(upbeat horn music) ♪ ♪ Yeah, the simple things in life ♪ - Joining me now is Denine Torr.

She's executive director of Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

Welcome, and thank you for joining us.

- Thank you so much for having me.

It's lovely to be here.

- So, many of us here in our region have seen Dollar General stores, but until recently I had no idea they had a foundation.

So, tell me about the foundation and the family who started it, and the reason for establishing it.

- You know, we're grateful to be a part of the community there.

And, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has actually been around for 29 years.

Next year, we'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary.

And, the foundation itself was started by the founding family of Dollar General.

The co-founder of Dollar General was functionally illiterate with a third-grade education.

He had to drop out of school when his father passed away unexpectedly.

And, being the oldest son in the family, he had to take care of the family, take care of the farm.

And, he never had the opportunity to go back and to finish his education.

He struggled with literacy.

But despite that, he went on to create what is recognized today as a Fortune 100 company.

Right?

So, in his honor and in his legacy, we started the Dollar General Literacy Foundation 29 years ago.

And so, we've been out extending hope and help to individuals across the United States, helping them learn to read, receive their high school equivalency, or learn English; everybody from youth to adults.

- Alright.

We'll talk about some of the different programs and the things that you have funded in just a minute.

I wanna talk a little bit more on the family.

Did they actually start, like, a general store in their area and that's where this built from?

Or, how did it come about?

- Yeah, it just started from a family, the J.L.

Turner and Son family store.

You know, it was at the end of the Great Depression, and they saw so many of their neighbors having to go without the basics in life.

And, they didn't wanna see that happen.

They wanted to create a solution and create an opportunity for everybody to have their basic needs met and not have to go without.

And so, that's how the company got its start and evolved into what is now Dollar General.

And, that is definitely at the heart and core of the philanthropic mission of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is making sure that everybody has that pathway to success, that access to opportunity which comes with education.

- Where did the stores begin, or where did the first one begin?

- In Kentucky is where our first store was.

And then, now you can find us all across the United States.

We're in 47 states.

- Very good.

Well, you're definitely here in California, and specifically here in Southern California.

But, I want you to tell me some of the programs, the projects that your foundation chooses to fund and who's eligible for applying for funding.

- The Dollar General Literacy Foundation offers support to nonprofit organizations, schools, libraries, groups that are leaning in and providing help and hope through basic literacy and basic education services.

So, we are helping individuals, like I said, learn to read, prepare for the high school equivalency, learn English.

And, we don't care if you are a youth or an adult, or like I like to say, "from the twinkle to the wrinkle!"

We have programs that we fund all across the United States that meet you where you are when you're ready to learn and just help you create that pathway to educational success.

- Can you give me some examples of some of the things that have been funded through the foundation?

- Sure, we have funded grassroots programs to the big national partners.

We have a little bit of everything.

So, we fund programs in our hometown communities, our hometown schools and libraries and nonprofit organizations all the way up to things like the Ad Council and the National Literacy Directory and the American Libraries Association, Reading Is Fundamental.

A lot of the really big, beautiful organizations that are out there doing phenomenal work in our hometowns every single day.

So, we are leaning in and supporting them in beautiful ways.

And, we'd love to hear from more of our organizations that are doing great work in this space.

And, they can visit the DollarGeneral LiteracyFoundation.org website and see how they can apply for grants in their hometown community, 'cause we'd love to lean in and do that.

And, we support adult literacy, family literacy, youth, and summer reading programs.

So, we have a little bit of everything to lean in and offer hope.

- Now, the programs are that you apply in January and you get them in March, or are they offered all year round?

How are the parameters and the deadlines for such, and does it vary from state to state?

And, of course, I'm talking here about Southern California, but what's the overall?

How does that go?

- So, we have two different deadlines every year, just 'cause the volume is so high.

And, as you know, right now with educational disruption, more people are looking for support and needing that aid and needing that funding.

So, the numbers are pretty significant on the grant applicants, but we offer-- all of our grants open up in January for adult, family, and summer.

And then, we also have a deadline in May that we just had and we'll announce some more in September.

And then, we do a lot of regional and national partnerships throughout the other months of the year, as well.

So, we year round are doing something to provide support and provide services to individuals across the nation.

- Now, when you have particular partners that you've funded, is it something like-- if you could just paint a picture of maybe an idea of what they might do.

Is it somebody got money so that people could get free education?

Or give me an example of some of the specifics that you have funded over the years since you've been doing this for 29 years.

- It's hard to just start from one and pick, but I tell you what.

