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Angie:Hello, Alameda. Welcome to the Island City Beat Podcast. I'm your host, Angie Watson-Hajjem. Today, we're going to be giving the spotlight to a wonderful nonprofit here in Alameda called the All Good Living Foundation. The mission of the All Good Living Foundation is to create access to food, clothing and supplies for children and their families here in Alameda and beyond.
Angie:I'm going to be talking to Christopher Tam. He is Executive Director of the All Good Living Foundation. He'll be telling us about his organization and the amazing work they're doing here on the island. So with that, Christopher Tam, welcome to the Island City Beat podcast. Thank you for being here.
Chris:Thanks, Angie, for having me.
Angie:And I should ask you, do you want to be called Christopher or Chris? Or does it matter? Prefer Chris. Okay, wonderful. Well, welcome, Chris, to our show.
Angie:We're really, really happy to have you here. Thank you. Yeah. So your father was Neil Tam, and he was a very respected and beloved member of our community.
Angie:For people who are not familiar with Neil Tam, tell us about your father, about his legacy, about his work, his achievements, and really how his work here inspired you to create the All Good Living Foundation.
Chris:You know, it's funny, I mean, knew a lot about his work, but I didn't know everything about his work because he did a lot of stuff that we didn't even know about as a family, and you know, because he just, you know, wouldn't, when he came home and worked with the family, he just really didn't talk about it, to be honest, you know, and so a lot of the work, I knew he was doing certain things after school, like he was really into Reiki and and healing people and mentoring people. So I knew that. I just didn't know about a bunch of his other work until, like, later, to be honest.
Angie:But he didn't come home and talk about all the great things he was doing to you. You guys considered him on the the the coffee table talking about all the things that he was accomplishing in the world.
Chris:Yeah, he didn't. Yeah, he didn't. Yeah, and then, you know, you find out later and you just, you know, then I started getting interested in his work and when I was younger, I mean, I just don't think I was interested at the time or I just really didn't understand what was going on. But then I think I just had it probably in my, you know, my DNA to like eventually do some of the work and carry on with his spirit, if that makes any sense.
Angie:Yeah, absolutely. Well, can you talk a little bit about some of the things that he did? I know that he was the first Asian American principal of a high school here in Alameda. That correct?
Chris:He was the first principal at Miller Elementary. Yeah, the first Asian principal in Alameda. And then the, yeah, he was a principal at Miller, and then he was a principal at Washington before it became Mylan, and then, but he's been in education, he was in education for like a total of thirty nine years.
Angie:And he also did a lot of work. It's like he had a real passion for children with disabilities. You want talk a little bit about some of the work that he did around that issue?
Chris:Well, started off in special education, and then, as you know, Austin, my brother has a disability, and yeah, so he started off there and then, you know, his journey was started off there and then became vice principal and then principal and then school board member.
Angie:Yeah, he did a lot. So tell us a little bit about kind of the creation of the All The Living Foundation and just I know I'm sure your father was part of the inspiration for creating this, but tell us a little bit because many people who are listening have never heard of the organization. I had never heard of it until just about a couple of months ago.
Chris:Terrible on marketing.
Angie:Yeah. So, yeah, so tell us about your foundation and some of the offerings that you have for people here in Alameda.
Chris:So the only reason why we even came up with the idea of All Good Living Foundation was because when he was sick and, you know, he was sick with cancer, I try to spend as much time as I could with him. And so eventually we ran out of playing board games and stuff together. And then one day we sat down and, you know, we're like, you know, if we had a family nonprofit, you know, what do you think is, like, needed in the school district? Mhmm. As I I remember he was always saying that, you know, there's budget cut there's always these budget cuts since I don't know what year, but then all these programs were just getting cut and it just it was a never on it was an ongoing thing because like when I was in middle school, they used to have like life skills classes and programs like that and more music and think art programs.
