Leftovers Page #6

program are in terms

of the social interaction

that the seniors get here.

- For some of them, it's

the only social interaction

that they have, and

this is their family,

this is their social network.

That's all they have.

I treat them as though

they were my family,

and I think that's what they

want, that's what they need.

A lot of them are alone.

There's no one else.

It's not only that they

appreciate me and like me,

I appreciate them, and

I care for them too.

So, that's my main thing.

I come in and I spend time

with people that I care about.

And that's important to me.

- How did you find

out about a place like

the senior center

here in Englewood?

(speaking in Spanish)

If a place like

this didn't exist,

what would you be

doing right now?

(salsa music)

(speaking in Spanish)

- [Translator] She

said she would be gone.

- [Seth] Really?

That's how much

this means to you?

Why do we have so much

ageism in this country?

Why are people not involved

in the lives of seniors?

- Same thing we do

to disabled people.

They don't fit the mold,

so we put them aside.

And that's terrible.

We don't look at the real

nature of human beings,

and it's because of the greed.

It's because of we get so

involved in the everyday,

wanting to do more to prosper,

but we forget those who

are next to us in a way.

- [Seth] After all

this talk about pushing

our seniors to the side,

treating them as

second-class citizens,

I wanted to find something that

actually celebrated seniors.

And it just so happened

that the Florida competition

of the Miss Senior

America Pageant

was taking place

while we were there.

You're Kim?

- [Kimberly] It's

Kimberly Moore.

- Kimberly Moore, you're the

reigning Ms. Senior America?

- That's correct.

- And you are

absolutely beautiful.

- Oh, thank you, Seth.

- [Seth] How old are you?

- I am 61, I'll be 62 in July.

- [Seth] Really?

- Now my mission

really is to go out

to senior communities

and to speak with people,

men as well as

women, about aging.

We can age gracefully

with elegance.

(audience applauds)

- My name is David Gilbert.

I'm Vice President of

the Miss Florida Pageant

for Miss America.

And I'm here judging

the Miss Florida

Senior America Pageant.

I think we have

a long way to go,

as far as really appreciating

our elderly population,

but I think we are headed

in the right direction.

And I think this type of

thing really gives some

of these ladies and their

husbands and their kids

and their friends a little

bit of an extra reason

to get up in the

morning and say,

"Listen, I have an

awful lot to offer.

"I may be retired, I

may be 60, 70, 80, 90,"

like one of them we have

in the pageant here,

but they have something to offer

and something that we

can all learn from.

So I totally support these.

I'm 100% for them.

(piano music)

- I have three children,

five grandchildren,

seven great-grandchildren.

I play the piano.

I play bridge three

times, four times a week.

- Is this answer as simple

as staying active

and socialization?

- That's it.

- I bet you, if you ask

anybody in this room,

in their mind, if

they feel 70 or over,

they're gonna say no.

They're gonna say no.

- [Seth] You ladies

are a classy bunch.

And it's a pleasure

for me to know you.

- [All] Thank you.

(audience applauds)

- [Seth] My last

question for you then is,

what do you tell my

generation and younger

about their attitudes

toward seniors.

How should we look at seniors?

How should we act

towards seniors?

What should we think?

- What you have to know

is we are a plethora

of experience and information.

Use it, take advantage of it.

We may not seem

like we know a lot,

but we do, and that's

where your source

of knowledge is gonna come from,

all of us who are in

the age of elegance.

- [Seth] You know

what, I'm a hugger.

I hope you are too.

Do you mind?

- You bet your boots!

Thank you so much!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm so excited.

- I'm so happy.

- Most of them are

waiting for that love,

for that attention, you know?

They feed from that.

And it only takes us

a little bit of time.

A little bit of time.

I sit down with some of them,

and I just speak to

them for a few seconds,

and to them, that's the world.

And they'll remember

you for life,

just because of that little bit

of time you spent with them.

And they're so much fun.

And sometimes I come over

and say, how you feel?

And some of them will

say, "I'm always happy."

Some of them will tell you,

well, I have this problem,

or this and that, but after

you're done talking to them,

they feel better,

and you can see it.

It's almost like

they get uplifted.

And that's great, that's great.

Plus, as a human

being, as a person,

you leave with such a

sense of satisfaction.

So I think that would be

great medicine for anybody.

(strong wind blowing)

- Hey, I'm well.

Can I have Hank, please?

Hi, Seth.

- Seth, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- This is a 60,000 square-foot

facility, yes, sir.

60,000 square feet.

- That's huge.

- Right, it is.

This facility will hold

about two million pounds

of food at any one time.

- [Seth] Two million pounds?

Does that food sit

around for a while?

- No, it turns every month.

- [Seth] Really?

- Last year, we distributed

24 million pounds of food.

We as a nation threw

away 96 billion pounds

of food last year.

- That's a number that I keep

hearing over and over again.

I have heard on a conservative

estimate, between 50 and 70.

- 50 and 70.

- But I have heard that

it's probably more likely

96 billion pounds

of food every year.

- If it's between 50 and 70,

that would be over 200 pounds

of food for every

man, woman, and child

in the United States.

Think about that.

- The thing to remember,

I always say this,

that there's enough

food in this country

to feed every man,

woman, and child.

We just need the

courage to do it.

And that's all it takes.

- [Seth] There's enough

that gets thrown away

that can feed every man,

woman, and child, too.

- That's right.

Yeah, that's right.

We have kind of crazy policies.

We're not thinking ahead, we're

not thinking strategically.

(machine humming)

- We are woefully low on

cooler and freezer space.

That is our biggest

bottleneck right now.

The thing we can't afford to do,

is when somebody calls and says,

"I've got a truckload of frozen

chicken, can you take it?"

I don't wanna say no.

- Have you had to say no?

- Oh, absolutely, we

have had to say no.

This is where food

gets staged to go out,

and this is where

loads of food come in.

So we got a truckload, and I

don't know who this is from.

Looks like we've got

a lot of watermelons.

I see a lot of watermelons.

All this other stuff is designed

to go somewhere on Monday.

- We've been frustrated

by how congressmen

and senators are not getting it.

That they just don't

understand the struggles

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