You don't have to write a big check to make a big difference for Kansas City's communities. Here are some little things you can do to help connect communities to close health gaps.
With your help, our solution-based work related to local food, food policy, mental health, youth advocates and active communities has impacted the lives of thousands of kids in the Kansas City metro area. Here are some stories of our impact. 1. Make a monthly gift. Monthly donations in any amount add up to make a big difference for kids and their communities. Set it up 2. Give when you shop with Amazon. If you shop with Amazon, you can help KC Healthy Kids' fundraising efforts! It just takes a simple switch to AmazonSmile. Amazon tracks purchases and automatically sends KC Healthy Kids a check based on qualified transactions. On your mobile phone, open the Amazon Shopping App, navigate to the main menu and select Amazon Smile. Please select KC Healthy Kids, Kansas City, Kansas and then follow the on-screen instructions to turn ON AmazonSmile in the mobile app. Follow these steps to set it up on your web browser.
3. Get your friends involved with a Facebook fundraiser You can use Facebook to raise money for KC Healthy Kids. When you make a post, just click the three dots in the "Add to your post" box to find "Raise Money." Type KC Healthy Kids into the search box and Facebook will walk you through the rest. You don't have to do another thing! Facebook will collect donations and send us a check. We WOULD love to know of your kind effort to raise money and spread the word about KC Healthy Kids, if you're so inclined. 4. Donate Your Birthday Another great way to show your Facebook friends and family that KC Healthy Kids matters to you is to ask for donations in celebration of your birthday (or any special day). Go to Facebook Fundraisers and select KC Healthy Kids. Follow the prompts to publish and share the fundraiser. After more than twelve years leading policy efforts for KC Healthy Kids and serving as director of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition, Beth Low-Smith has tendered her resignation to begin the next chapter of her career. She will leave her post in late April.
Since joining KC Healthy Kids in 2010, Beth has assembled a talented team, forged strong partnerships and led innovative policy initiatives. She is committed to working closely with partners and staff to ensure a smooth transition and secure this legacy. “We are grateful for Beth and the contributions she has made to KC Healthy Kids, from her incredible depth of expertise in food policy and community engagement to her commitment to supporting racial equity," Danielle Robbins-Gregory, president/CEO said. Following are some highlights from Beth’s leadership we’re especially proud of:
We hope our funders, partners and stakeholders will join us in wishing Beth the very best in her new endeavors. We like to put a spin on Giving Tuesday and use the day to show our appreciation for the people and organizations who help us connect communities for better health through Good Food Policy, Local Food, Mental Heath, Youth Advocacy and Active Communities. We're so grateful for all of you! Special thanks go to our board of directors for supporting KC Healthy Kids as volunteers and donors (denoted with an asterisk).
The epidemic of violence in this country is a public health crisis. It shatters families and impacts our sense of safety and overall health and well-being, including the ways we access food, physical activity, community, school and work.
KC Healthy Kids emphatically condemns and remains committed to confronting violence and oppression which create barriers for many who want to access the community-based solutions KC Healthy Kids promotes: youth advocacy, mental health, good food policy, local food, and active communities. As we work to advance the health and well-being of kids and their communities, we strive to recognize and support the incredible resilience communities demonstrate in the face of violence and to remember to start by listening Here are some things we’re doing now. We’ve provided links so you can learn more and take action too.
Wow. 2020. What a year. The struggle and pain has been like nothing we’ve seen before. But we’re also seeing people reach out and help one another, speak out for others, lend a hand and give a little extra if they can. This #GivingTuesday, we want to say how grateful we are for the power of community and for those who give their time, lend their voice and donate to KC Healthy Kids. We also want to show our appreciation to the coalition of charitable, government and business partners who have created the Kansas City Regional COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to address Kansas City needs during the pandemic. The Kansas City region is known for its philanthropy and industry-leading best practices. This coalition is another example of Kansas City metropolitan area generosity. Thank you to our board of directors for supporting KC Healthy Kids as volunteers and donors, denoted with an asterisk.
