- Here's what's coming up.

- Next on You Oughta Know.

- A local nonprofit lends a hand to area organizations giving back to the community.

Tired of landfills full of plastic?

I know I am.

The University of Delaware is working on a solution.

- [Regina] Plus, the sweet treat that signifies the end of the Ramadan fast.

- And we've got some fashion suggestions for your spring wardrobe.

(upbeat music) Welcome to the show.

I'm Shirley Min.

- And I'm Regina Mitchell.

So glad you joined us today.

We begin to show with a couple of nonprofits that are caring for the community.

- Since 2005, Philly AIDS Thrift has been supporting local groups involved in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

- The success of the organization has led to many new initiatives and endeavors, which continue its overall mission.

- Philly AIDS Thrift is a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded here in Philadelphia in 2005.

Four longterm HIV/AIDS activists/lovers of junk decided to put their two passions together, and Philly AIDS Thrift was born.

In 2014, stepping in to take over the business operations of Giovanni's Room, the oldest continuously running LGBT bookstore in the United States of America, right on the corner of 12th and Pine Street.

It's a very important place to a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons.

The folks that had been running the store up to that point announced that they were gonna have to close the store because it was no longer turning a profit.

We began a conversation about how we could continue to carry new and used LGBT books and other material, but also integrate our thrift store model into the business.

This helped cut down the overhead, and I'm really happy to let you know that the store is once again turning a profit, so much so that in 2018, we were able to purchase the building outright, thus securing the legacy of Giovanni's Room for future generations.

Not only do we have the physical location, but we also operate a website, queerbooks.com, and now people anywhere in the country can find out about new or older LGBT books that are in print and then order directly from us.

And because Giovanni's Room is now under the Philly AIDS Thrift nonprofit umbrella, every time somebody makes a purchase either here or at our other store, a part of that sale goes to support our mission.

Our mission is to raise money for folks that are living with HIV and/or AIDS.

There's a large population of people, not just in Philadelphia, but across the United States, across the world, that are still living with HIV and AIDS.

Sometimes they're overlooked or underserved.

Historically, our proceeds would go directly to an organization called the AIDS Fund here in Philadelphia, and they would kind of take care of the administration of where the monies would go.

A couple of years ago, our amazing board decided to create a grant program through which organizations that are working on prevention, outreach, research and treatment for folks living with HIV/AIDS could apply to Philly AIDS Thrift directly in order to receive a grant of up to $15,000 to support their projects.

We are granting the most amount of money that we have ever given away, over $300,000, to over 20 different organizations doing that important, vital work.

- We were recipients of one of the grants from Philly AIDS Thrift, and we are so grateful for their work.

They really motivate us to continue to serve the community.

- Their funds actually help us to continue to support our programming for Queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color.

Their funding also supports our vaccination efforts over the last year as well.

- Over the past two years, we have been lucky to have the support of Philly AIDS Thrift in helping us to further our outreach and focusing on more marginalized groups within our community here in Philadelphia.

- Sometimes you hear stories about oh, society's falling apart and people don't care about each other anymore, but I've seen so many incredible things come into the store, and then to think that we're able to sell those items in order to help other people, it's really awesome.

- If your group or organization is interested in applying for a grant from Philly AIDS Thrift, go to phillyaidsthrift.com for more information.

- It's back, Dining Out For Life, an event that benefits those living with HIV.

Here now to tell us more about it is Kevin Burns, Executive Director of Action Wellness.

Thank you so much Kevin for being here.

- Oh, thanks for inviting me.

I'm thrilled to be here.

- We saw so many organizations do even more when the pandemic hit, just to make sure that people weren't falling through the cracks, and your organization was one of them.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you guys offer and how you helped people during that time?

- Absolutely.

We are a social service agency that provides a range of services for people with HIV, and our whole focus is making sure that people stay connected with their primary healthcare provider, with medications if they have medications to take, that they have food, transportation, and so the pandemic was a huge challenge for us.

We had to pivot really quickly and started providing a lot of those services remotely.

Some of our local funders like Philly AIDS Thrift was amazing.

They stepped up and helped us with funds that could provide more technology that we needed for our clients, all the sort of things to keep people connected.