Talking about the Ad Council and the great work that we've done there, that has been something that has just had a tremendous impact.

And, we've been partnering the FinishYourDiploma.org campaign for a decade now; it's been out there.

And, what we realized is we went out and we talked to adult learners across the nation and we said, "What is the biggest barrier in going back and just receiving your high school diploma and continuing that education?"

And, what we found is they simply didn't know where to go for help.

And so, we said, "You know what?

We got you.

We got this."

So, we partnered with a couple of organizations, nonprofit organizations and helped fund and create the National Literacy Directory so that we'd have that pipeline.

We'd have the information available for the adult learners.

And then, we partnered with the Ad Council to create FinishYourDiploma.org so then they'd have a place to go so they could find that information and so that they could take that first step.

So, that barrier was removed.

And, we're so grateful and we're so thankful that, at this point, we've helped more than 1.8 million individuals get referrals in their hometown communities.

And, that's pretty exciting.

- Are teachers, are they allowed to apply for something maybe that's in their classroom or librarians needing books?

- Sure.

- So, that's what I'm trying to get you to kind of break it down for me so that our listeners and our viewers watching and listening might say, "Oh, wait a minute.

I didn't know.

Maybe that's something I can look in for for my kiddos or for the adults."

If you could just spell that out just a little bit.

- Sure.

A lot of the programs that the Literacy Foundation funds are programs that are in the classroom.

So, let's say a local school or even a district wants to implement a new literacy program.

They need new workbooks, they need professional development and training for the teachers, they need resources for the children, they need tutor training so that they can have that intensity of instruction beyond the school hours.

So, we're helping fund all of that.

We're helping fund resources that help increase the quality of education, professional development, access to materials, and also making sure that services are available at times when students need them, so when they can access them.

So, whether that's adult or youth, we are doing all of that.

And, we've even funded some things to help inspire and spur innovation in education so that we can take down some of those barriers on the adult education front to being able to attend classes and helping them have quality educational instruction and blended learning models.

And, that's been very successful.

So, again, we do everything from helping you find out where to go to helping meet the basic needs of the programs.

So whether it's a school, whether it is nonprofit, a Boys & Girls Club, whether it's a library, or whether it is a huge national partner like Reading Is Fundamental or the American Libraries Association or Save the Children.

We're going into rural communities, we're going into urban communities, we're going to suburban communities and we're saying, "How can we lean in "and provide this critical resource "and join and be a partner in creating solutions and pathways?"

- Alright, got it.

That's what I was looking for.

Thank you so much.

I just want others to hear all that you are doing.

So, now, in partnership- and you did mention this- you're in partnership with the Ad Council.

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has produced a public service announcement titled "When You Graduate, They Graduate."

It's an effort to promote adults to complete their high school diploma.

Tell me a little bit about it.

- You know, in the United States, there's 34 million adults who do not have their high school diploma.

And, for whatever reason- you know, we don't all have the same journey in life.

We don't go through the same path.

So, it's not about what could have been or should have been, but what can be.

And, when we help open the doorways to opportunities, great things happen.

And, education is one of the great equalizers that's out there.

So, we joined with the Ad Council to say, "How do we help individuals who are considering going back to get their high school diploma, have the information they need and the courage to take that first step?"

So, we created the FinishYourDiploma.org.

We created this "When You Graduate, They Graduate" that features real students who walked that path, who took the time to study, to earn their high school diploma and who celebrated their graduation and their beautiful moment with their family.

This is their family members.

These are real students who have walked this and who've done great things.

And, we hope this ad inspires others to take that journey as well and take that first step.

- Okay.

Well, let's take a look at the ad and then, well, let's take a look at it.

(soft music) ♪ (paper rustling) - Dear moms and dads, ♪ we know it's not always been easy ♪ and it's been a lot of hard work.

♪ Don't tell me it's not worth trying for ♪ What you have achieved here today is going to help us and our futures.

♪ Don't tell me it's not worth dying for ♪ It is why we are coming up on stage to collect your diplomas.

♪ ♪ Everything I do, I do it for you ♪ Mom, I love you always.

♪ You know it's true ♪ ♪ Everything I do, I do it for you ♪ - [Announcer] When you graduate, they graduate.

Visit FinishYourDiploma.org to find free and supportive adult education centers near you.

- Okay.

So, it's a very clever, thought-provoking PSA.

Do you have the opportunity to talk to the adults that benefited or some of the organizations that you hear from that have said, "Thanks to you guys, this happened"?

Do you hear some feedback?

You did mention that those are not actors.

Those are real graduates.

Tell me about that.

- Those are not actors.