Chris:Yeah. And they, you know, eventually getting slashed and, you know, he we were just telling him there's not enough programs for kids. And he was telling me about how many unhoused students there were.
Angie:Chris, that really amazes me because I those of us who live in Alameda, we don't see people, a lot of people who are on house. We don't talk about it. And I know I was talking to a woman who is a paraprofessional here in Alameda School District, and she was saying how many of her children, the kids that she sees every day, they're homeless. Their families have no place to live. And I was just shocked by that.
Angie:So tell us more about your experience and people who are unhoused and children who are unhoused here in Alameda, because I think a lot of people would be really shocked at the numbers that we have here.
Chris:Yeah. When I heard about the numbers, it was well, I thought it was pretty cool that they can, you know, they could prove that they're unhoused and then they get extra services. But yeah, there's over 5,000 in Alameda County just registered. And then, like, I'm helping out an unhoused teacher right now, and I don't think she registered her kid as being identified for this. I think it's embarrassing for a lot of
Angie:people. Yeah,
Chris:so the first idea was to provide basic resources to kids, McKinney Vento students. And that was the first idea. And then, like five years after he passed, I called Wood School where I went to school and I said, you know, my dad was a part of Wood School. I went to Wood School. And this is one idea that we thought of.
Chris:Can you find the kids at your school and we'll, you know, we'll hook them up with Christmas presents?
Angie:Oh, wow.
Chris:Yeah. And then I started asking all of my friends that have businesses in Alameda, and they all started donating and it was so easy to get donations, you know, because it's like, you know, at first I was like, you know, maybe people don't believe me, so I wasn't sure if it was gonna be easy to get donations, but what I do is I keep everything super transparent. So if they ever need to talk to like the principals or the school district, they could just, you know, we have that partnership so they could talk directly if they, you know, want to confirm. But yeah, that's how we first started. And then we started in Alameda.
Chris:Then we went to Oakland. And in Oakland, there's over 2,000 registered unhoused kids. And then it was, you know, Oakland so big that they said it would probably be easier, you know, because there's a resource center that's by Grand Lake. But they're saying a lot of the schools just can't make it to to that place. So why don't you set up these, know, set up the stores in the schools?
Chris:And so that's when we started the community closet program where we put kind of like structure into the school, like a store in the school and have it managed by the school staff. And we try to get like a community involved. And then so it's like the right there on campus.
Angie:Within the classes, what what can a child find if he or she went to one of those closets in the school?
Chris:Clothing, shoes, toiletries, non perishable foods. And yeah, now we do a lot of food distribution like I never thought we'd be getting into giving, you know, serving food. And when we first started, the only reason why we even started was Amazon started giving us these like pallets of pallets of boxes, and they didn't even know what was in them, and so we a lot of them, there's a lot of food in the boxes, and so we had to give away all the food, and at first, you know, I thought it was in, you know, there's a little bit of, you know, the food bank is like, you know, why are you giving away food, Chris? And I was like, because we have to give away food, because it's just been donated to us. Right.
Chris:Then we had a meeting with the school district, and for some reason I was like super dumb. I was like, I don't think child hunger exists in Alameda, you know, because there's a food bank. And so when we got into the meeting, they're like, child hunger is really real. It's people just can't make it to the food bank, you know, just like, you know, they're open a couple days a week and a lot of parents are working, they just can't make it there. So what we're doing at the schools is is so much easier for families to get to.
Angie:Right.
Chris:And so that's when we partnered with the food bank, and now I believe they give us around like 2,500 pounds of food a week. Wow. No, every two weeks. Yeah.
Angie:So so you have these closets in. And how many schools have these community college community closets?
Chris:There is six in Alameda, I think six in Alameda, Four in Oakland and two in San Lorenzo.
Angie:Awesome. And do you know how many unhealthy children are here in Alameda? Do you have the statistics for that?
Chris:There's 80.
Angie:80. 80. Just don't have a home to go to after school every day. We're going to school. Yeah.
