(upbeat music) - [Drew] There's a story inside every smoke shop, with every cigar, and with every person. Come be a part of the cigar lifestyle at Boveda. This is "Box Press." Contextualize for our viewers what the scope and impact of the charity is. - [Tony] Dellas? - [Dellas] Yeah, so this region, it's right next to the farm in Caribe, and there's five close communities. And the majority of that community works, you know, their families have worked at Chateau de La Fuente.
And there's rivalries, there was gangs. I mean, you're in a very small, they call it a "campo", which means, I mean, it's a small town. - [Tony] Yeah, let's say for instance, the two communities, let's talk about them. - [Dellas] Yeah. - [Tony] One is near Chateau de la Fuente, which is Caribe, and the other is El Verde, which is a few kilometers away. They hated each other. They hated each other.
And Carlito told me this when I first lived in the Dominican, when I made it my choice for the last 20 years to live there. I lived in Caribe and he says, "Tony, you gotta be careful. You don't, this is not like being in the United States." "Look, Carlito, I got to know the feeling. I have to live among the people to know what, why we're here. It's not just building the school, but the social services as well." And he says, "Okay, you're gonna stay here. All right."
And he told me, "Be careful because these two communities, the rivalry is crazy. Don't turn your back on them." These are kids that might stick you in the back with a knife." I said, "Well, we need to change that mentality." - [Dellas] Yeah. 100 percent. - [Tony] And the fearful thing with David Luther, who was a part of the Dominican foundation, he said, he told Carlos one time, he goes, "These guys have kill each other at the school. We gotta be careful."
But the change, what Cigar Family Charitable Foundation has done, is build these two rival communities to bring them together to love each other, right? - Yeah. A hundred percent. - And now they're just like, they're- you know, somebody from El Verde is marrying somebody in Caribe, and it's just a wonderful thing. Now, it's just this brotherly love, this sisterly love, and it's just incredible, man, what Cigar Family has done in these communities.
- [Tony] Yeah. David Luther was instrumental on awareness that we had to, you know, educate the parents. Because the mentality then, when you were eight or nine or 10, you no longer, don't bring home a school book, because it wasn't putting food on the table. So there was a mentality, and we had to help cultivate that and pivot, you know, 20, 23 years ago. - [Drew] Yeah. - [Dellas] Yeah. Happy Montesino Monday. - [Tony] Montesino Monday for my sister Cynthia! - Yes, Cynthia.
(laughing) - [Drew] So is this significant to the foundation, or is this just your Monday? - [Tony] It's a brand that they've had for many years. And Cynthia just wants to bring it back to life again. Because as you know, they're in Nicaragua. And Finca de Montesino - Yeah. - [Tony] is from, because of the cigar. So Cynthia's wanted to promote a livestream show called "Montesino Mondays" with Cynthia Fuente. - [Drew] Well, and Dellas has been talking about it since Thursday.
- [Tony] It's a fabulous cigar, isn't it? - [Drew] Yeah. It's a lovely, - [Dellas] It's an old Cuban brand that, the old man, Don Carlos brought back to life, and it was one of my first Fuentes. And we always enjoy celebrating. - Montesino Monday. - Especially on a Monday. - [Dellas] Yeah, absolutely. - [Drew] So it's the Montesino Diplomatico? - [Dellas] Yes. Connecticut Broadleaf, Dominican filler, Dominican binder. And there's some Nicaraguan in there as well.
- [Drew] So it sounds like the influence of the Fuente family, the notion of family, I've heard Carlito say it a number of different times. "No, no, that's family." "No, no, they're family". "No, no, no, that's family." He refers to people from the far corners of the industry that he's known over the years as family. He's treated Sean [Knutsen] and Tim [Swail] like family. He treats you like family. - Absolutely. Absolutely.
So this family foundation, and the altruism of being about something bigger than industry - Yes. It's remarkable. - [Tony] You know, I'm glad you brought that up, because this is what brought us all together first, was the cigar. - [Dellas] 100 percent. Absolutely. - [Tony] But it's not about the cigar, it's about the people. And that's his mission. It's not about the cigars, it's about the people, guys.