Those are real graduates and amazing stories.

And, we had the opportunity to sit down and talk to them, talk to them about their journey and their pathway, through the programs that we funded to the referrals that have been made to the graduation stage.

And, when you see all of that happening come together, just beautiful things start to happen.

Not only does it increase employability and it increases opportunities if you wanna go on to higher education, but more importantly, what we see happen is it starts changing the dialogue around the dinner table.

And, it has a ripple effect on the family and on the friends.

And, everybody around them starts feeling a little bit of hope and feeling like, "Man, I can do this, "and I'm so proud of you.

"And, this is a beautiful moment and I'm glad that I'm getting to share it with you."

And, it's just a lovely way for everybody to come together.

So "When You Graduate, They Graduate", it's about the whole family and all your friends coming together and celebrating and creating opportunities.

- So, you mentioned it earlier in your answer and you said it's sometimes as bare bones as finding where to go.

So, tell me what is FinishYourDiploma.org?

- Sure.

On FinishYourDiploma.org, all you have to do is go out and visit FinishYourDiploma.org, put in your zip code, and you'll find a program in your hometown community that can provide you with adult basic education services, high school equivalency prep classes for free.

So, you know where to go and you get the services by a lovely organization in your hometown community and you take that first step to experiencing your success in getting your diploma.

- So, two key things I heard there is, one, sometimes we don't know where to start.

We don't know where to go.

That gets them started on where to going, and the other is it's free.

That's the other part I like!

- It's free.

- I mean, the service, the training, the education is a free service that I'm sure many families don't know that's a place to start.

But, we probably think, "I'd like to, but I don't really know where to go."

And, this gets it going.

- Yes, absolutely.

There's no reason to not start, right?

Let's go do it.

So, all you gotta do is go to FinishYourDiploma.org, put your zip code in, and find that program in your hometown community.

- Terrific.

Thank you so much for your time.

It was great learning about it.

And, I'll think a little differently when I drive by the stores in the future, like, "Oh, they have a foundation and it's all about literacy."

♪ Yeah, the simple things in life ♪ - My guest is Bill Hoffman, regional manager and zoological curator for Big Bear Valley Recreations and Park District.

Thank you so much for joining us!

- Oh, you're welcome.

Always a pleasure.

- So, many might not be aware that the Big Bear Alpine Zoo even exists, so I'm wondering if you could tell me about the zoo's beginning, and maybe how the first resident showed up or how that got started?

- The zoo actually started as a community effort to help animals that had been injured by a wildfire.

And, at that point, I believe it was a bear and a bobcat that had been burned and displaced.

And, the community got together and said, "We gotta do something.

We got these animals that need our care."

And so, they started up at the base of Bear Summit, or Bear Mountain, actually, and they made a place for these animals to take care of them.

And, that was back in 1959, and here we are in 2022 and we've opened up a new facility.

And, there's been a lot of steps in between.

- I wanna talk about some of those steps with you.

So, did it start in someone's backyard to begin with, or where did they put the first bear and bobcat?

- The first animals were actually at the original location and it was in just a small penned-in area.

I don't think anybody knew exactly what the future of those animals would be, but they knew they had to do something.

- Well, tell me about the mission of the zoo.

- The mission of the zoo is to rescue and rehabilitate and return wildlife as much as possible, and through that process, teach the public how to interact safely with wildlife so that they learn the dos and don'ts.

And so, we can cohabitate in a very peaceful way.

We got this planet that we have to share, and so our goal is to teach people how to do that, but also help animals along the way that have been impacted by people.

- So, the goal is to put them back out into their world, but I'm guessing many times that's not possible.

So, what happens when it's not possible?

- So, usually there's a number of reasons why it's not successful.

- Okay.

- And, sometimes the animals are so severely injured they cannot be returned.

One of our older bears, his name's Huckleberry, he was hit by a car when he was so little that that injury was very significant.

He had an infection that turned to gangrene and that paw had to be amputated.

So, he is now in his early 20s, and he's a three-legged bear, but obviously a three-legged bear wouldn't necessarily survive in the wild.

The other aspect to his case is that he was very young when he was rehabilitated.

And so, that care led him to become very dependent on humans.

- Is there maybe some enrichment philosophy or is that the same as your mission?

Or, is there a philosophy that you follow there?

- Well, we try to create a environment that's good for the animals- that's the priority- but also that's pleasing to the guests because we want guests to come there and have a positive experience and build that association with those animals and leaving inspired so that, when they go out in the wild, they can become ambassadors for those animals and they can teach other humans how to interact safely with wildlife.

