Spreading the Love

In this episode of "More Living with Jim Brogan," Jim celebrates the 40th anniversary of The Love Kitchen, a Knoxville nonprofit founded by sisters Helen and Ellen to feed those in need. Joined by Ernie Roberts, Board President, and Martin Riggins, Executive Director, the discussion highlights the organization’s growth, volunteer spirit, and ongoing fight against food insecurity. The guests share personal stories, reflect on the founders’ legacy, and encourage community involvement, while Jim also offers financial insights. The episode honors four decades of compassion, resilience, and service to the Knoxville community. Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze Jim Brogan 00:00:02 You're tuned into more Living with Jim Brogan, broadcast live from the Brogan Financial studios at Newstalk 9087, where old fashioned values, expert knowledge and genuine understanding come together to give you the retirement straight talk you deserve. Jim's a former National Advisor of the year recipient and a financial educator, and he's here today to talk about how you can live out the best years of your life. Jim and the Brogan financial team have been helping retirees and retirees across the southeast for over 20 years in their pursuit of financial independence. You can reach them during the week at 865862 6800. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn, because More living with Jim Brogan starts now. Speaker 2 00:00:45 Welcome to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life your way. This is Newstalk 98 seven, Woking. We're honored today to highlight one of our community's most cherished institutions, The Love Kitchen. believe it or not. 40 years ago today, on Valentine's Day, 1986 is when this got started. And joining us in studio today are two incredible leaders caring for the legacy of founders Ellen and Helen. Speaker 2 00:01:16 And that is executive director of The Love Kitchen Martin and president of the board Ernie. And they're here to show the share the story behind this remarkable organization, the impact of its mission, how they continue serving thousands in our community with dignity, passion and love. So it's a conversation about service, about legacy and the power of showing up for one another. So we're going to kind of dive right in here. So again we've got Ernie Roberts. He's president of the board and we've got Martin Riggins. He's the executive director. And as I said, it started 40 years ago today. Right? I mean, when when we were. Ernie Roberts 00:01:50 To the day. Speaker 2 00:01:51 To the day. So when we were talking about what shows we could have in the month of February and we realized this was on Valentine's Day and we always do a heart health show because it's, you know, Heart Health Month. And we're doing that next week. Ernie Roberts 00:02:04 Good, good. Speaker 2 00:02:05 But then we were like, oh man, we got to have on the Love Kitchen. Speaker 2 00:02:08 So we appreciate y'all having on. So talk about the birth of the Love Kitchen. And I mean it seems obvious but it started on Valentine's Day. So is that where the name comes from. Tell us a little bit about the the the founding side of this. Ernie Roberts 00:02:22 I think with the Love Kitchen itself that I can't honestly say that was it, but I'm sure it certainly went along with Valentine's Day. And the two sisters, Helen and Ellen, just exemplified love, love, love out of it. You can just see it anytime. First time I met them, it was like hug, hug on both sides and I'm going like I was a little overwhelmed, you know? But the the story was, you know, that they just poured out. They really anyone was a welcome stranger, a new person in their lives and stuff. They were always awesome about that. And the fact that it happened, it was probably without any fanfare because they may have had, I don't know, Martin. How many was about. Ernie Roberts 00:03:00 Did they do 22. I was going to say 22 meals. Speaker 2 00:03:04 Or 22 meals the very first day in 1986. Ernie Roberts 00:03:07 And now it's grown and their vision and the story goes, Helen went and woke up Ellen because God had appeared to her in a dream. He said, she said, sis, we're going to we're going to feed people. And Ellen, of course, being Ellen was kind of the more the nuts and bolts person says, go back to bed, sis. It's like, you know, whatever. So but they, you know, that's kind of the story they would tell, you know, about how they got the thing going. But Helen had that vision and she really they retired. They both had been nurses and they were both retired at that time. Speaker 2 00:03:41 So their inspiration was we just want to feed and help people. Ernie Roberts 00:03:44 And they felt like, you know, God was pushing it because it's been a faith based organization. Speaker 2 00:03:49 Yes. And we'll get to that a little bit later. so the word the, the, you know, the title, The Love Kitchen, I mean, it is kind of ironic. Speaker 2 00:03:58 It started on Valentine's Day, but the reality is that's what their lives were about. Absolutely right. Ernie Roberts 00:04:03 Yeah. And Martin can vouch for that, too. You know, I was going to say Martin. Martin was kind of hogging the mic here. Speaker 2 00:04:09 Martin, tell us about your journey and how long have you been with the Love Kitchen as executive director? Martin Riggins 00:04:14 Well, as executive director, officially, I think it was probably about August of 2022, but in the beginning of or the end of late 2021, the beginning of 2022 is when I kind of started doing it. my brother, Patrick Riggins, who used to have a show here on 98, 87. he was the previous executive director and board president and everything. And, we lost him in December of 2021, to a heart attack. And so I kind of the one of the ladies on the board said, hey, can you come over and help us? And, I'm pretty good at figuring stuff out. And so I went over there and I sat down at Patrick's computer, and I tried to figure