And this, through the love of this leaf, we have all become family members and long life, you know, watching your kids grow And it's like, man, you know, being married, right? - [Dellas] Yeah. 100 percent. - And - We talk about it a lot. - [Dellas] It's the equalizer, regardless of where you're from, - it's deep. - [Tony] Regardless. - Right? It's not about us. - All walks of life. - [Tony] It doesn't matter, man. But it's just that, this brought us all together. But it's much more than that.
- [Dellas] 100 percent. - [Drew] And as long as it's about that, it's foolproof. It's eternal. It goes beyond the ability of the individual or the ego or the, you know, it's enduring. These are enduring relationships when you're training a young man or a young woman. That self discipline in your craft, and, you know, that's the same thing that you're doing with these communities. - [Dellas] Yeah, no, 100 percent. What you just talked about is legacy.
You know, Tony and I, we didn't have a dad, so we didn't understand how to establish that foundation, how to be a young man. Right? How to cultivate a legacy. And Carlito has mentored us through that process. Taking ownership. - [Drew] I can see it in your eyes. - [Dellas] Yeah. - [Tony] You know what's remarkable is this is a one man's dream. But he shared it with all of us. It's a lifetime commitment for me. - [Drew] Well, and you caught on. You caught it like a virus, and it stuck.
And it's been a part of your life. And you probably couldn't imagine your life without it. - [Tony] No! I couldn't! Oh, no. Until the end of the days, this is what I'm doing. I'm not a retailer. I'm not in the tobacco industry. I'm a martial artist. I enjoy cigars. But because of this one man's dream, he shared with us all, we are changing lives. We're breaking the chains of poverty. - [Dellas] Amen. - [Tony] In the Dominican Republic.
Now that we have graduates that are from universities that are architects, lawyers, engineers, doctors, nurses. We have our polytech school, which we have I.T. you know, I mean, information technology and nursing program. - [Dellas] And teachers that are now coming back and teaching the students to continue that passion, that commitment and legacy, - [Drew] Have conditions improved? - [Dellas] Oh, immensely. When we first went down there, they had a parade, and the kids had a uniform.
This was the first time they had shoes. And you could see them walking pretentiously, like they had a pebble or a stone in their shoe. And Carlito asked them, "Why were you walking that way?" They said, "These are the first pair of sneakers we ever had. We're afraid for them to break or get damaged." - [Tony] That's deep. - [Dellas] You know, those types of simple, easy things that we take for granted. And they always think that we get more than we- we receive more than what we give.
- [Tony] Oh, no, absolutely. I love it. I wouldn't change it for anything. - [Dellas] No, absolutely. And we had to- David Luther was instrumental because he- and that's a good story as well that you need to tell that, but just helping us understand how we had to change that culture. Right? If you were gonna- "Begin with the end in mind." that's what Stephen Covey says, right? So, we had to change the mindset of, obviously the parents, and the older generation as we poured into them.
Because what we were teaching there at the school, we needed to be backed up with what they were experiencing and living at the home. And the first thing before even the school came, what did we work on? We worked on the water. They didn't have good water. - The filtration system. - [Dellas] The kids had bloated stomachs. Right? And had all those diseases there.
- [Tony] And when we first had people to come out, you know, come out to the farm and, and see these kids, "Oh, they're healthy, they got-" No, Carlito said, "They're not healthy." "Well, their bellies are full." Yeah. Full of parasites. I mean, think about that. - [Dellas] Yeah. That was the first- because at Cigar Family, we were doing charities for the American Heart Foundation, - St. Jude's. - St. Jude's. - [Dellas] And that was during the PC time.
I think it was during the Clinton administration to where the charities wouldn't take tobacco money. And Fuente family would do big charities at The Grand Havana Room. And then I think it was Rosie, his wife said, "You know what, we need to get back to-" - [Tony] Maybe your own country, the country where you have your factory - No, 100 percent - and your tobacco. - [Tony] And I'm gonna bring something up, when I first met Carlito, this was in '98, and they had the Cigar Family celebration.
