for the highest tallest brick steeple in all of coho's drive up the hill towards that steeple and you're going to find tacos. So at the connect center you can get tickets online at connectcenterforyouth.org/tacos The tickets are thirty dollars online thirty dollars at the door. But if you go to Price Chopper

They're only $25 and you can get them at any customer service kiosk or the checkout stations at any price chopper. Just ask for a tacos for life's tickets. They're discounted at $25 in store. Kids five and under are free. What else? There's going to be vendors on top of the tacos. Like Kona ice Nellie's treats from

Rachel Miller (17:47.013)

awesome.

Ben Williams (17:57.876)

Cohoes will also be there making dessert tacos, face painting, it's very family friendly. It's a dry event. There's gonna be gaming. So inside there's gonna be gaming tournaments by Claim To Fame Entertainment, photo booths. It's gonna be a time. It's gonna be a whole event and just come with some time and come with your appetite. It's gonna be fantastic.

Joshua Miller (17:59.984)

nice

Rachel Miller (18:28.965)

And I'll tell you what, just as a food service professional, an industry professional, get those tickets guys so that everybody knows on the team there, how many people to prep for, how many people to expect. We always, they always have walk -ins, which is wonderful, right? But I really, really encourage people to go out, get your ticket today so that these guys can know what they're doing.

Other ways to support the Connect Center for Youth, Ben, any, like can we donate? Can we just go online? Can we offer our help during the week or on the weekends? What can we do to support you more?

Ben Williams (19:15.412)

Absolutely, I think yeah, that's a great question. There's definitely multiple ways to support the connect Center So if you would like to donate you can donate right on our website connectcenterforyouth.org Those are always appreciated. We're always looking for monthly donors Something as little as $25 a month can help me feed multiple families per year

So we we like to say that we make dollars scream around here So, you know any amount helps and we maximize it to its complete potential and and help as many people as we possible possibly can So you can donate online? You can also show up to tacos for life with a big check. I won't turn you away and then as far as volunteering also consult the website connect center for youth org There's volunteering opportunities listed on the website where you can just go and sign up Our two biggest areas of opportunity are with our two feeding programs with our food pantry in our backpack program We always need drivers to drop off food Because we you know when when you're dealing with poverty you're also dealing with you know, logistics like transportation issues and money for transportation and you know, other health issues that would prevent people from actually carrying the food back, you know, so drivers are always appreciated.

Rachel Miller (20:50.053)

Well, absolutely.

Rachel Miller (20:55.781)

Yep, that's all part of food insecurity. Yeah. So here at Remarkable Academics, oops. I'm sorry.

Ben Williams (20:58.996)

Absolutely, absolutely Yeah, what was the third thing?

Ben Williams (21:10.516)

No, I think you mentioned something else, right? Well, what was it? It was donate volunteers and.

Rachel Miller (21:11.653)

Go ahead, do the third thing and we'll.

Rachel Miller (21:17.573)

Other ways to support.

Ben Williams (21:21.556)

That's it. I'll just keep it there

Rachel Miller (21:26.821)

That's all right. That's all right. So here at Remarkable Academic Foods, no, that's okay. So here at Remarkable Academic Foods, we're incredibly passionate about community and of course feeding students, children, and you know.

Ben's organization speaks volumes to community and service. And what we're all about here is making sure that students get fed, right, and get fed the right foods. So I can't wait for July 13th. Joshua Miller and I will be there. So if anybody wants to join us and join this amazing event, please, please get your tickets today.

It's a really, really wonderful thing for the community.

Joshua Miller (22:22.832)

Yeah, totally. And there's a lot to take away from this. You know, just everything that you guys are doing with the, not just the food itself, but all the things around it. So the food safety touched in, the cost you touched in, like it's like literally bringing a simple educational platform to it. And I think that can be involved in so many different ways in schools and even with adults like that's anyone like you made it something that's very easy to relate to and made it educational which i think is wonderful.

Ben Williams (22:59.38)

Thank you.

Joshua Miller (23:01.392)

So Ben, do you have anything else to add on for the audience before we take this away?

Ben Williams (23:07.828)

Thank you for this opportunity to be here today. Like Rachel was saying earlier, please, please, please go get your tickets sooner than later, because we do need to know how many people are coming as best as possible. And thank you for your support in advance. And if you'd like to learn more about the Connect Center, please visit our website, connectcenterforyouth.org.

Joshua Miller (23:24.784)

Yeah.

Ben Williams (23:36.66)

We are on Facebook Instagram and LinkedIn @ConnectCenterForYouth for youth and We look forward to seeing you at tacos for life

Joshua Miller (23:51.024)

Awesome. We would definitely be there and supporting and helping to spread the word both through this and other ways for sure. And definitely looking forward to being able to support the center for sure in the future. So I'm super excited for this all around and everyone, thank you for tuning in for another episode of the 5 in 20 podcast. I'm your host Josh Miller and we

Ben Williams (24:04.628)

Thank you. Thank you.

Joshua Miller (24:16.016)

have our very special guest, Rachel here as well, who was able to come to the front scenes instead of just the behind scenes with the editing and all that. So Rachel, thank you for joining in and I'm sure you'll be on again for another episode. Everyone, until...

Ben Williams (24:29.204)

Yes.

Rachel Miller (24:31.813)

Of course I will. And shall we do it together, Josh?

Joshua Miller & Rachel Miller (24:36.912)

Until next time, signing off.