out how he did what he did. Martin Riggins 00:05:00 And after about 6 or 8 months, the board said, hey, would you like to be the executive director? And I said, sure. And you know that that's how I'm here. But now I knew the sisters way back when, and I would help Patrick out on, you know, informal ways. You know, since back 2007, 2008 at least. And he would say, can you come help me do this or that? I've mopped the floors there, I've mowed the yard. I've I've been a janitor. I've been a fixit guy. I've done it all down there. And, you know, it kind of just gets into your blood after a while. And one of the ladies on the board, I was referring to Susan. She said, you know, Martin, the love kitchen sucks you in. And it does. As you start coming down there and going down there, more and more, you see what's going on. You see what happens every day. You see. Speaker 2 00:05:50 The impact. Martin Riggins 00:05:51 Yes. And you know, you you want to stay with it. Speaker 2 00:05:55 And, Ernie, how long have you been to tell? About your little. A little bit about your journey. Ernie Roberts 00:05:59 My journey there was. It was a very much, I don't know, more random, maybe feel per se, that I wound up dropping. I'd heard about Helen and Ellen. I remember Jackie Brown at the new center. I worked with the empty Stocking Fund and still do, but they, When Jackie would talk about. Well, we're going to keep this because whatever's left over from our distribution, because not everything was picked up on distribution day, and we had to move out of the Jacob building pretty quick. She said, we'll deliver that to the Love Kitchen. That's the love kitchen. And that's, you know, that's where I first had my first hearing of the words. And then I heard a little bit about Helen and Ellen, but I never met them. So I go over I was music, I was going to be an interim 2 or 3 weeks music director at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. Speaker 2 00:06:45 So you're a musician by trade? Ernie Roberts 00:06:47 I, I sing a little, you know. Martin Riggins 00:06:49 Because. Speaker 2 00:06:50 You know, my undergraduate degree was music education. Yeah. My wife and I met singing, so. Ernie Roberts 00:06:54 Well, I will say also that I'm going to put it on a quick plug. Cheap, cheap. Here it is. But I'm right now singing with Barbara Seville. I'm in the men's chorus for for Barbara Seville, with the Knoxville Opera. Speaker 2 00:07:03 Company. Ernie Roberts 00:07:04 Playing next weekend. So life is a little busy. That's great. But back to the thing. I was asked to come in and do I to help them out. And that was all random too, because the lady Jean Minot at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church happened to be at a cookout that my mom and my aunt, and she was a friend of my aunt. Mom didn't know her, but they she kept brought her along for a July 4th kick out. And that's where I met them. And she she said, how would you like to. Ernie Roberts 00:07:30 We need an interim music person. I'm going off on what? Yeah, just. You just met me here. Whatever. So anyway, that's where I met Helen and Helen. Helen was in the choir. Ellen was out front. And so at the end of the service, they both, you know, wanted to get a hug and, you know, that's that's just they way they were, you know, when they met you and they like you. Whatever. And I guess I was likable these enough. So that was it was interesting because it took me probably a year or two before I ever even went into Love Kitchen. I had worked with Ellen, both of them at church, and I stayed at church. By the way, I'm still there at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, you know, and that's what the longest interim position probably ever happened, because this was about, I think, 2002, 2003, because it was after nine over 11. It happened in 2000. Speaker 2 00:08:13 You've been involved for quite some time. Ernie Roberts 00:08:14 I've been I've been there with them. And then a couple of years later, I started just volunteering. I'll be honest with you, I can't remember when they asked me to be on the board, but. And then here I am now, you know. So the journey, like I said, was in many ways random. But like Martin said, it sucks you in once you get there. Because I would be working on Wednesday afternoons helping with meals, and then I'd go off and rearrange stock room because we were always having cans and stuff brought in that needed to be organized and put where it was. So that was one of my jobs too. Plus, it was just kind of good therapy for me to get off and not have to be, you know, it was one of those things you're not. You know what I'm saying? It's sort of like you just go in like you're almost on autopilot. But it was a calming down after a workday because I'm a teacher by trade. Okay, so. Ernie Roberts 00:09:02 And I don't teach music, I do math. Speaker 2 00:09:04 Oh, really? Yeah. Math guy. Yeah. And a lot of people. Ernie Roberts 00:09:08 For a. Speaker 2 00:09:08 While. Well, actually that's interesting. A lot of people don't know that musicians usually are pretty good at math because of the way the scales are. And yeah, it's a lot of people don't realize that. Ernie Roberts 00:09:18 The theory of music is patterns. Speaker 2 00:09:20 It is. So it's very mathematical. okay, so 40 years ago today, 22 meals. Talk about the scope and the impact today. Tell us about the Love Kitchen and how much it impacts the community. Numbers of meals, whatever you like to share in terms of give us an idea of how much it's grown and the impact it's making. Martin Riggins 00:09:42 Well, I can tell you that in 2025, we provided a total of 1319 meals, all at no charge. To the people that we do homebound, which is we go every Thursday and we deliver a tower of seven meals to between 280 and 300 people. It depends on how many are on that week. Martin Riggins 00:10:07 And then every Wednesday and Thursday, we serve lunch to anyone that shows up at 1230 sharp. Speaker 