And I didn't spend a lot of time with him. because he had, there was 50 of us at the, at the event. And I spent a lot of time with Wayne and Cynthia and Carlito came up to me, he goes, "Hey, sorry, I haven't had, you know enough time to spend with you, but I need to say something to you." I said, "Okay." He says, "You know, I know we just met, but there's something about you." And I'm thinking, "Okay."
And he goes, "I don't know where, I don't know when, and I don't know how, but we're gonna do something together in the future." I'm like, "What are you talking about, I just came here to meet all the Cigar Family members and smoke cigars!" And then you bringing it up, you know, let's raise some money for the foundation. And in 2001, he changed it. We did do one year, I think St. Jude's.
And he says, "Let's build a wing on the elementary school that's already there in Caribe so more kids can go." I said, "Yeah!" All of us Cigar Family members donated cigars, Carlito threw in some cigars, and we raised, I don't know, $50,000. In 2001, he says, "Okay, we got this check. Take this check and go to Santo Domingo." And this is where David Luther comes in. "I want you to meet this gentleman and you're gonna present the check." I said, "Well, nah, just take the check.
You know, give it to the construction guy, whatever, you know, build the wing on the school." He says, "No, no, no, I need you to take it. I said, "Man, all right." So I go to Santo Domingo, they pick me up and they drive me to the office of where IDDI [Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral] and the Dominican Foundation is. So I meet this gentleman, David Luther, it's an American, been living in the country for 30 years. And he goes, "You know why you're here?" I go, "Yes, sir.
I got a $50,000 check that we raised on cigarfamily.com from cigar smokers from all over the United States. And here it is. So you can build a wing on the school." He says, "No." (Dellas laughing) He goes, "No." Next thing the press is there And I'm like, "What the hell's going on here? Well, here's the check." He says, "No, no, no. Let me show you what's happening." He bought 26 acres. I go, "To grow tobacco?" "No, he's building a complex.
A Cigar Family charitable complex to serve the community that are surrounding Chateau de la Fuente." I said, "This is crazy." I didn't know what was going on. Next thing you know, Carlito was in the office on the other side listening, "Hey, bro! Look at what we're gonna do!" I'm like, "You're crazy, man! You and the [J.C.] Newmans are gonna build a complex? You're a cigar roller. I mean, not a roller, but you're a cigar maker of fine cigars. What what are you doing, man?
You know, you say you're a humble cigar maker but-". He says, "That's what it's all about. It's not about the cigars, it's about the people." And I said, "Okay." And they showed the plans and it was just an incredible thing. And all it was was just to build a wing on a school so a few more kids can go to, you know, get educated. And now we have a primary school, a preschool a junior high, a high school, the polytech university and the new Pueblo- Pueblo - Pueblo.
Academy of Arts and Arturo Sandoval, Grammy Award winner, multi Grammy Award winner, is gonna be heading the musical, art- - Beautiful. - [Tony] I mean, it's incredible. And not only that, the Johnson C. Maxwell, we're bringing in, you know, I introduced something before the pandemic about bringing cinematography. I don't know a lot about it, but I learned a lot on YouTube. But we're bringing in, you know, how the kids could do their own social media podcasts just as what we're doing here.
- [Dellas] No, 100 percent. - [Tony] You know? - [Dellas] You know, we knew we had to shake things up post pandemic, like Tony shared with you. I had a dream, I have a passion, you know, with leadership development. You know, to piggyback off what Tony was doing with the martial arts, you know, giving people life skills. - [Drew] Sure. And I've been blessed as a United States Marine and in the corporate world, you know, being that mentor to them that we didn't have as kids, as fathers.
And just taking that culture to another level. And the most effective way is to keep equipping them with self-awareness, leadership skills, mentality, commitment. Motivation gets you started, discipline keeps you going. - [Tony] It does. - [Dellas] Yeah. 100 percent. - [Tony] And it's incredible now that you know this short amount of time, but now the teachers are involved. The students are involved. They're taking control.
We're not building... you know what, this is unique because everybody says, we're building leaders, not followers. That's one thing. - [Dellas] Absolutely. A hundred percent. - [Tony] And that's the most important thing. We don't want followers, we want leaders. We want them to be the leaders of their community, the leaders of their country, and these are the future leaders of the Dominican Republic, giving back through Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. - [Dellas] Yeah. 100 percent.