It was a scary time for our clients, 'cause they were feeling isolated and concerned about were they gonna be able to get to their doctor's appointments, were they able to get their medication?

And then vaccinations were a huge problem for our clients, especially in the early days of the pandemic.

So we partnered with a local pharmacy, Neff Pharmacies.

They actually came to our offices and we did vaccination clinics for our clients to make sure they could be vaccinated.

It was a huge effort, but we learned a lot about technology and video calls and telehealth, but we made it through.

- I'm sure that it was difficult, but you guys have been around for 32 years, and I'm sure that that's no coincidence.

You guys have really learned how to adapt to what's going on, and there are so many people who see it and say, I want to help out.

Let's talk about the Dining Out program that you guys are gonna have and how people can get involved in that.

- Absolutely.

We are thrilled to be back live in the restaurants this year for Dining Out For Life, and it's a really simple event.

All you have to do is go to the website, diningoutforlife.com, and select a participating restaurant and go out and have a wonderful meal.

And then the restaurants donate this year back to Action Wellness a portion of people's food bill and then people can also make an additional contribution either online or through the envelopes that the restaurants have.

- And it's not just in Philadelphia.

- It's not.

Dining Out For Life started, as you say, 32 years ago.

It was an idea of one of our volunteers, and now it happens all across the country and in Canada.

And so totally, that event usually raises $3 million nationwide and in Canada for people living with HIV, so we're very grateful.

It's become this international community of caring and commitment to making sure that people with HIV have what they need to survive and to be well.

- And obviously a way that a lot of people want to help, because you get a great meal, and you can also help some other people, and you better start making your reservations, because April 28th is around the corner, right?

- It is, and thankfully a lot of the restaurants are filling up.

So yes, don't delay making your reservation.

We'd love to see you at one of the participating restaurants.

- Kevin, thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you for the opportunity.

We're very grateful for your support.

- [Regina] And if you would like to learn more about the participating restaurants or how to donate directly to Action Wellness, just go to our website.

(upbeat music) - Plastic waste continues to be a big problem.

We recycle some, but that only accounts for about 10% of our plastic waste.

So what do we do?

Well, researchers at the University of Delaware say the yellow mealworm might hold the answer in its gut.

Yellow mealworms, the larvae of mealworm beetles, are at the heart, or should I say gut, of a study currently underway at the University of Delaware.

Chemical and biomolecular engineers Mark Blenner and Kevin Solomon say the microbes inside the worm's digestive tract can eat and break down all types of mixed plastics, like single use water bottles and plastic wrapping.

- We basically put mealworms, plastic, and sometimes we add an additional nutrient and then we wait, right?

So then the worms start to search for food.

They find this plastic and then it will ingest the plastic.

As it's going through the gut, all the microbes that are there are doing chemistry on the plastic.

(upbeat music) - The worm actually doesn't do anything.

They're just an incubator, a reactor that holds the microbes that do all the heavy lifting.

The microbes are like children.

They're very picky eaters, and so you set out a buffet of different plastics and then you see which children come to the buffet, and that's how you can understand what plastics they like and parts of the plastic they'll eat.

- Once they can identify which microbes show up and better understand how they're breaking down the plastics chemically, Blenner and Solomon say that will allow them to address the plastic waste problem on a much larger scale.

- The hope a little bit longer term is to be able to take that understanding and try and remove the worm from the process and create a scalable biotechnological process that would allow us to degrade waste plastics much, much faster than we currently can now with biological processing.

- [Shirley] And we're talking about converting that plastic waste into something more valuable.

- I guess the formal term is upcycling, so rather than making more plastics, we're making things that are more valuable than the plastics that they came from.

Biofields, new medicines.

Once we know whether or not organism A breaks down plastic and turns it into a fat, then we can say here is this fat pathway that we know how to work with.

We can use that to turn it into a biofuel or use it to turn it into antibiotic X or what have you.

- [Shirley] The three year project is funded through a $15 million Department of Energy grant.

- I think we are starting to see the need to deal with our plastic waste.

We generate way more plastic waste than we recycle.

Washing the food off of plastics and then separating the plastics of different types is actually a very expensive, water intensive, labor intensive process.