2 00:10:14 And it is pretty much no questions asked, right? I mean, it's really cool. I mean, it's just like, we're going to serve lunch. Martin Riggins 00:10:20 That is correct. Ernie Roberts 00:10:21 We've got it there. There's no time to ask questions. And sometimes we have to prepare a little bit more because we have more show up than what we expect. Martin Riggins 00:10:28 Yeah. The the homebound you do need to qualify for because otherwise we would just be overwhelmed. Sure. But but beyond that, if you show up at the kitchen, we will feed you. And then we also provide food to six other organizations at no charge to them, where we'll just provide them pans of food. And at the end of the day, that puts us in the neighborhood of 3000 meals a week that we're providing to these other organizations, as well as anybody that shows up to the kitchen as well as the people we deliver to. so in 2024, we did 146,000 or so meals. Martin Riggins 00:11:04 And so we had about a 10% increase. But that came from the fact that we've started distributing these meals to these other organizations that allow them to then distribute it out. So we don't even have to have they don't have to come necessarily to the kitchen. And you still may be eating love kitchen food. Speaker 2 00:11:25 So, you know, one thing that's interesting to me is, you know, I mean, there's some great charitable organizations here in East Tennessee. So talk about how I mean, I think of we we have we have some really good organizations serve homeless people. We have some really good ones that provide food. Talk about how you all coordinate all that stuff. Ernie Roberts 00:11:42 Well, we have a basically it's a four day operation. Speaker 2 00:11:46 I mean, like I would imagine you work very closely with calm. Ernie Roberts 00:11:49 We do. We do? Yes. Martin Riggins 00:11:50 I go every Monday and car drives around and picks up all the excess chick fil A patties and such like that that the chick fil A doesn't have. And that was actually started by the guy that owned a franchise in Maryville, and now it's nationwide. Speaker 2 00:12:05 A chick fil A franchise. Martin Riggins 00:12:06 Yes. And I thought that was great that it actually started in this area. But so they go around and they pick up the excess, and then on Mondays I go and they give me their excess and we take that and we oftentimes shred it up. And our chef uses it in white chick and chili. She uses it in making barbecue that you would swear was beef barbecue or pork barbecue. But it is not. It is made from shredded chicken salad. Yes. Oh, that's that as well. Wow. Ernie Roberts 00:12:33 fried chicken salad, which is amazing. Martin Riggins 00:12:35 And so then after that, anything that we have excess we give to another organization called Granger County Baptist Association. So all of these things. We. We will call them Grainger County. When we have excess calm will call me and say, hey, we've got this, can you use it? So a lot. Speaker 2 00:12:54 Of a lot of cooperative communication I would think communication would be so important. Martin Riggins 00:12:59 It is. And you know, we and we've not signed a contract with any of them. Martin Riggins 00:13:02 It's just kind of like call them up on the phone. Hey, do you want this? Yeah. And so they come down. Grainger County comes down every Wednesday with a box truck. And we load them up with the stuff that we, that we don't need. And they take it up there and they serve thousands of people up there as well. So I mean, it's the way that we all coordinate and everything. It was just organic, the way it all just kind of comes together. It works extraordinarily well. And believe it or not. Speaker 2 00:13:27 Valentine's Day 1986, that's when the Love Kitchen was birthed. And we have them with us in studio, their current president and executive director. When we come back, we're going to talk a little bit more about their impact. I do want to also talk to them about like the impact not only that they've seen, but if Helen and Ellen could walk in the love kitchen today. How would they be impacted by the scope of the ministry? So stay with us. Speaker 2 00:13:52 This is more living here on Newstalk 98 seven Woking. Jim Brogan 00:13:58 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan. Speaker 2 00:14:12 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey where the show where we explore the people, the ideas and organizations that make Knoxville such a special place to call home. And one of those real fixtures in the Knoxville community is the Love Kitchen there with us today. It's 40 years ago today that they got their start with 22 meals that Helen and Ellen served on that day 40 years ago. Ernie, how would, if Helen and Helen walked in the love kitchen today? What moment? Practice. What tradition? What do you think would make them smile the most? Speaker 5 00:14:47 I think. Ernie Roberts 00:14:49 They would. And Martin and I have talked about it a little bit just a few minutes ago here and refresh our memories and such. But their line of so many times, whenever they receive something, you don't know how many people this will feed or what. Ernie Roberts 00:15:04 You know, that was one thing or or how many this will feel so many people. And I think that would be their first thing is that we are doing still feeding people and able to do so. Speaker 2 00:15:15 I never really got away from the core. Right? Ernie Roberts 00:15:18 No. And their core and their core values were, well, their father had taught them this and one was. Speaker 2 00:15:26 Their three three main core values. Right. Ernie Roberts 00:15:28 The main core values, right there is but one father and that is the Heavenly Father. There is one race that is the human race. And the third was do not take the last piece of bread or food on the table, because you never know who is going to come by in need of it. That was the the three basic prongs. I paraphrased it a little bit, probably there, and