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<v Speaker 1>Something you should go. Something you should know is brought

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<v Speaker 1>to you by Genesisgoldra dot com. That is also something

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<v Speaker 1>you should know. You can put your retirement plan on

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<v Speaker 1>the gold standard. Genesis Gold Group is the only IRA

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<v Speaker 1>backed by physical gold and silver. Learn more and get

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<v Speaker 1>a free gold and Silver guide right now at Genesis

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<v Speaker 1>gooldra dot com. Excited to visit with not one but

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<v Speaker 1>two amazing guests today, I have Austin on Colleen with

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<v Speaker 1>all about you and this is an adoption organization. Colleen,

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<v Speaker 1>you started this in two thousand and.

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<v Speaker 2>Six, Yes I did. It's a nonprofit organization that serves

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<v Speaker 2>families wanting to adopt, birth parents who are choosing adoption

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<v Speaker 2>for their child, and then of course the adopted child.

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<v Speaker 1>And by doing this you get to meet a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of amazing people. And one of those amazing people is

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<v Speaker 1>sitting next to you right now. Austin. And Austin, you

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<v Speaker 1>went through this process, you and your wife did. How

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<v Speaker 1>long ago did you start the process?

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<v Speaker 3>So we started January first, twenty twenty three, and we

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<v Speaker 3>went through AU with Colleen to do our home study

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<v Speaker 3>and we got put on their list and we were

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<v Speaker 3>matched with a child in March of twenty twenty four.

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<v Speaker 1>Very nice, and now you have how many kiddos do

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<v Speaker 1>you have all together?

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<v Speaker 3>It was our first one, your first one, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>But I can tell from that smile it's probably not

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be last, isn't.

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<v Speaker 3>No. I we got to get through the survival stage here.

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<v Speaker 3>There you go, move on.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm so excited. And the thing that's neat I saw

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<v Speaker 1>this as somebody shared it online. I saw the story

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<v Speaker 1>of what you guys had gone through and then you

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<v Speaker 1>started a Sunshine Scholarship, and I just thought, what a

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<v Speaker 1>neat thing. So tell me what is a Sunshine Scholarship?

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<v Speaker 1>And how can people who are listening still contribute and

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<v Speaker 1>help with this?

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<v Speaker 3>So I came up with this ID and I proposed

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<v Speaker 3>it to calling about creating an adoption grant program for

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<v Speaker 3>like the prospective families or couples that want to adopt.

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<v Speaker 3>But also there's a financial commitment to do an adoption right,

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<v Speaker 3>And so what I wanted to do was create an

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<v Speaker 3>adoption grant fun for families of South Dakota to be

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<v Speaker 3>able to just alleviate a little bit of the burden

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<v Speaker 3>that comes with being able to have a family.

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<v Speaker 1>I love that, And Colleen, this has got to be

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a neat thing for you, because again, you

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<v Speaker 1>started all about you in two thousand and six and

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<v Speaker 1>you had a chance to work now with a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of people. But to maybe have the opportunity to open

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<v Speaker 1>the doors for some people who might not be able

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<v Speaker 1>to do it, that's just a really neat thing, isn't it.

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<v Speaker 2>It really is. And to see Austin and his wife

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<v Speaker 2>and their family be so excited and ready to take

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<v Speaker 2>on this challenge has been very rewarding for us.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and we talked a little bit ahead of time

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<v Speaker 1>because I was asking where are the clients that you

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<v Speaker 1>work with? And mainly South Dakota, but also in Nebraska

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<v Speaker 1>and North Dakota, but mainly South Dakota. So probably a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people in this area right around here.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, we do have a lot of families in the

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<v Speaker 2>Stux Falls area, a lot of birth parents in the

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<v Speaker 2>Stux Falls area.

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<v Speaker 1>If somebody listening is maybe because there's two different sides

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<v Speaker 1>of an adoption. There are people that are saying, we

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<v Speaker 1>want to have children, but we're not able to have

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<v Speaker 1>children for whatever the reason, and we're looking at adoption

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<v Speaker 1>as the solution. But there's also people on the other

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<v Speaker 1>side of that, where they're looking at adoption as a

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<v Speaker 1>solution to give their child a loving family. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>have more people on one side of that equation than

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<v Speaker 1>the other. Is that kind of equal right now?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, typically there are more families that want to adopt

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<v Speaker 2>a child than there are birth parents that are choosing

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<v Speaker 2>adoption for their child. So it's not so much numbers

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<v Speaker 2>situation as a match. Austin mentioned the word match, and

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<v Speaker 2>what that looks like is when a woman who has

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<v Speaker 2>an unexpected pregnancy or a couple who has an unexpected

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<v Speaker 2>pregnancy choose adoption, they get a lot of choices. They

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<v Speaker 2>get to choose the type of family they want, They

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<v Speaker 2>get to choose how open they want the relationship to be,

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<v Speaker 2>so they have a lot of options in the process

