November 22, 2025 Show

Intro
Fresno State radio presents Fresno State Focus radio edition featuring stories of people of the valley provided by media, communications, and journalism students at Fresno State.

Summer and Sophia
Good morning, and welcome to Fresno State Focus radio edition. I’m Summer Miller and I’m Sophia Sandoval on today’s show, we’re going to discuss Thanksgiving, the Student Cupboard, the downing planetarium and the annual rough drafts reading event. Sophia, I am really excited that Thanksgiving is next week. What are some of your family traditions and your favorite Thanksgiving dishes?

Sophia
Well, me and my family don’t really do a traditional Thanksgiving. We actually do steak, and that’s one of my favorite things, because we eat the best steak on Thanksgiving. So I look forward to it all year.

Summer
That sounds amazing. Actually, I don’t really like Turkey, so maybe I would prefer steak. I love all of the side dishes. It’s all about the side dishes for me. So like the mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie, and then my very favorite is green bean casserole. Have you ever had it? I have not. Oh my gosh. It’s so good. I love green beans though it’s green beans and, like, mushroom soup. And I know that kind of sounds weird, it’s cream mushroom soup. It’s got like, these little onion crisps on it. It’s so good. It’s my favorite thing. I make it every year.

Sophia
I’m getting hungry by listening to you talk about it. I can’t wait.

Summer
Maybe the thing about it is that Thanksgiving, you only eat this kind of food, like once a year. So, you know, I don’t make green bean casserole otherwise, or pumpkin pie. So I’m, like, looking forward to this all year long. So I’m really excited. So, Sophia, I went to the History Channel’s website to research some Thanksgiving facts. Do you want to hear a few? Sure! All right, so first fact about 400 years ago is when we celebrated the first Thanksgiving the pilgrims of the Indians, I mean, we know that whole spiel, they came together in Plymouth, Massachusetts for an autumn harvest feast, which is widely recognized as one of the earliest Thanksgiving celebrations. So Thanksgiving didn’t become a nation’s biggest celebration overnight. Actually, it was during the Civil War that President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday to help unify a divided country. He designated the last Thursday of November as a day to give thanks, and Lincoln encouraged gratitude for blessings, while also remembering those who suffered in the war. All right. Next. Fact, football and Thanksgiving have been paired together since so long, before the NFL even existed, the very first Thanksgiving football game happened in 1876 when Yale played Princeton in a college matchup, just 13 years after Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday.

Sophia
Wait, I’m gonna jump in right there. I didn’t know that. Yeah, they started playing before the NFL existed.

Summer
Yeah. And isn’t it weird to think that those colleges have been around that long? 1876 Wow, those weren’t even the first colleges. Harvard was the first college, so Harvard’s even older than those colleges. I wonder if they still play together, like on Thanksgiving. That’s a really great question. I wish I would have looked that up.

Sophia
I love watching Thanksgiving football, though, especially while we’re waiting for all the food to be ready, like just sitting in the living room. Speakers are going the whole family

Summer
It’s definitely a part of the tradition. It is.

Sophia
It’s just my friends from Mexico always say that that’s so American whenever it’s everyone in the living room, like yelling at a screen. I mean, obviously I’m in a soccer that they watch, but yeah, here, like, over eating, watching football. It’s just Thanksgiving.

Summer
Like cowboys, aren’t they? Like Mexico’s team and the Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving, so, oh, that could become part of their tradition.

Sophia
Never made that correlation. Yeah, interesting.

Summer
All right. And then the last fun fact about Thanksgiving, the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was in 1924 it was such a huge success that Macy’s signed a deal with NBC to broadcast the now famous parade that we see every year. So 1924 it’s been going on for a long time. Wow. I love watching that one too. That’s another tradition. Have to watch the parade, especially the Rockettes. Yeah? Definitely, yes. So just a few fun facts about the upcoming holiday to help us remember the meaning of this special day

Sopia
With Thanksgiving right around the corner today, we take you inside the Amendola family Student Cupboard, a vital campus pantry supporting hundreds of Fresno State students every day. Here’s reporter Adriana Franco with more on this program.

Adriana
That’s the son of Cannes stacking at Fresno State’s Amendola family. Student Cupboard a free food pantry open to all currently enrolled students. The program began in 2014 after student research revealed just how many students struggled with food access today, the cupboard offers fresh produce, canned goods, snacks and even Cal fish assistance, all at no cost. Here, food security project coordinator Michael Ballen shares the heart behind the work they do.