I have to admit, the third came to haunt me one night on Christmas night at my house in my neighborhood. I had just had our family Christmas. Everybody gone, you know their ways and knock knock, knock at the door. Ernie Roberts 00:16:06 And I have no idea who the stranger was, but I had some food or like a sandwich or something and was able to give it to him. And before I could turn around and I gave, I think, a some sort of something to drink or whatever. Before I got back, he had left on back, walking into the fog, so to speak, and I was going, that reminded me that statement right there. You never know when someone's. Speaker 2 00:16:28 Yeah, that's absolutely right. Ernie Roberts 00:16:29 And that was one of those real. And to me, Christmas night, it was just, you know, it was really a touching moment for me. And it was a private moment. I was there, it was my own, you know. Speaker 2 00:16:38 Yeah. You know, I, I mean, I couldn't put myself in their shoes, But, you know, if I did something similar 40 years ago and then I was I passed away and I came back, I think I would be extremely encouraged that the that the, the really the core values, the mission, everything the Love Kitchen does has not lost its that foundation has stayed the same. Ernie Roberts 00:17:00 And over the years and it's helpful. We've developed the team members each day has a team. Martin can vouch for this because he's on the inside of it on the day to day. But you've got a group that Mondi has cohesive as a team. They love working with each other. They love being there. It's hard. You know, I don't want to turn away your volunteers because we always want to have something because some people can't show up every day and all that. But those folks have gotten used to work, and they really keep that. The duties that go on. He can tell you a little bit of what we do on those days. You know, streamline the Tuesday crew, very tight, very tight group. Also. I was very impressed. And there's a Wednesday crew and a Thursday crew, and they all love each other. They all get along with each other. And so to me that's a very important aspect there again, the love kitchen coming together. Speaker 2 00:17:47 Yeah. I'll have to say talking to both of you, there's like this magnetic almost in infectious enthusiasm. Speaker 2 00:17:55 That's extremely refreshing. Martin, talk about your role and then the impact. You have personally seen firsthand of how it impacts lives. Martin Riggins 00:18:05 I will do that. I want to jump back because, you know, when you talked about Helen and Ellen and how they would react, you know, that reminded me that when they were getting older and their health was kind of failing and such. they asked Patrick, they said, Will you promise to keep the Love Kitchen going after we're gone? And he did promise to do that. And and he did. And Patrick and I were close. And so I, I've taken that on and I and I think Ernie would probably agree with that, that, that that's kind of what it was is this, this whole thing is bigger than than Ernie or me or or Patrick or any of us. This love kitchen was started, and they made this. They made this huge impact, and they continue to make it. You know, they're no longer with us. And and yet this, this thing that they started, I tell people all the time, they started something special with the Love Kitchen. Martin Riggins 00:18:59 When you come in there and like Ernie was saying, you come in there on a day and you've got people that are in there. They're there because they're there to help people. Now most of our volunteers are either retirees or or student age, but they're they're there because they, like you said, they see that impact of what you do when you see a stack of 600 trays. That's going to be just one of the three meals that our chef cooks that week. You know that we count those out. And so you see this stack. And then when the food that we serve you see Just an entire walk in refrigerator full of meals, you know, in the neighborhood of 2500 to, well, it's you we averaged so far this year, a little over 2900 meals a week is what we have. And so when you see that a walk in refrigerator just full of meals and then into the day Thursday gone. Yeah, we've got about 30 drivers that are all volunteers that come in and they run their route on Thursday and they deliver to what it becomes your people. Martin Riggins 00:20:10 They they get attached to the people that they deliver to and they feel it when sometimes you go and you deliver and you knock on the door and there's no answer, but the neighbor comes out and said, well, they died Sunday. That's happened to me when I was delivering. You know, that that happens sometimes. And, you know, they you've gotten to know these people because you've delivered to them enough. And so when, when the lady that kind of arranges our drivers tries to tries to make a route a little easier. Maybe it's getting a little big. They're like, no, I want to keep I want to deliver to my people. We've got one guy that drives a mini now. It's a four door mini, but he delivers 31 towers, he delivers to 31 people and most of our routes are 8 to 10. And. But he wants that. And do you want us to knock that down? No, I want to deliver to my people. Speaker 2 00:21:03 So I mean volunteer help in in any charitable organization is so critically important. Speaker 2 00:21:10 Can you just expand on that a little bit? I mean, before you do one thing I'll talk about is I talk about the power of giving. And yeah, some of that is financial. Some of it is giving our time and our talents. But when we do all that, what it does is, number one, it helps keep us the why I think that's such a critical part of a financial plan is it gives us perspective. You know, in this society we're so inundated with materialism and images and things like that. And it gives us a life. Money, perspective. Like a balance. But when you get involved. So just talk about the impact. I mean, you kind of already