- Will you share some of the daily programs that have been implemented at the zoo that either guests participate in or volunteers participate in?

I'm not quite sure.

- So, we have a number of things, and you bring up a good point.

We have a very active docent program.

We work with Friends of the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, and they're a nonprofit organization.

Their role is 100% to support the zoo.

And, they do that financially by accepting donations and then directing those donations directly to the care of animals here.

And then, they also have a docent program where they develop volunteers to become docents.

They come into the zoo; they're available for our guests to answer questions.

They do field trips for students.

They do large group interactions.

We have special programs.

We do bear awareness.

We do wolf awareness.

We have the Twilight Safari.

We do Ice Cream Safari, which is a lot of fun.

We just finished that up.

As you can imagine, that was very popular.

It's five bucks for five scoops of ice cream.

And, they're spread out all over the zoo and so guests have the opportunity to go learn about the animals and have some ice cream.

And, the ice cream's donated by the North Pole, which is down in The Village.

And so, it's a really great, supportive community, not just with the Friends, but also groups within Big Bear.

We also have the Nay Foundation, which is another group.

Their sole purpose is to donate to the zoo and to support the zoo financially.

- So, what does it take?

Well, I do wanna get back to the ice cream thing!

But in the meantime, what does it take to run the zoo financially?

Are there any employees?

Are you an employee of the zoo or of the county?

Tell me a little bit about what it takes to operate the zoo.

- So, the zoo in itself is a large park.

The county operates several parks, and I just recently, as you mentioned, became regional manager of Big Bear Recreation and Parks District.

And so, we have seven different parks, and the zoo is the largest of the parks.

And so, we operate on the premise that, whatever parks, whatever facilities, we support ourselves.

And, that is the goal of the zoo.

Any money beyond our budget goes into a fund that we use for capital improvements.

And, that's how the rest of the parks work, too.

Our goal is to be no impact financially, but a big impact in the community.

- I'm wondering if you could describe the zoo for those that can't see.

We're not there!

Kind of describe the zoo, if you will.

I'm sure you've walked it once or twice before!

- (laughs) Yes!

So, the zoo is about 5 1/2 acres, which is double the old facility.

It's got paved pathways.

We have a bunch of new-growth trees that we've recently planted.

There's facilities on the center of this big circle that you go.

And, each of those facilities, different buildings and different exhibits with wildlife, most of it from right here in Big Bear, but we also have some unique species.

We have grizzly bears that were once native here and are no longer native here.

And so, there's a story in it of themselves, but also the story about animal and human conflicts and why animals like grizzly bears end up in zoos, or sanctuaries, in our case.

And then, we have snow leopards.

Snow leopards are obviously not native to Southern California, but because of our climate, it's really well-suited for snow leopards.

We also have wolves.

We're down to our last wolf, unfortunately, and these wolves were part of a group that was born back in 2009.

There was a litter of nine of them and our remaining wolf is 13 years old.

The average lifespan for a wolf is between six and eight years old.

So, you can see they get excellent care here at the zoo.

Our staff is experienced with them.

We form relationships with these animals and that way we get to know them better and we can tell those subtle differences in behavior.

We know when they're experiencing pleasure, they seem happy.

We know when something might be off a little bit.

We have a really good veterinarian that we work with and we have a great staff.

- Who are some of your other residents there?

- Well, we have coyotes, and coyotes are interesting 'cause they have a really bad rep, but they're very intelligent.

They hunt cooperatively.

They have maternal instincts; the mom does.

People tend to look at them as a nuisance because they might eat their cat, (laughs) but that's part of their natural life cycle, right?

They're very well-adapted.

They've learned how to survive in a bunch of different situations, whether it's in the wild or it's in a more urban setting by learning to change their prey.

We have birds of prey.

We have hawks.

We have eagles.

We have foxes.

We have a bunch of different species of owls.

We have burrowing owls.

We have a snowy owl.

We have great horned owls.

We have Steller jays.

We have squirrels on display; two species.

We have red squirrels and we also have Humboldt's flying squirrels.

And then, we have some other species you might not be that familiar with.

We have ringtails, which are actually raccoon-like animals that live in this environment but most people never see them.

About four or five pounds.

They're really small nocturnal animals and they're part of our nocturnal display.

- How do some of your animals arrive to your residence?

- So, we work hand-in-hand with California Fish and Wildlife, and then we have a whole 'nother network of rehabilitators that we work with.

Sometimes we have animals that we just don't have space for.

Like we have a conservation partner who took one of our great horned owls.