We cannot advance the health and well-being of kids and their communities — our mission — if we do not address systemic racism and White supremacy culture. This work starts within our agency. We understand that it is possible to do harm unintentionally, even when we believe we are doing good. Further, we understand that although our work has always aimed to further equity, we have also been complicit in systemic racism by, for example: failing to examine how the structure of our initiatives can privilege White voices and interests, failing to consistently and explicitly name policies and systems as racist when they have disparate impacts, and failing to challenge inequities in how nonprofits are funded. We want to do better. In our statement issued on June 6, 2020, we committed to doing so in at least 4 ways. In this, our second statement, we describe how we are following through on this commitment. We are preparing additional updates which will explore the many ways we are taking action in yet more detail. The urgency and impact of racial injustice in our work demands both immediate action and lasting efforts. We are therefore making a durable commitment to this work by evaluating and updating the guiding documents, including: Employee Handbook, Finance Manual, Strategic Plan and others to include specific policies, methods and goals for building an anti-racist agency culture and improving racial equity within our agency and through our initiatives. This is not a one time commitment; it includes annually defining the tactics, milestones and frequency for strategies outlined below. We will complete the first round of this process by year end, 2020. Learn: Increase staff and board knowledge and skills, and build an anti-racist agency culture committed to advancing racial equity.
Assess: Conduct self-assessments and accountable evaluations to understand, monitor and adapt our efforts at advancing racial equity.
Action: Identify short- and long-term actions for us as an organization, and in our initiatives which:
Although some of this work will take months to complete, and nearly all of it will be ongoing, we have already begun to take action. Here are a few highlights about those efforts, which we’ll expand upon in forthcoming articles.
Photos: A grocery worker talks with Jane Philbrook, Kansas City, Kansas Commissioner; Maxine Drew, board president of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools meets with students from her district; Marquita Williams, an early education professional, encourages children to use their gross motor skills; Jamesha Price, a former teacher at M.E Pearson, shows children how to plant seeds at Splitlog Farm and Orchard.
KC Healthy Kids shares the sadness, frustration and outrage expressed by protesters over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody, as well as other Black people who have met similar fates throughout the nation, including in our community. These events are not isolated; they are part of four centuries of violent and systemic racism in our nation. We stand with civil rights leaders in calling for significant reforms needed to achieve racial, economic and health equity.
We know that words of sympathy and solidarity are meaningless without concrete action. In order to confront and dismantle pervasive racism, we must adapt and grow, as an agency and as individuals. We are looking at all of the ways we operate our agency, our programs and our policy efforts. Each member of our staff is being encouraged to give input based on their unique roles and perspectives. Then we’ll take time to thoughtfully evaluate what is needed in our organization and what we are well-positioned to contribute amidst the current crises and going forward. In the following week, we’ll post an article detailing ways in which we are taking action to match our words, and will identify actions our partners and supporters can take as well. Here is our commitment: We will… …Seek out and listen to the advice, perspectives and leadership of people of color and ensure effectiveness and accountability as we continue critical self-assessment. …Continue to foster a culture where staff can respectfully discuss racial equity and hold each other accountable, while recognizing it’s not the job of team members who are Black or People of Color to teach White peers how to be better. …We’ve always fought against policies that create health and economic disparities. Now we’ll explicitly identify them as racist. …Encourage our partners and supporters to make a similar commitment. We say to you: your progress and growth is essential to our collective ability to advance equity. Let’s make this a part of every project we enter into together. We are working to be better. For those who want to do the same, here are some excellent resources: As 2019 comes to a close, we want to say thank you for giving your time, lending your voice and donating to KC Healthy Kids. Your investment makes a lasting difference in the lives of children and families across the bi-state region.
The Mid-America Regional Council will hold its 20th Annual Regional Assembly on Thursday, June 9, 2016, from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the Downtown Marriott Muehlebach Hotel, 1213 Wyandotte Street, in Kansas City, Missouri.
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