have. But how dependent are you on volunteers in your organization? Ernie Roberts 00:21:54 Well, very much so. And in fact, there are times when when we have a an illness or someone is unable to make it. Kelly, our driver, our driver coordinator, will sometimes will give me a text and say, hey, can you drive tomorrow? Can you drive today? And I if I can, I'll fill in and and it's interesting when I go there to those homes, it's kind of like they look at me and say, well, you're not the same. Ernie Roberts 00:22:20 You know, I they'll be back. I'm sorry. And or the other one that's the famous line is because I've just gotten the word that I need to do it and I'm, you know, running behind or I'm on my own schedule to get there, you know, whatever. And I finally get there. You're light. You're all are light. You know, I said I'm sorry. I'm the substitute, you know, so I don't I don't give him any. You know, like a president of the board either. Like, you know, it's just I'm there. I'm there to take em. But I see that they do. They do have that relationship with our drivers and such. And Kelly also has the phrase Jehovah Jireh God provides. That's our. And she has told me times that she'll come in and she'll be three short at the beginning of that day, or four drivers short. And through all these miracles of God, and I see miracles every day at the Love Kitchen, or read about them. Ernie Roberts 00:23:08 And every time I go to the, as I call it, the bank, our post office, I see miracles because here's the donations that, you know, we don't go out and really solicit. We send one letter out of the during a year. But people have have come to the point they include us in monthly giving. You talk about the financial part of it. It's you know, it's just amazing. It just I say I see miracles every day. I go to that post office. Speaker 2 00:23:32 The love kitchen is always emphasized, serving with dignity. So how do you ensure every meal, in every interaction reflects that core value? Martin Riggins 00:23:42 Our chef takes every meal personally, and she has said that if she would not eat it, she will not put it out the door. Speaker 2 00:23:51 And so that's a great word right there. Martin Riggins 00:23:55 Well, I mean, she I am blown away every week with what she does. We pick up from Costco six days a week and excess food, stuff like that, that, that they don't need excess water that we use to serve for lunch. Martin Riggins 00:24:11 And what she does is she takes all these disparate ingredients, sets them back in the freezer until she's got enough to make something, and then she'll make this. She makes an Alfredo out of macaroni and cheese that we get from Costco, and it's incredible what she does. She takes this. She's likened it to there's a show called chopped that she says that it's like, but because she has to make something up from what she has. And, but, you know, we. But as far as the dignity goes, that that's part of it. That's the big part of it. And I should have brought a picture of our poster that shows the food that we serve because she cooks real turkeys for Thanksgiving. She cooks real ham for Christmas. That's right. This is not industrial food, but you have in your mind a bowl of soup. Probably in a cheese sandwich. That is not what they get. No, no. Speaker 2 00:25:00 Yeah, they're getting good quality meals. Martin Riggins 00:25:02 Yes, sir. Speaker 2 00:25:03 We're visiting with the Love Kitchen, a real fixture here in Knoxville, Tennessee for 40 years. Speaker 2 00:25:07 When we come back, we'll have more about their impact and about food insecurity and how that's changed in Knoxville, in East Tennessee over the last 10 to 20 years. We'll also have our dollars and cents segment. How healthy is the stock market as the day on the last week clicked, over 50,000. and what can we learn by looking at the S\&P 500? What is the danger of looking at the S\&P 500? And what can we learn from that. so stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. Jim Brogan 00:25:39 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Financial Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan. Speaker 2 00:25:54 Welcome back to More Living Here on Newstalk 98. Seven welcome, Jim Brogan. We're visiting with The Love Kitchen. Been a fixture in Knoxville for 40 years. Valentine's day 1986. Before we get back to our guests from the Love Kitchen, it is time for dollars and cents. Speaker 6 00:26:12 What? To be sure, you are getting the most out of your retirement for all the years of your retirement. That's the primary goal of Moore living with Jim Brogan and our dollars and Cents segment, where we provide you with an important financial tip that will help positively impact the quality of your life and retirement. And now here's Jim with this week's dollars and cents tip. Speaker 2 00:26:36 How healthy is the stock market? You know, here in the last little bit we saw the Dow click over 50,000. President Trump came out and said that by the end of his term it'll click over 100,000. I don't know that I see that, but but, you know, that's what he says. but, you know, I get asked a lot of times, you know, God, how can you keep going up, blah, blah, blah. And it's been choppy the last week or two. Certainly. but I want to use the S\&P 500 and talk about that index and what we can learn from it and what we have to be careful about. Speaker 2 00:27:13 You know, the S\&P 500 is an index made up of 500 of the largest US stocks. But that can be a little bit misleading in a couple of ways. One. every company does not have an equal impact on the movement of that index. It's not 1/500 each. In other words, the larger the company is, the more it impacts the movement of that index. It's an it's what's called a weighted average index. And so what's happened over the last 5 or 6 years is the Magnificent Seven that you hear talked about so much. You know that's the big you know Nvidia Google Microsoft, Apple, those big technology companies, they