Angie:It's Amazing to me.
Chris:Yeah. But there's probably way more than that.
Angie:Yeah. I'm sure it's probably more than that. Wow. So outside of the community closets that you have, I suppose you also supply like school supplies for the kids, backpacks, things like that. Yeah.
Angie:Outside of your classes, tell us about you have like this organization, this program called the do good sports club. I like that. So what is the do good sports club?
Chris:Yeah. So that one, we were kind of I mean, it's been going on for like three years now, but, you know, my dad was also saying that kids can't afford sports nowadays because it's so expensive. And so, you know, we were by luck, we found out that Alameda Golf Course, Chuck Corca Golf Course, they were having these free camps for kids, and so once I heard about it, I connected with him and I was like, is there any way that we can be a part of this, you know, as long as I can, I have relationships with the schools and other organizations and I'll get the kids and the organizations I know and then send them to you, you know, if if you have an interest in working together and so we started off with golf with that relationship and then we started a a middle a free middle school golf league that's been going around going on for like three years And so, you know, by having giving kids access to sports with free coaching and free equipment? Yeah, it gives them opportunities to like, you know, golf is hard, but it just gives them opportunity to try it and to play for free.
Angie:That's wonderful.
Chris:Yeah, it's working out really well.
Angie:Yeah. Because, I mean, school sports can be very expensive. If you have more than one kid, it could be just something that parents just cannot afford. So I'm just so happy to hear that. What are some of other programs that you and services that you have through your foundation that you might wanna talk about?
Chris:Those are the main ones. The food distribution, you know, even though it's like separate with the community closets, we kind of consider it like the same thing, you know.
Angie:Yeah, you were talking also about an initiative that thought was so cool. Something about the do gooders where you're trying to really just put the spotlight on people who are doing good things in the community.
Chris:Yes.
Angie:Yeah, I love that concept. Talk a little bit about that.
Chris:Yeah, because I mean we started doing it at, you know, started meeting a lot of young kids and and a lot of people started volunteering for us and they were, you know, they were just volunteering and they were like kind of drawn and you know, they were so empathetic about helping people. You know, there's this there's this I met this third grader named Mark, and he heard what I was doing, and he would save all of his he would get all of his allowance and purchase toiletries for for for people in need and he would and he continued to do it like every year. And then we started meeting more people from, you know, all these different schools and they just really wanted to do good. And then I realized, you know, I started working with Saint Vincent de Paul and and the Catholic church and I had no idea that they were doing all this great work and we're doing all this great work together and you know, a lot of it is just people don't hear about. So, there's so many groups that are doing good in Alameda that I wanted to feature them.
Chris:I'm not sure if you heard of Dine and Connect.
Angie:Of course, right when I volunteer for them, yes. Right.
Chris:Yeah, and so like, they're just, you know, so many opportunities create these positive stories of these do gooders and yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, so many, I mean, it's basically endless and a lot of people like me, I'm just really drawn to hearing inspiring stories about people.
Angie:And so you're thinking about, I think, a podcast is in the works for you where you're gonna be showcasing the work that these do gooders are doing. Is that is that kind of the premise of your podcast that you're working on?
Chris:Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna be doing it. That's that's the goal of it. And then the Alameda Post is gonna be covering it.
Chris:So
Angie:That that's so cool.
Chris:And
Angie:and, Chris, how how is your foundation founded? How is it funded?
Chris:At first, I just started doing it with absolutely nothing. My mom got mad at me. She's like, what are you doing? You're a nonprofit is not supposed to be started like this, you know, because she was the CFO of this nonprofit. And then I was like, you know, life is short, feels good helping people.
Chris:Well, first when we started, I actually didn't even know if this was actually going to be a nonprofit like a nonprofit, know, me doing it full time and hiring people.