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<v Speaker 2>us and so anytime someone is struggling with not knowing

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<v Speaker 2>what to do, we also provide just counseling services for

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<v Speaker 2>them so we can help them with decision making. If

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<v Speaker 2>they come to us, it doesn't mean that they have

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<v Speaker 2>to choose adoption. It means that they just want to

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<v Speaker 2>explore it, and then we help them come around to

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<v Speaker 2>whatever decision that they want to make. And then when

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<v Speaker 2>they choose then we provide families for them to look

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<v Speaker 2>at that are going to meet the same types of expectations. So,

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<v Speaker 2>for example, an open adoption where you have ongoing contact

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<v Speaker 2>with the birth parents, we want the adoptive family and

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<v Speaker 2>the birth parents to be on the same page with

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<v Speaker 2>that so that it's a healthy relationship long term.

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<v Speaker 1>I love that, and sadly, most of the time all

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<v Speaker 1>we know about adoption is what we see in movies

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<v Speaker 1>and TV shows, and that's not always the best picture

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<v Speaker 1>of that isn't no, And it's usually not even kind

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<v Speaker 1>of really close to what reality is.

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<v Speaker 2>It really isn't Adoption is hard. Adoption comes with trauma

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<v Speaker 2>for everyone, and kind of the spurring reason for the

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<v Speaker 2>Sunshine Fund and the work that Austin is doing is

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<v Speaker 2>because families who struggle with infertility look at adoption as

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<v Speaker 2>an option to grow their family, so they experience a

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<v Speaker 2>trauma of not being able to conceive biologically. And then

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<v Speaker 2>you have individuals who have an unexpected pregnancy and they

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<v Speaker 2>are trying to figure out what to do and they

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<v Speaker 2>experience that range of emotions that you can imagine going

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<v Speaker 2>to making the most selfless decision ever possible and to

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<v Speaker 2>allow someone else to raise their child. And then third

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<v Speaker 2>is the child themselves and being separated from their biological

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<v Speaker 2>parents at birth is a trauma. And so that's why

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<v Speaker 2>it's so important that our adoptive families go through all

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<v Speaker 2>the training and are able to know strategies for bonding

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<v Speaker 2>and attachment and those types of things. It Austin and

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<v Speaker 2>his wife went through all those kinds of trainings and

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<v Speaker 2>they can or he can maybe speak to that.

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<v Speaker 1>That's fantastic. And what was that like going through that

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<v Speaker 1>whole process?

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<v Speaker 3>It was actually enlightening a little bit. You know, my

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<v Speaker 3>perspective adoption, I didn't really have one because I didn't

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<v Speaker 3>I don't work in it, I don't know anything about it.

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<v Speaker 3>So going through the trainings at the time was like, man,

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<v Speaker 3>every parent should go through trainings like this because you

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<v Speaker 3>learned so much on just the little things and big

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<v Speaker 3>picture items. And I think it's a very well put

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<v Speaker 3>together training plan that AU has nice and I believe

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<v Speaker 3>in it wholeheartedly, and I just think it prepares a

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<v Speaker 3>parent or parents for the capability to take on taking

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<v Speaker 3>care of a child and nice and it's very very

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<v Speaker 3>rewarding to go through the training, but it also just

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<v Speaker 3>prepares you in general, Colleen.

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<v Speaker 1>If somebody would like to learn more about AAU, how

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<v Speaker 1>do they find you, guys online? Do you have a website?

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<v Speaker 2>We do, it's AA you the letter you adoptions dot org. Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>and they can also call. We answer our phone twenty

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<v Speaker 2>four to seven.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'll throw a link to that to make it

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<v Speaker 1>easy to find. And Austin, if somebody would like to

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<v Speaker 1>learn more about the Sunshine Scholarship or if they'd say, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd like to contribute to this, how do they do that?

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<v Speaker 1>What is the process there?

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<v Speaker 3>So they can either one email me at my email.

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<v Speaker 3>I can give that to you. It's just Austin Clays

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<v Speaker 3>at gmail dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay.

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<v Speaker 3>We have a link on the AAU website as well

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<v Speaker 3>to donate. If they want to give a check, I

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<v Speaker 3>can always do that as well. I can meet them

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<v Speaker 3>where they're at.

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<v Speaker 1>Very nice.

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<v Speaker 3>But if they just want to learn more about it

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<v Speaker 3>or contribute, like you said, they can email me or

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<v Speaker 3>go on the AU's website and again the.

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<v Speaker 2>Website once again, AAU Adoptions dot org.

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<v Speaker 1>Very nice and I'm going to throw a link to

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<v Speaker 1>make it easy to find. Thank you so much, guys, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you, and again I'll throw that link at Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>dot com slash Sunny Radio and Facebook dot com slash

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<v Speaker 1>suit Falls News.

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<v Speaker 2>And Something You Should Know.

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<v Speaker 1>Something you Should Know is brought to you by Genesisgoldira

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