have gotten so massively big that they're driving most of the movement of the index. Believe it or not, the top ten companies in the S\&P 500, the largest ten, dropped 40% of the index. And we have had times in the last 2 or 3 years where the S\&P 500 was up a good bit. But if you called out the seven companies that make out the mag seven, all the other 493 stocks were just kind of just kind of clicking along with a, you know, hadn't really made any money in terms of the stock appreciation, more like a zero return where the Mag seven was having such a great run that it was showing a not very nice return in S\&P 500. Speaker 2 00:28:41 So first you have to be. There was an article in New York Times last weekend that said, how safe is the S\&P 500 and what it postured is. It's not as safe and diversified as it used to be because you've got these big companies driving it. We have to also understand that the the S\&P 500, I say the largest 500 companies, about half those stocks are mid-cap stocks. So it's really the with that weighted benefit. It's very top heavy. And so when we look at where we are today it's interesting because now we're seeing things shift a little bit. We're seeing the earnings and the projections for the mag. Seven stocks start to recede a little bit. And we're starting to see more optimism among the other 493 stocks. Now, what does that mean for 2026? Who knows? I mean, markets are choppy. They're unpredictable. In a typical year we see a market correction of 10 to 15%. That's just average. And that's you know a a typical correction is healthy for markets. The the key here is over time in our next 10 or 15 years, you need to be growing investments above and beyond the rate of inflation. Speaker 2 00:29:59 And I think that's going to be critically important. We're seeing very good economic growth. They're predicting GDP growth this year 5.7%. Risk assets over time provide the best opportunity to beat inflation. However, in the short term they're completely unpredictable. So it's just critically important to realize when we invade. Are you an investor or speculator? If you're if you're if you're investments, you're worried about what they do the next six months. That's not investing, that's speculating. We just don't know. So there's a huge difference. That means you can't. It doesn't mean you can't speculate on just a small piece of your money. But as investors, we have got to understand that the more diverse and equity based our investment plan is, the more we need time on our side. And so we shouldn't be thinking about where we're going to be in 3 or 4 months. That means we need safe and stability in our assets that provide short term access to money and income. So just be careful with S\&P 500. And what we can learn from that. Speaker 2 00:31:05 And be sure that you have the true proper diversification where you're not too over hedged in one sector of the industry. Speaker 6 00:31:14 That's our dollars and cents segment for this week. You can find this week's dollars and cents segment and others by visiting Brogan Financial. Speaker 2 00:31:26 Check us out on Brogan. Com. We got lots of resources there. If you click on resources you can pull up. We've got blogs. We've got articles. We've got lot papers you can download. we have when you click on resources you can also click on classes. And we got my full spring schedule both through the University of Tennessee Business and Community Outreach and also Pillow City States adult outreach. you can find our full schedule there and click to find out more information, download a syllabus and register for those classes. Most of the classes, the remainder of the spring are one night classes. Income planning, specifically in retirement or tax planning. we do have one two part class at Pella City. That's the financial, you know, thrive financially in retirement. Speaker 2 00:32:11 So go check out all that. We we try to put lots of resources in our website so that you can make informed and prudent decisions that can impact the quality of your life. Today is Valentine's Day. In 40 years ago today, the Love Kitchen was birthed and it has just made such a tremendous impact on the community. Let's talk about food insecurity. It looks different today than it did 10 or 20 years ago. How have the needs of the East Tennessee community changed, and how has the Love Kitchen adapted? Martin Riggins 00:32:42 Well, I can tell you, I've only been doing this like we talked about just a few years. But again, I can tell you between 2024 and 2025, we served about 10% more meals than than prior to that. Between those two, I, I don't have records going back 40 years or anything like that. I'm kind of a spreadsheet guy and the numbers guy, and so I, I keep all of that stuff, but it certainly looks like, you. Speaker 2 00:33:13 Know, I have to I have to mention you're quite talkative for a big numbers guy. Ernie Roberts 00:33:17 He's learned how to be talkative. Yeah, he was really more of a shy type person. Martin Riggins 00:33:21 Was he. Ernie Roberts 00:33:21 Really? I think so. Speaker 2 00:33:23 Well, most. Martin Riggins 00:33:23 Numbers. Ernie Roberts 00:33:24 He's come into his own. He's really I mean, he's I think he's he's thrown into the job and he does a wonderful job. He really. Martin Riggins 00:33:29 Does. There was a funny story, if you permit me a sidebar for a second, was that this lady one time said, do you have a 32nd elevator speech? I said, no, I can talk to you for several minutes about it, but I you know, I don't have 30s, because, well, as you see, there's just so much that goes along with it. but, I've lost my train of thought. What was your question? Speaker 2 00:33:51 Well, it was about food insecurity and how the East Tennessee community has changed over the last 10 to 20 years. Martin Riggins 00:33:57 Yeah. I think like I said, if you look, I don't have numbers for that. However, if you look just kind of around in the Knoxville area, it certainly