Angie:And
Chris:so we first did it, we just did it with our own money, and then we started getting donations from people. And then we met, you know, some donors in the La Mirinda area and they started helping. And then Oakland School District, they started, you know, because we're just doing it for free and they said, hey Chris, you guys are doing good work and we would like to support you so you can be sustainable. And then San Lorenzo the same. We actually don't get any support from Alameda.
Angie:Know, I
Chris:don't know. I mean, I don't know, but I mean, we still do it. But yeah. And so that's why we apply for, you know, apply for grants. So we are getting community grants from some of the nonprofits now to
Angie:that's so wonderful. It really is. Just and I'm really I definitely want you to keep us in touch with your podcast and how and how that's shaping up and featuring all the good people that are doing wonderful work here your community. Think that's just going to be so awesome. So Chris, if people are interested in accessing your program, how do they go about doing that?
Chris:They could just sign up on our website or they could sign up at school.
Angie:Okay, great. I do want to just give a plug to Dine and Connect. We mentioned Dine and Connect. Would be great, I think, to do a show on Dine and Connect at some point. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it's a wonderful program that we have here in Alameda, where different churches and our local synagogue, they have dinners once a month.
Angie:Each Meal organization puts on a meal every month, and you invite people in the community to come together to have it used to be before COVID, we would sit down together and eat. But since COVID, it's mostly just people getting a bag. But it's a chance for people to come together, people who are unhoused, people who are housed, everyone. So I don't want to put any shade on your organization, but I did also want to just say Dynatic Connect is a wonderful group, and a good doer here in Alameda, and definitely another time in the future.
Chris:One thing I forgot to mention too is, when we first started, I really got our first kind of break as I met this. He's now my friend. His name is Hong that she's he's an Alameda resident and. He heard what we were doing and then he invited me to like a Golden State Warriors event. And then he introduced me to some of the players, wives on the family and I started working with them and then.
Chris:Yeah, so that really helped us getting connected to Andre Iguodala's wife, Christina, and David West's wife, Leslie. And then I became friends with David West too, was on the Warriors. He's one of our, you know, he really, his family really helped us out. And then we got connected to a bunch of other, you know, retired NBA players. And then we got introduced to the National NBPRA, which is the National Retired Players Association.
Chris:And so we partnered together and so our community closet program with the food distribution in Oakland is now called the Legends Food Pantries. And so we have, we started off at McClymonds High School, and then we're rolling out with four other that former NBA players went to school at, and then one current player, Damon Lillard,
Angie:that
Chris:went to Oakland. Yeah.
Angie:That looks so cool.
Chris:Yeah. Thanks. And so, and then they were partners with Whirlpool. And so, because they're partners with Whirlpool, they introduced us to Whirlpool, and then we became partners and now I'm able to give free refrigerators and freezers with them to any organization are serving people with food. You know, have, it's like an all volunteer Whirlpool, A volunteer group that they work at the company, but they do all the charitable work on the site.
Chris:So there's like over 50 of them now that just do good and they give away free refurbished refrigerators and freezers.
Angie:Yeah. Wow, Chris, that is amazing. Ripples of goodness has come out of this foundation that you've built. It's just so great that more and more people are learning about and wanting to help you spread goodness in the world. Wonderful.
Angie:It Is.. Yeah.
Chris:They, so what we're doing now is, we created a platform over here in Alameda, and we're giving it to the retired players to copy the model and start it in their cities.
Angie:Wow. Great.
Chris:Yeah. So we're working in Detroit right now and New York a little bit.
Angie:So this is going national, Not just
Chris:Yeah,
Angie:yeah. That's great. Chris, it has been a pleasure talking to you and learning about the All Good Living Foundation. Please keep up the wonderful work that you're doing in the communities that you're serving. Thank you so much for sharing with us today.
Angie:We appreciate your time.
Chris:Appreciate your time as well.
Angie:And thank you for joining us here at the Island City Beat Podcast. Come back and join us for another episode. Until then, I am your host, Angie Watson-Hajjem. Take care. Goodbye.
Chris:Thank you.