This is the Panhandle

For more information on Don Harrington Discovery Center, CLICK HERE

For more information on Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, CLICK HERE

To learn more about AmTech Career Academy, GO HERE!

This week we sit down with City of Amarillo's Managing Director and CIO, Rich Gagnon. The city is working with Region 16 to provide high-speed internet access to a broader population in our community. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it's the disparity that comes from lack of access. Rich shares his personal reasons for working so hard on this project, but also why it makes economic sense for the city.

This week we sat down with Chris McGilvery, founder of Leaders Readers Network. Chris has a passion for early childhood literacy and the organization he founded is working to increase children's access to books and mastery of reading. In 2021, Leaders Readers Network focused on children's books that celebrated the diversity of children and was featured in a New York Times article, read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/neediest-cases/bringing-books-to-children-that-speak-their-language.html

To learn more about Leaders Readers Network, GO HERE

This week we talk to Jim Whitton, about literacy among our youngest neighbors. His passion to see kids read was sparked by a conference regarding the first 5 years of children's lives. His passion has turned into action by working with StoryBridge and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to put books in the hands of birth through 5 year-olds in Potter and Randall Counties.

If you would like to donate to StoryBridge's campaign, you can do that here: GIVE HERE

www.texaspanhandle100club.org

The 100 Club is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization fully membership/donation supported with the mission to:

• Provide immediate financial assistance to the families of certified peace officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty
• Provide immediate financial assistance to certified peace officers and firefighters injured in the line of duty and unable to work
• Purchase life-protecting and lifesaving equipment for law enforcement and firefighting agencies that cannot be secured through budgeted funds.

Just as our lives have not been easy, theirs have not been either. Many of them don't feel as safe as they once did in serving and protecting. We have seen the need for more (and better) life-protecting and lifesaving equipment thus increasing the need for more funding. Please take a few minutes to watch this quick video about the 100 Club story https://youtu.be/D5D2QipL4D8.

Will you join me in standing behind the men and women behind the badge with an annual membership and a year-end donation to help with lifesaving and life-protecting equipment?

Join online www.texaspanhandle100club.org/membership

and/or make a donation to help with lifesaving equipment for our area first responders:

Firefighters Equipment Fund https://square.link/u/v53sG4Ns

Law Enforcement Equipment Fund https://square.link/u/eVgGyHGQ

In the Season 4 premier we talk with Jackie Pearson, 2018 Chairperson of the Amarillo Area Foundation. Jackie was instrumental in advocating for #ThePanhandleGives and helping the campaign get off the ground. She rolls off the board this year, so we wanted to capture her "behind-the-scenes" view and her passion for philanthropy in the Texas Panhandle.

Do not forget to give to your favorite organization beginning Monday, November 22 through November 30. Give online at www.thepanhandlegives.org!

This week's season 3 finale is a conversation with Panhandle PBS's Karen Welch about the new series, Living While Black. The series is Thursday nights on Panhandle PBS and showcases interviews from some of our Black neighbors. We also talk with one of the featured interviewees, Ms. Melodie Graves. Ms. Graves, a TEDx featured speaker and Amarillo native, shares her perspective of living while Black in Amarillo and how she is hoping to create a better place for her child through activism.

For more information on the project:

https://www.panhandlepbs.org/livingwhileblack/

This week, we sit down with Anna Lisa Ramos, owner of Cocina on the Go! Ms. Ramos received the first loan from Communities Unlimited to purchase the food truck she currently uses. She is no stranger to our podcast; this is her second special episode, and we can't wait for you to hear the exciting updates Anna Lisa shares.

Here's more on Anna Lisa:

Cocina on the Go

Her first time on the podcast