looks like there's a lot more than there used to be. Martin Riggins 00:34:10 as far as people that you see that appear to be needy, there's. Speaker 2 00:34:16 there's a lot of food insecurity. And I know a couple months ago we had on Second Harvest and they had some more data on food insecurity. And it's just which very, you know, great ministry as well, which I'd imagine you're all are very cooperative with, with them too. Martin Riggins 00:34:29 We do. Ernie Roberts 00:34:31 We have. Martin Riggins 00:34:31 Yeah. Speaker 2 00:34:31 So I just think it's, it's becoming more and more prevalent. It's interesting in Knoxville because as Knoxville expands and, you know, into more and more counties and becomes more, you know, populated. You still drive 20, 15, 20 miles from Knoxville and you're in very rural America. Ernie Roberts 00:34:49 That's. Yeah, I know pretty much all sides. Speaker 2 00:34:51 Yeah. And so, there's a lot of food insecurity in rural America, right? so when you look at the tremendous growth the last 20 years, are there any specific milestones that you think would trademark this growth? I mean, I know you said 155,000 meals. Ernie Roberts 00:35:07 Well, and Covid, of course, we say that Covid changed everything. And it really has in a lot of respects. I think we see I feel like I do, especially in the East Knoxville area. I see more churches that have food pantries, but they're not necessarily feeding. I think Magnolia methodist does one night of the week they have a feeding or something of that nature? They're not Magnolia, obviously, but they're they do their church takes over, takes it on that. But some of these who are churches are either small groups, community groups that start a food pantry. Their hours may be irregular, but they're there and they have or some of them have a set day or a but you got to remember this, this problem exists 52 weeks of the year. And that's one thing about the love kitchen thing. We have a schedule Monday through Thursday every week, whether it's Christmas week, whether it's Thanksgiving, we are, you know, holidays, summer or whatever. We have that obligation to the folks who are recipients. Ernie Roberts 00:36:08 And it's like, that makes me always kind of nervous, you know? And through the when we lost Patrick, it was all of a sudden, the reason I'm president of the board is because I was vice president when Patrick passed away. and I'm going like, you know, it was so funny. It wasn't funny, but, I mean. All of a sudden I'm looking back at it. I'm going, like, I took on the vice president role because I wouldn't have to worry about things and all. And so Patrick was the executive director as well as the president of the board. And all of a sudden I'm looking they're looking, Ernie, what do we do now? I'm going, like, what do you mean, Ernie? What do we do now? You know? And so when Martin came along, it was awesome. You know, although it took about like I said, it was seven, six, seven months or different time. I can't remember the exact time frame, but that was, you know, it was a welcome godsend when when he said yes and was willing to come in and take care of that. Ernie Roberts 00:37:02 But I, I'm going back and saying that, you know, things each year is kind of different. But Covid really sent a lot of shockwaves, I think, through community. And it also changed the way a lot of things were done. Speaker 2 00:37:14 Yeah. And it caused some adaptation that that frankly, has maybe improved things coming out of that. We learn to do things more efficiently, and. Ernie Roberts 00:37:23 I totally agree on that. That's one thing I feel like we have every day. Our job tasks have become very well oiled machines. They already were productive. Don't get me wrong, they were always doing a great job. But it's just like it's it's really come into its own. And Martin keeps facilitating them. They're, they run very well every day. Those things, they're basically done. I remember days when I first started volunteering there. We might be there sometimes till even close to midnight. And now 2:00, 3:00 in the afternoon, our volunteers get in there. They have the job to do. Ernie Roberts 00:37:54 They're there for 3 to 4 hours. They work very hard. And then it's all ready to go for the next shift. Speaker 2 00:38:01 The next day we're speaking with the Love Kitchen. That's Ernie Roberts. He's president of the board. We've also got Martin Riggins in studio with us. He's executive director. When I when we come back, I just really want to talk about challenges, the Love Kitchen faces, how we can get involved in the community to help such a great organization. So stay with us. This is more living with Jim Brogan here on Newstalk 98 seven Wookey. Jim Brogan 00:38:29 Welcome back to Newstalk 98 Seven's Brogan Studios, where Jim Brogan is coming to you live with important news and advice to help you achieve your dream retirement. Get ready to learn and live. Here's your host, Jim Brogan. Speaker 2 00:38:44 Welcome back to More Living with Jim Brogan, where it's all about living the best years of your life, your way. On this Valentine's Day 2026, we're visiting with Love Kitchen, which was started Valentine's Day 1986, 44 years ago. Speaker 2 00:39:00 And we've got on Ernie Roberts, president of the board, and Martin Riggins, executive director of The Love Kitchen. And since we've had more and more food insecurity, more and more demand for meals over the years, what are the biggest challenges the Love Kitchen faces in meeting the rising need. Martin Riggins 00:39:20 Well, you know, honestly, we are. We are very blessed. The people of Knoxville have supported the Love Kitchen through the years, and we've been able to be very careful with the money. I tell people I can step on a penny and make it scream and everybody down with a great word. because we, you know, it's it's important because we the love kitchen does not solicit nor do we accept any taxpayer funds. So it's all it's all