That is one of the major reasons that we don't actually spend the time and energy to do recycling now.

- Our end game is developing economical approaches to eliminate and reuse plastic waste streams.

- We need plastic, and while we can try to rely less on single use plastics, it's a big part of our lives whether we like it or not, and the pandemic has definitely shown how plastics serve an important purpose, but we'll all benefit if we can figure out how to upcycle plastic waste.

- For parents with children with sensory challenges, finding a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment that offers fun activities is so important.

We Rock the Spectrum, a local franchise, offers just that.

- Our mission is to serve all kids, but we have a special affinity for kids with special needs.

We Rock was really thoughtfully designed.

The owners put a lot of time in thinking about how equipment meets the needs of kids with sensory challenges.

If a child has a disability, I think this gym is fun for them no matter what their age is, and it's padded and safe.

(upbeat music) We have a zip line.

It's a big rush going down the zip line, and then they crash in this crash pad and they get a lot of sensory input from that whole experience.

We have climbing structures where they have to really plan their next step, whether it's climbing a rock wall or a rope wall or doing monkey bars.

- Yay!

- We put such an emphasis on social skills, and so we have a real responsibility to help socialize all kids post COVID.

I feel like our mission is more important now than it ever was.

(upbeat music) Quiet room has been such a saving grace for so many families.

If a child feels overstimulated, they can go in there and just regroup, just a quiet space to recollect themselves and come back out to the gym.

(upbeat music) I want families who have a child with a disability and maybe kids who don't have disabilities to be here playing together.

This is a place where you never have to say I'm sorry.

♪ Music, music ♪ ♪ It's time for music ♪ - Music therapy has been such a blessing.

- Music therapy is using music as a medium to reach therapeutic goals.

A huge one for the autism population is speech.

We do that through singing familiar songs.

♪ A-B-C-D-E-F-G ♪ - We play instruments, and you know, we're focused on having a good time, but we're also trying to have the kids use language, have the kids sing, encourage speech.

- [Pip] For kids who don't even have language yet, they're learning to pass an instrument to a friend and taking turns.

- A lot of it is learning how to be in a group, what's appropriate, what makes people happy, how people react when you do different things.

When everyone gets these instruments out, we're doing things together as a group while having a really, really positive, fun time.

♪ Please don't take my sunshine away ♪ - This is a personal mission for me, as well as a professional mission.

We've built a true community here.

People come here for therapy.

They come here for support groups.

They come to have fun.

They celebrate milestones like birthdays with us.

It doesn't get any better than that.

(upbeat music) - Whee!

- Here's how you can see if We Rock the Spectrum is near you.

- The Muslim community celebrates the end of Ramadan with a traditional cookie during Eid.

- Keilani Pomosano introduces us to Manakeesh Cafe, Bakery and Grill, where you can find these delicious treats.

- [Adam] And so you hear that clacking sound, that and loving on around Eid time, once you hear that, it's very loud across the neighborhoods.

So once the neighbors hear that, they know the neighbor is making ma'moul.

It's getting ready for Eid time.

The excitement starts growing more and more.

- To break the month long fast of Ramadan, the Muslim community gathers for Eid, a celebratory meal that begins on a sweet note.

Ma'Moul are Lebanese shortbread cookies that are a favorite during this time of year.

I'm in west Philly to learn more at Manakeesh with Adam Chatila, who's gonna show us a little bit more about this celebratory cookie.

So Adam, tell me a little bit more about why this cookie is for Eid.

- A ma'moul cookie is a shortbread cookie stuffed with either dates, walnuts or pistachios.

And then it's mixed with lots of butter and then topped with powder sugar, and obviously like almost all Lebanese sweets, have that rosewater touch.

And it's just eaten as like a nice snack or dessert.

- [Keilani] This ma'moul cookie that you serve at Manakeesh, is this a family recipe?

- [Adam] Yes, of course.

It's a family recipe, always starts like that, and it's our secret recipe.

- You have your baker here, Hassan.

- Yeah, this is Hassan.

He's been doing ma'moul for years.

He's 40 years in the business, so he's what we call a master baker.

- [Keilani] Let's begin with making the dough.

- He is gonna start off with our semolina.

There's different types.

