From left, Ramona and Peter Vasques of the Cannabis Awards Music Festival; Tina Ulman, president of the Chamber of Cannabis; Ty “Pearl” Clark, founder of Baked Old Ladies; Bri Bartold, customer service manager at The Source; and Teresa and Doc Love of Holy Smoke Misfit Missionaries have come together to help feed Southern Nevada’s homeless and low-income residents.
Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 | 2 a.m.
On the third Sunday of every month, Ty “Pearl” Clark maneuvers through Molasky Family Park in northeast Las Vegas bringing hot meals to the homeless or low-income residents of the area.
It is a lively affair with music playing as Clark and other volunteers distribute fresh-cooked dishes to up to 150 people.
“It’s a whole vibe,” said Clark, founder of the Baked Old Ladies, a cannabis advocacy group that leads the distribution. “It’s a cool energy. You legit have to see for yourself.”
In Nevada, 373,370 people face hunger and 35.5% of families rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program benefits, according to a report from Feeding America. The report indicates that 44,460 Clark County children live in low-food secure households.
Clark helped form the group in 2018, when after attending a catered party she started to think about the gap in accessing food between at-risk populations and the well-to-do partygoers.
The CEO of a cannabis consulting company, Clark found her colleagues in the industry “also have the heart to give back.”
And the volunteers are giving out more than the basics, offering main dishes like filet mignon and desserts like cake and fruit.
“We feed people the way we want to be fed, so we make really, really good meals,” she said. “We pride ourselves on treating the people how we want to be treated, and we call that sharing meals with our neighbors.”
Since starting the nonprofit, Clark said Baked Old Ladies has connected with over 100 community partners through a combination of cannabis advocates and homeless outreach nonprofits.
One group with overlapping interests is Holy Smoke Misfit Missionaries, where president Arthur “Doc” McClenaghan said Clark has helped with meal distribution in Las Vegas’ tunnels and washes. In turn, McClenaghan and his wife frequent Molasky Family Park to help the Baked Old Ladies with their afternoon meal dispersal.
“What I like about the way the Baked Old Ladies do it is that they really personalize it,” McClenaghan said. “She volunteers everywhere, whatever needs to be done.”
The group reached 3,000 needy residents a month, Clark said. For instance, a business reached out to her recently asking for help with hydrating the homeless. They immediately delivered 30 cases of water.
“There is no cause we will turn down,” she said.
The Baked Old Ladies is partnering with The Source, a dispensary chain in Las Vegas, where this month customers can round up their purchases or make separate donations to assist the group. The dispensary provided them $38,000 in 2021.
“The large impact that the Baked Old ladies have as a nonprofit on the Las Vegas community is inspiring and we are so honored to partner with them this month,” Simon Nankervis, CEO of the Source Holding, said in a statement.
Tina Ulman, director of brands at The Source, said the dispensary’s goal is to always exceed its previous donation efforts. In December, the company raised approximately $10,000 for Helping Hands of Vegas Valley — a nonprofit that assists senior citizens with their daily needs, such as transportation, food, household repairs and respite care for the seniors’ primary caregivers.
“I’m looking forward to having conversations with our locals that sometimes need the most support … and I think just bringing our cannabis community out so that people can really see the opportunity we have to make an impact, starting right at our local park,” Ulman said of the Molasky Family Park distribution.
Clark this year is looking to partner with more nonprofits with food rescue incentives to prohibit food waste and redistribute it to community members. The need, she said, is more significant because of the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic.
“I’m running out of food, and that’s one thing that I don’t like to do, and that means there are more hungry people in the area,” she said. “Our mission statement is to support those who support you and lead by example. … If you’ve got your front, we’ve got your back.”
To help, contact Clark at 702-559-3122.