just donors that that have seen the kitchen and have heard of it and believe in our mission. So honestly, the biggest, hardest thing for us is in the summertime when some of our drivers start going on vacation and, you know, that type of thing. Martin Riggins 00:40:03 but. Speaker 2 00:40:04 You know, the money side, I think many charities underestimate the the importance of fiscal responsibility. You touch on that? Martin Riggins 00:40:14 Absolutely. because as I tell people, I, they asked me, can can I bring you cans? Absolutely you can. We'll use them. But I cannot pay my cub bill with cans. And our bill averages between 12 and $1600 a month. And so that's that's a fair amount of money to come up with every single month. And so I and I know and then, you know, at some point you're going to have a freezer go out. And I've had that happen. Ernie Roberts 00:40:41 The repair work is is pricey. Martin Riggins 00:40:43 Yeah. And so I replace an evaporator and that's $5,000. Fortunately we've saved through the years and we've put this stuff back. But for these unanticipated costs that can come up. And so we're in a good position. We're we we can do that because we've been careful. And then because the Knoxville community is extraordinarily generous to us. Ernie Roberts 00:41:05 And it's not just Knoxville. Ernie Roberts 00:41:06 We get we get donations from outlying areas, outlying states. I mean, it's crazy. Speaker 2 00:41:12 To see. Ernie Roberts 00:41:12 The impact. Speaker 2 00:41:13 Nothing beats the Volunteer State. Ernie Roberts 00:41:15 Hey, I agree. You know, and it's a wonderful experience to go. And as I say, it's like a miracle. God provides every time I go to the post office and pick up all these checks. We also have a lot of people that donate online. So putting it together, it's we just feel very as Martin said, we are very blessed. Speaker 2 00:41:34 Beyond meals, what types of other support does the Love Kitchen provide that people might need to know about? Martin Riggins 00:41:39 It is going to be primarily meals. However, if someone calls us up, we can make an emergency food box, which is of course still just food. So we have an unofficial, there's a lady from the neighborhood and she comes down and people will bring clothes down, but take to her house, and I will set up. She'll tell me how many tables she wants, and I'll move my car out of her way. Martin Riggins 00:42:05 And I'll either set up 4 or 5 tables, and she will bring the clothes down that our volunteers have brought to her, that other people have brought to her, and she will lay them out and let people just have them, because what has happened is. I've had people tell me I don't want to donate them somewhere because they're going to sell them. I want people to have these clothes. And so I said, well, okay. And so we kind of this thing just kind of came about on its own. Like I said, this just kind of Jehovah Jara type thing. The neighborhood said, you know, I want to do that. And I said, cool. Speaker 2 00:42:39 So how can I how can the people of Knoxville get involved and help find out more about the Love Kitchen? Martin Riggins 00:42:44 The love kitchen? Org is our website. You can go there. You can get our phone number which is 546. Oh gosh. Right out of my head. 8248 and good job. Ernie Roberts 00:42:56 So 55468248 with area code 865. Martin Riggins 00:43:00 Of course. Speaker 2 00:43:00 Yes, yes of course. Martin Riggins 00:43:01 So, but if that's incorrect because I'm on the air, I've screwed it up. Speaker 2 00:43:05 But the Love kitchen.org. Martin Riggins 00:43:06 Is absolutely correct. So you can go on there and you can hit things says get involved if you want to volunteer. If you want to donate, you can click the donate button. all of that is available on there, along with with a history of the Love Kitchen and how it came about and how the sisters started. if you're curious about any of that. Speaker 2 00:43:25 That's great information. Well, guys, thank you so much for sharing your heart, the history, the organization, the remarkable work that's happening right here in Knoxville. Thanks for taking time out of your schedule. I'd imagine you have a busy day today, but you came in this morning to visit with our listeners. So thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. Ernie Roberts 00:43:43 And a Happy Valentine's Day, full of love to everybody. Speaker 2 00:43:45 That's a great word. That's a great word. Speaker 2 00:43:47 So you know Helen and Ellen's legacy with the Love Kitchen. It lives on through every meal, every volunteer and every act of compassion that crosses their doorway. So if you'd like to support the mission, whether by giving time or resources or simply spread the word, go to the Love kitchen.org, the Love kitchen.org. Find out more information. Today we've been we've been discussing food security And ministry and a greater community because a greater community provides for more living. So you can live the best years of your life your way. Many thanks to Wayne for helping for engineering the show. Many thanks to Mary Caroline for producing the show and also to Ellie for helping with the show. You've been listening to More Living with Jim Brogan. Check us out online. Brogan financial.com. If you click on resources, then you can pull up all of our upcoming classes through both the University of Tennessee and State Adult Education one night classes. Have a great weekend. Happy Valentine's Day as you've been listening to More Living Here on Newstalk 90 87W. Speaker 7 00:44:48 The views expressed by Jim Brogan and his guests are not that of Cumulus Media. Any discussion of financial, legal and tax planning strategies is not intended to be individualized advice and is general in nature. Always consult with your advisor for advice specific to your needs. This program's content does not represent a recommendation of any particular security strategy or investment by Jim Brogan or Brogan Financial, Incorporated.