This is a softer, coarse type.

And then he is adding a butter that's called ghee butter.

It's like a butter that a lot of the water content has been taken out of.

It's more healthy.

He's telling me to get ready the rosewater.

- Ah, and what does the rosewater add to the dough?

- [Adam] It's almost like vanilla extract for American cooking.

It gives it a nice, flowery aroma.

- [Keilani] The dough is finished?

- [Adam] The dough is finished.

- There's three different types of filling.

We have walnut, pistachio and dates.

What goes into each of these?

- [Adam] They all share common ingredients.

Like we said, rosewater, water, sugar, and last but not least, butter, the ghee butter that we used.

Now he's gonna fill it up.

This is the traditional mold for the walnut.

This is the traditional mold for the pistachio, and this is for the date.

Now he's gonna start making the cookies.

It starts off with dough in the hand, and then he'll flatten it.

- [Keilani] Okay, so a ball and flatten.

- [Adam] Exactly.

- [Keilani] You got a nice cupping action.

- [Adam] Exactly.

- [Keilani] Okay, and then.

- [Adam] You get your ma'moul stuffing, and then you just cover the dough with it.

(upbeat music) - Here it is, the finished product.

(upbeat music) I love that it's crispy, but kind of melts in your mouth.

And then with the pistachio, it balances out really nicely with the earthiness of the semolina flour and then that floral sweetness of the rosewater really comes through.

Thank you so much for sharing the tradition of ma'moul cookies and Eid.

- They're carrying on such a rich tradition.

- They are, and a tasty looking one that we can all enjoy.

Yum.

Spring is in the air and it's time to go lighter and brighter with your wardrobe.

- You think?

- You got the memo.

I obviously didn't.

- Well, fashion expert George Brescia is back with some looks for spring.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm George Brescia, and I'm in Posh Collections today in Malverne.

It's springtime, and it's so exciting because we're all starting to get back to real life.

And what does that mean?

It means clothes.

It means, what are the trends?

How are you gonna feel confident?

I'm gonna show you everything, and you know what?

I'm gonna start off with men's.

This blazer, I'm obsessed with it.

It's this olive green, which is the color of the season.

It's unconstructed, it's easy.

It's so versatile.

And then we popped it with this fabulous camp shirt with this whimsical print that really illuminates him, and I love a little juxtaposition, so we've got tailored and fun on top and then the casualness of this stretch denim.

And then we polish the whole thing off with the must-have shoe of the season, this white leather sneaker, which I love, which you can wear with everything.

Now we're gonna do something a little bit more polished, a little bit more conservative.

It's all about this three quarter zip cotton sweater in this powder blue.

It's excellent.

And then we popped it with this soft pink oxford, which looks terrific, and then another must-have item, the khaki pant, but this is modern because it's sleek and it's a skinnier leg, has a little bit of stretch to it.

The perfect length coming to the top of his foot.

The whole look is Brooks Brothers, chic, modern and cool.

Now it's time for the ladies.

I'm gonna get started right away.

This is this textured gauze with this beautiful flutter sleeve, and then you see all this delicate gold jewelry that we've stacked at the neckline, which really sets it off.

This beautiful elastic waist pant with a wide leg, and then on the bottom, we've given you this fuscia pump just to give it a little pop.

But watch this.

Autumn, go ahead, give them a little drama.

There you go.

This beautiful, lightweight scarf with this ombre colors that really just sets the whole thing off.

She could go out to dinner, she could be going to work without the scarf, making it a little bit more quiet, but just dressing it up, dressing it down.

It's a fabulous look and it's really comfortable.

She looks great.

Thanks, Autumn.

Okay, now head to toe color.

Obviously I love head to toe color, but ladies, I'm gonna show you how to do it.

So look at Patty.

This is this gorgeous mint green menswear-inspired vest and this gorgeous pleated trouser all in mint green, super elongating and fabulous.

And then we've done this bold print blouse, which looks great, pulls the whole look together, soft, feminine with this poet sleeve.

And then we've given you some little green earrings just to set it off a little bit, and then a fabulous open toe square toe shoe, which really looks great.

This is go to work.

This is go to a wonderful evening out for dinner.

