In this episode, we talk with Tonja Smith, Executive Director of Ruth's Gleanings, a non-profit focused on reducing food waste by gleaning healthy, nutritious food that would normally be thrown away and distributing it to shelters and other facilities. Ruth's Gleanings also operates Foodshare Spartanburg, a program where customers buy boxes of mostly local, fresh produce at reduced rates. 

Click here to find out more about Ruth's Gleanings, and to sign up to volunteer or donate food or funds. 

In this episode we talk with Katie Burnett and Sarah Kate Abee, founders of the Hub City Kids, at the NFL Play 60 playground on the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail. Hub City Kids is a resource for families looking for fun, healthy activities to do with their kids. We talk about what they look for in a park, where they go in bad weather, and what places around Spartanburg are the most fun.

We also talk with PAL staff Laura Ringo, Alyssa Duncan and Siobhan Saul about what their kids are doing this summer.

Here are links to much of what we talked about:

City of Spartanburg Parks

Spartanburg County Parks and Recreation

Croft State Park

Cottonwood Trail

The Children's Museum of the Upstate

Spartanburg Science Center

Boiling Springs Community Park

Upstate Parent magazine 

In this episode we visit two new recreational facilities on the west side of Spartanburg County. The Westview Extension of the Wadsworth Trail held an opening ceremony on May 18.We walk the trail with one of the creative forces behind the Wadsworth Trail and a donor to the Westview Extension, Laura Henthorn. We also visit the trail with Dr. Lindi Metcalf, principal at Westview Elementary.

Tyger Berry Landing is a new non-motorized boat launch on the Tyger River, one of two handicapped accessible put-ins in Spartanburg County. We visit the site with Monty Mullen and Kody Crawford of the Tyger River Foundation. 

Find more information about the places and people we talk about below:

Tyger River Foundation

Westview Elementary School

Wadsworth Trail

In this episode we take a look into the planning and history of the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Criterium 2019, the fifteenth and largest edition of this Spartanburg favorite. We sit in on a staff meeting and talk with PAL ED Laura Ringo and PAL Resource Development Coordinator Lindsey Graham. 

For more information about the Crit, click here.  

In this episode, we walk and talk with Alissa Duncan, Healthy Communities Coordinator, about her work with the Healthy People Healthy Carolinas grant from the Duke Endowment. 

For more information about the Blue Zones model, go here: www.bluezones.com

In this episode we talk with Siobhan Saul, Healthy Kids Coordinator at Partners for Active Living, about her work with the Spartanburg Healthy Schools Initiative in coordination with the Mary Black Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. 

We also visit with the Oakland Elementary School's Wellness Committee, led by Carolina Cabe, and go for a walk on their new fitness trail.

In this episode we walk and talk with Betty Montgomery and Anne Flynn of the Noble Tree Foundation, an organization that recently planted 42 trees on the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail. We find out about the Noble Tree Foundation and why they think trees are so important.

This episode of the Daily Required is a live recording of a panel discussion that was part of the Spartanburg County Historical Association's Annual Meeting entitled History and Active Living. With PAL's Ned Barrett, the Spartanburg Area Conservancy's (SPACE) Executive Director Andrew Waters and Monty Mullen and Julian Hankinson who founded the Tyger River Foundation (follow the links to find out more about each organization). We talk about our favorite places in the County, ways in which each organization is making the connections between history and active living, and even why we might want to teach our children how to jay-walk.

Because this is a live recording, some of the recording levels may need adjusting. 

In this episode, we focus on the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail, which surpassed 100,000 annual uses in 2018, up 38% over 2017. We interview volunteers at a trail work day, and talk with Mitch Kennedy, Community Services Director at the City of Spartanburg, about the role the trail plays in Spartanburg's growth.