Michael Ballen
Our goal is to make sure students have access to healthy and nutritional food options as they’re completing their education.

Adriana
And when it comes to how many students use the cupboard, the turnout is hard to miss.

Michael Ballen
Last time we looked at the numbers, it. Was an average of 500 a day students. We see about 2500 student visits a week, so it’s about 10,000 a month. It’s pretty busy.

Adriana
With Thanksgiving coming up the cupboard put on his biggest turkey giveaway to support students. Balance days.

Michael Ballen
Resources are always limited, but we’re actually having our biggest turkey giveaway we’ve ever had that I’m aware of, and so we’ll be giving out 500 turkeys, 100 frozen chickens, plus sides and 50 gift cards for, you know, anybody who doesn’t get a chicken or a turkey, so you can get one of the other again, if you don’t eat meat or if you need specific dietary needs, and that’s what the gift cards would be for. So we’ll be partnering with the essential needs office and having our biggest giveaway.

Adriana
Big giveaways like this don’t happen alone, and there are lots of ways members of the community can lend a hand

Michael Ballen
If folks want to donate. That could be through a monetary donation, or they could also donate food, any canned foods, non perishable items we accept. I tell folks always to think about a busy college student trying to get to class right grab and go items, trail mixes, granola bars, snacks, things like that. They can donate and bring it here, directly to the Student Cupboard. Sometimes, if it’s a large donation, we can pick up. We have a van to do that. So there’s many ways to either volunteer or donate or come be a part of our programs.

Adriana
Fresno State student and volunteer Jacqueline Popone explains what the cupboard offers and how it helps students like her.

Jacqueline Popone
They do offer a variety of options, and the most important to me was the fruits and vegetables, because it’s kind of hard to just pick one out, and it’s hard to find some good ones, some fresh ones. So here, when they get a shipment, they put it right in the fridge. So it’s nice to have some fresh ones, just having access to a variety of things. And even, like, when I’m hungry on campus, I’m like, Oh, I kind of want a little snack. It’s right here, and the best part is that it’s free.

Adriana
And for students who may feel unsure about visiting the cupboard for the first time she sees, the experience is much more welcoming than they might expect.

Jacqueline Popone
Don’t feel embarrassed, because I did feel embarrassed the first time. But over time, you realize, like, everybody’s here for the same thing. No one’s here to judge. And even though they’ll say like, oh, you know, only take one of this one of that, it’s based on whatever you need, so don’t feel embarrassed for taking whatever you need

Adriana
At Fresno State student cupboard. Support comes without judgment, and for many students, that support can make all the difference. Any currently enrolled Fresno State student, including undergraduate, graduate, international and undocumented students, is eligible to use the Amendola family Student Cupboard located in the Industrial Technology Building, students can receive free food and hygiene items, and all they need to access these resources is a valid Fresno State student ID for Fresno State Radio. I’m Adriana Franco in Fresno, California.

Summer
Thanks, Adriana for that report. And next up, we take a look at a once a year event hosting student written literature from poems to short stories on our very own campus. Here’s reporter Victor Fontes.

(Student Reading)
I let myself melt the summer. We put the remnants of her in the ground, let the dirt cover up what was left through the buzzing of a burial Hornet, I said the last words My mom would ever hear from me, plastic water from warm palms lingered on my tongue like forgetting the last time I hugged her before her head turned into a flood.

Victor
The annual rough drafts reading event hosted by Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. Just took place this last week. The MFA program provides students with advanced training in poetry, fiction and creative non fiction writing. The program was founded in 1995 and required students to present their writing at a student reading up until 2010 since then, the San Joaquin literary Association created rough drafts as a way to keep the tradition going and allow voluntary first year students a chance to show off their works. Event Coordinator and MFA poetry student Vivian Aguirre shares her role in the event.

Vivian Aguirre
I’m helping to organize. Just put together the event for today. I am a second year student, so I read during rough drafts last year, and so just really organizing the event, getting people involved to hear some rough drafts that our first year cohort has worked in and out of workshop.

Victor
Other event coordinators and MFA poetry students, Isabella de la Torre and Amalia holquin, also chime in as the trio speak about what they look forward to most during the event.

Vivian Aguirre
I think this event means a lot of creativity to me, it’s a place where everyone is able to sort of hear and get inspired by our peers. Works. Yeah, this event is
really important for the incoming first years, because this is the first time for most of them that they read in front of an audience, and having that supportive environment, it really helps with their growth and their confidence. So to me, I just wanted to help, because as a first year reader last year, I felt really supported by my peers and by the program and faculty, so I kind of wanted to give back and do the same for them.