So very versatile, but listen, we're getting back to real life and it's all about wearing fun clothes, and Patty looks terrific.

Thanks, Patty.

Okay, now speaking of work, we're gonna bring out Stacy.

The blazer, double breasted plaid blazer.

I's so gorgeous, a soft plaid with a great cream background, double breasted, you see those buttons, and look at the sleeve.

We have that ruching that's done for you so it's like a three quarter sleeve.

Now this is go to work with this cotton poplin dress.

She looks sophisticated, elegant, chic, professional.

Watch this, because maybe there's a party after work and she wants to go out and still look sexy and sophisticated.

But the backless with the cutout, we love that, a little drama.

I always think that's so fun.

You guys, this is a cotton dress and she still looks fabulous and put together, and I think the whole look is great with the silver earrings.

Now we're gonna bring out our next look.

It's all about the sleeve here.

We're still seeing that poet sleeve and the ruching, and those of you who have seen Bridgerton, you might see a little influence here in this top.

This is actually a body suit and she's wearing it with these great distressed jeans, the white belt, the white pump.

We've done all the white accessories with it.

It's sexy, it's sophisticated, and she looks fabulous.

There you have it.

Fashion is fun.

Have fun.

Make yourself feel confident and get out there and enjoy.

- Thanks to Posh Collections in Malverne for those looks.

- Prior to the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Patrick Stoner had the chance to sit down with the band and talk to them about their movie, Studio 666, a comedic horror film.

- Do you can guys get this overwhelming sense of death?

- Ooh!

- Doesn't really seem like the right fit.

Whoa.

- [Patrick] Dave Grohl founded the Foo Fighters after the dissolution of Nirvana, and they have become a very popular group over the years, but now they've done something very unusual.

They've made a horror film.

I talked with the group, but before I could start, Dave interrupted me.

- When I grow up, I want to look like you.

You're the coolest looking.

- [Taylor] You have good vibe, man.

- Good vibe.

- And when I come back in my next life, I want my last name to be Stoner.

- The music has been too loud, and not only the eardrums have gone, but also the sight.

But I appreciate the thought very much indeed.

You're in an entirely new medium.

It has new rules.

I'm wondering what you found out that you didn't expect in making something like this.

- First of all, I don't think we expected much because it just sort of happened.

It wasn't something that we had planned on or aspired to do.

It really just came together.

A friend of mine was in a meeting with a Hollywood studio thing and he came out of the meeting and texted me and said hey, these people want to make a horror film with you guys, with the Foo Fighters.

- Of course.

- I said, that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard in my entire life.

And then we move into this house and we start recording our album in this house, the house in the movie, and then we thought, well, why the hell not?

We're here, we have a spooky house, let's just go for it.

But you know, as with most things we do, we just kind of fake it till we make it.

So in doing it that way, we don't necessarily know what to do or what not to do, and in that there's no right or wrong.

- You guys are used to working in high energy, but making a film, I mean, what was it somebody once said?

It's basically about eight minutes a day you actually working in front of a camera and all of the rest of it you're waiting.

Did that drive you out your mind?

- That was a surprise.

We're like sharks.

If we stop moving, we'll die.

There's the hurry up and wait.

With the Foo Fighters, it's just hurry up.

There's no waiting.

It's like, come on, hurry up.

So that part was hard for me.

- It definitely gave me a lot more respect for actors really, because you do really see that one of the most tiring things is doing nothing.

It's a slow process that we really did come to that realization for sure.

- Nonetheless, you've learned an entirely new set of skills.

- I wouldn't exactly say we learned, Mr. Stoner.

- I will say that you did learn.

Now thank you guys so much for being open about it, because after all, it's an art form, but it's an art form that requires a whole different set of disciplines, so thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- All right, yeah.

- The Foo Fighters have canceled their tour dates as they mourn the tragic death of their drummer.

- Truly a loss to the music world.

- It's so sad.

Before we say goodbye though, we do have a quick programming note.

We won't be here next week.

Instead, PBS will air the interactive program Family Night.

- That's right.

This show will give young people a chance to learn about career opportunities related to the weather and climate.

- And we will be back on April 29th.

- See everybody then, goodnight.

- Bye.

(upbeat music)