- [Drew] Speaking of giving to the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, if someone wanted to give, what would they do? - [Tony] Well, there's a website, and it's www.cf-cf.org. And any amount, it could be a dollar, it could be $10, it could be $1,000,000. But any amount goes a long ways in whatever they could do. And even if you have some type of expertise, some type of trade, we welcome teachers from other countries to come and give back.
They wanna spend a week, such as Arturo did with the music, such as what I've done with the martial arts, what you're doing with John C. Maxwell's Leadership Program. We welcome everybody. If they want to give back, Let's do it. - [Dellas] And that's part of- so, Tony mentioned about the poly-technical building. So, last year, Tony had this idea before the pandemic to begin implementing a social podcast.
And I said, "Well, I wanna piggyback on that and let's launch a leadership development program. And we need a strong, powerful internet connection. We needed multimedia." So I could continue to do that remotely utilizing technology, but continue that continuity of mentoring and helping them grow. - [Tony] And we're just getting started with that. You know, there's a lot of gear and equipment that's still needed, but the remote training's incredible, huh? - [Dellas] Absolutely.
- [Tony] With Ecamm Live, and the streaming software. It's just- - [Dellas] And they're sponges. They want an opportunity. They see it, because now we've created awareness, situational awareness. And Boveda's been a huge partner of the foundation since the beginning. Tim and Sean helping with the Toast Across America packs. - [Tony] Oh, we're gonna take another level. We're gonna have a meeting with Tim and Sean, and I'll tell you, I love these two gentlemen. They changed the industry.
And they believe in giving back - [Dellas] 100 percent. - [Tony] And I just found out, my wife was here just a few days. She just left this morning and she barely just told me this. She remembers Tim and Sean. - [Dellas] Yeah. Tell that story. - [Tony] In 2001, when Little Carlito was born. The Third. And it was the start of Boveda. - [Dellas] Yeah. Humidipak at that time. - [Tony] Yeah, Humidipak. Yeah, you're right. And Carlito was, you know, they were visiting Carlito, they had a meeting.
My wife was there, this was 2001, and I didn't know this until the other day. And I went to Sean, I said, "My wife remembers you." He goes, "I remember that." I go, "This is when you first started, I mean, the whole concept." And now look. Look what it has done, you know, I mean, for the industry. - [Drew] Yeah, that year was, I think, the transition from the Humidipak branding to the Boveda branding. So that was the birth of the Boveda brand.
So that's significant that it mirrors the life of Carlito... - The Third - The Third. - [Tony] Yeah. It all started just visiting, going to Miami, visiting, you know, the birth of the son, but a meeting about, you know, bringing this wonderful product. - It's a beautiful thing. - [Drew] And so we bring it all full circle to Montesino Monday. - [Dellas] Yeah. - [Drew] And to say Tony's last name? - Kattengell. - Kattengell. - Kattengell. - Kattengell.
- [Drew] Yeah! It's not as difficult as you said it was gonna be earlier. (Tony laughing) The martial artist Tony, the leadership trainer, and US Marine, Dellas Edmisten. Family guys. The Charitable Family Foundation. Changing the culture of optimism in the Dominican Republic. - Yes. - Yes. Wow. - [Dellas] 100 percent. (whimsical music plays) - Yeah. - Yes. - [Tony] It's not about cigars, it's about the people. - [Drew] Beautiful. - [Tony] Yes. - [Drew] Anything else you wanna talk about?
- [Tony] No, Drew, thank you very much. Thank you very much, you know, for having us. - [Drew] It's a celebration of a friendship though. It really comes down - That's my brother! - [Drew] to the love between you guys, and I wish we had an extra camera so we could have watched Dellas weep. - [Tony] Were you weeping? - He got all misty. - You're too emotional. - Yeah, he gets- - I love this guy. (all laughing) - [Drew] Cheers. This was great, Tony. Thank you. - Thank you, Drew.
I appreciate it. - It was cool! - Absolutely. 100 percent. - I love it! - [Drew] Yeah.