AMELIA HOLGUIN
I second that when me and Vivian were putting this event together with Isabella, I kept thinking about how important this was for me last year as a reader for the first time, and so it was really important that we created a positive experience for these first year students to have that first experience reading, and hopefully getting them more comfortable to do it in the future.

Victor
Additionally, they encourage more students to write for the event, as the literature read is always a treat for the ears and inspiration for the imagination.

VIVIAN AGUIRRE, ISABELLA DE LA TORRE, AMELIA HOLGUIN
I would just like to extend the welcome, especially for next year and just I want to encourage our audience to be creative and to know that they’re always welcome. Yeah, just always welcome to share what they’re working on, and always welcome in this community as a whole, too. Yeah, like Vivian was saying, I would welcome anyone to come, even if they’re interested in writing. It is very inspirational to hear different styles, you know, different forms of writing. I think that I get inspired by my peers, and I’m sure the community will, too, just, you know, hearing some good art tonight, and then just coming to enjoy yourself and just connect with others. So like Vivian said, I want to invite others just to come in. Just to come and hang out
And then I would say biggest takeaway from this event is don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. I know for me, this was my first time reading when I was participating in this event last year. And for many of you, it’s also your first time getting published or even reading at a live event. So just keep it up. And regardless of what art or interest you have, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. There’s somebody out there that will support you, and you have a community that when the house was demolished, he added the door to his New Orleans studio. Had I known this, I would have snuck under the curtain to see the wizards. A large security guard grabbed my shoulder. Where do you think you’re going?

Victor
What you just heard is one of 10 rough draft readers, graduate student and creative nonfiction writing major, Terry Joyce Randolph shares her feelings on her own writing, as well as the event as a whole, it’s

Terry
my first reading of any written work that I’ve done like this. So I feel it’s like a coming out party, as if this is like the new frontier of doing creative works writing, and hopefully it’s the first of many other readings. I read a piece called Bad Park karma in Hollywood, because I have a really bad car karma. That’s the truth, and I’m always able to get a ride no matter what the situation is. So it’s kind of a blend of a story of being in an abusive marriage and kind of coming through that in that time period of my life, but then also taking in half a tab of acid and tripping out in a Nine Inch Nails David Bowie concert and having to find my way home after reading the screenplay about the Wizard of Oz, which played out in the entire trip and journey. I like to tell of the readers or people in general in Fresno that we have a really strong writing community in Fresno, and we have a history of writers going back all the way to William Saroyan, and our Poet Laureate for California is Lee Herrick. So we really have a strong community, and I have a lot of respect for my peers. So if you ever have a chance to come out, listen to our work, wherever we may be at I do encourage you to support us.

Victor
Well, there you have it. It’s clear that after attending here, there’s lots of lovely literature lingering in the air. Listeners and writing lovers alike are sure to leave the experience with a laudable sentiment. Reporting from Fresno State I’m Victor Fontes with Fresno State radio.

Sophia
Thanks, Victor. Hey, Bulldogs. If you’re looking for something to do tonight or want to catch up on some end of semester culture on campus, here’s what’s happening

Summer
Tonight is the last night to see Godspell. This updated take on the classical musical god spell blends pop culture, nods fresh perspectives and a wide range of musical styles, from pop to vaudeville to bring new life to a timeless message. Show starts at 730 at the Fresno State University theater, main stage, and also the Fresno State Jazz Festival will take place December 4 through the fifth at the Fresno State concert hall. Brought to you in part by our very own kfsr

Sophia
That wraps up our show. For more content, visit Fresno State focus.com

Summer
We’ll be back after the Thanksgiving holiday for some Fresno State football recaps.

Sophia
Today’s episode of Fresno State Focus radio edition was produced by Professor Hanayo Oya from the Department of Media Communications and Journalism at Fresno State

Summer
our stories are reported by Adriana Franco, Victor fantas and Sarah Ohler, and produced and edited by summer Miller and Julie Lindahl in collaboration with Fresno State radio for Fresno State Focus radio edition, I’m Summer Miller

Sophia
and I’m Sophia Sandoval. Hope you have a great weekend and happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving.

Exit
Fresno State radio presents Fresno State Focus radio edition, Saturday mornings at five. More information is available at kfsr.org and at fsrunderground.org