It was deemed non-releaseable, but here, we have five great horned owls so we really are running out of elbow room for great horned owls.

He was able to provide a home for that owl.

And, also, we were able to provide a home for one of his bears, Eleanor, who's our most recent arrival in terms of black bears.

And, she was displaced by a fire in Riverside.

He helped with the rehabilitation process.

We were able to provide a forever home for Eleanor.

So, we worked together on that.

Fish and Wildlife connected us with some golden eagles that were no longer releasable, so we were able to provide a home for them.

- Tell me about a field trip, or what kids would be learning.

And, what age group do you feel like it's for?

I mean, I would say 2 to 92, but when some of the field trips come up there, what are they doing and what are they learning?

- We do get all ages.

We get private schools and public schools.

We have students that are taught at home.

- Home schools.

- They may be homeschooled, and they come together in groups.

We found that the best experience for learning is the first-hand walk with a docent, ask questions, listen, and watch the animals.

We also have excellent signage.

And, recently we've added QR codes.

Those QR codes, they make the stories accessible for everybody.

So, if you wanna know why Pooh Bear is here, you can scan the QR code and you can read about Pooh Bear's story.

- How does the name process going?

Not the name of the zoo, but the name of the animals.

How do you decide that there's a Pooh Bear and that there's an Eleanor?

Where do the names come from, or is it the staff deciding on that?

- It depends on where the animals are from and it depends on the story behind the animals.

For example, Pooh Bear is named Pooh Bear because he was a three-strikes bear, meaning he had had negative interactions with humans three times.

His final time was at a honey farm where he did thousands of dollars of damage to somebody's honey farm.

And, you know Pooh Bear loves honey, so it was kind of a no-brainer when it came to naming him!

(Lillian laughs) Eleanor came to us with her name already established.

And, because names are an identifier and they're used a lot when you're interacting with the animals, we thought it was really important that she kept her identity and her name.

When we interact, when we give them encouragement, we use their names a lot, so it's really important that we kept Eleanor's name as Eleanor.

- That's cute.

So, you joined the zoo team in 2020.

What was your background before coming to provide services to the zoo?

- I started in SeaWorld of Ohio.

You might remember that park, and that was back 1980.

I worked up.

I actually started off as a costumed character and then I kind of evolved into a pre-show performer.

And then, I started working with sea lions in '83, '84.

I transferred out upon graduation from college at Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a degree in psychology to San Diego.

And then, I worked in San Diego from '86 to around '99.

And, that's when I went to Busch Gardens Tampa for a couple years, and I worked with terrestrial African animals, primarily.

And then, I moved back to SeaWorld of San Diego in 2001.

I had been there since.

I graduated in 2020 (laughs) and moved to Big Bear.

- Where is the zoo located, and what do you want guests to know when attending?

- Well, the zoo's located kind of in between Moonridge Road and Club View Drive.

And, the thing that I want guests to know is that this zoo is a zoo because, by definition, a collection of animals is a zoo.

Really, at the heart of this zoo is a sanctuary.

And, that's because all of the animals here are here because they need to be.

We've provided a home for them.

If we did not provide a home for them, many would not be alive.

A lot of these animals are difficult to house.

It takes specialized care.

It takes really specialized facilities to do it right.

And so, we provide that because we want people to learn about these animals.

I always tell people a sanctuary is a place for animals that need help.

The best kind of sanctuary is an empty sanctuary.

- Oh, right.

- So, some of our exhibits are empty.

And, people ask, "Oh, what are you gonna put in there?

What's that exhibit for?"

Or, "What are you gonna add?"

And, I always tell them, "I don't know."

I really don't know.

Whatever animals need, we wanna provide a place for them.

We have limited resources.

The last thing we're gonna do is add animals just to fill up the displays.

I will also say that the money that comes into the zoo stays with the zoo.

So, when people buy tickets to the zoo- - Or get an ice cream?

- And, ice cream?

Ice cream goes to the Friends!

(Lillian laughs) So, that fundraiser goes back to the Friends of the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, and then they invest that money into us.

So, it's a great group of people.

It's a great zoo.

It's a lot of fun because you have confidence when you walk in.

These animals are not here for entertainment.

They're here for education.

They they're here because they need to be, and we've kind of opened the window into their lives so people can understand what it means to interact with wildlife in a safe way.

- Very good.

Bill, thank you so much.

I'm glad you're up there taking care of our animals in our region.

Thanks so much.

- Thank you.

It's a pleasure.

- [Lillian] This program was originally produced for 91.9 KVCR-Radio.

♪ ♪ Yeah, the simple things in life ♪ (logo whooshing)