City Wide Resource Drive
On Saturday, May 2, fifteen Kansas City area churches stepped up to the plate looking for a home run.
For weeks, the Coronavirus had ravaged bodies and pocketbooks, sending thousands into food distribution centers – many for the first time in their lives. As churches around the city hosted smaller-scale food and resource drives, a group began to ask a bigger question…
What if?
What if the faith communities of Kansas City came together as the “big C” church, for one big collective food and resource drive initiative? Knowing there is power in numbers and a unified voice, these leaders began picking up the phone and logging into zoom calls.
As the call went out, one-by-one, 15 churches raised their hands to help and began praying and planning for a city-wide food and resource drive dubbed “What if the church blessed Kansas City?”. The churches aligned with seven benefitting community partners and started telling others about their plan.
As word spread via social media and word of mouth, businesses like Simlog Solutions, Furniture Mall of Kansas, Servpro, and City Rent-a-Truck stepped up to donate trucks and other resources to help transport the donations. The Shawnee Mission Post, FOX 4, KSHB 41 news, Life 88.5 and Bott Radio Network all stepped in to help spread news of the opportunity to help others in a broader capacity.
What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.
YOU, Kansas City, showed up in droves.
In fact, we lost count of the total number of cars, bags and boxes. Thousands of dollars’ worth of food and hygiene resources poured in all around the city. Your response literally overwhelmed agencies who had been praying and asking God for the resources to help.
“When Randall told me that you all would have a 24-foot truck, I thought he meant you would have that size truck with donations for us as well as the other sites you were going to,” said Pastor Cassandra Wainright at Calvary Community Outreach Network. “I had no idea that EVERYTHING on that truck was being delivered to us!”
When the Coronavirus pandemic hit, Calvary Community Center closed its doors. The Center’s leadership quickly realized that they could still find a way to meet needs in their struggling urban community…it would just take a pivot.
“When we felt the urging from God to open the Center for feeding, I think we had two cans of Spam and a couple boxes of macaroni,” said Pastor Eric Williams. “Our space was full of desire with no resources. The Word keeps telling us that God will provide, but two questions always emerge…how and when?”
YOU, Kansas City, emerged as God’s answer!
“Any time the church can come together for a common purpose is a beautiful thing,” said Tom Greenwald, Associate Pastor at Community Covenant Church. “I was genuinely humbled by the generosity that I saw on display when carload after carload of goods came in!”
Mission Southside couldn’t believe the donations that kept coming in, stating this single three-hour window of giving on May 2 was their largest donation since the pandemic hit.
“The community turned out in great numbers to support their neighbors, some even came through twice to donate goods,” said Carmen Krause, Mission Coordinator at Connection Point Church.
Avenue of Life’s sanctuary was overwhelmed with more than 300 boxes of food and resources – double what Westside Family Church collected and sent over in early April.
“It’s incredible to think about it,” said Westside Pastor Matt Adams. “When we hosted the drive by ourselves in early April, we collected food all day long. One month later, in a matter of three hours, we more than doubled that collection. That is simply incredible and truly shows off God’s power and the heart of the church in Kansas City. We are the helpers – the hands and feet of Christ to Kansas City.”
So…What if the church blesses Kansas City?
It’s a beautiful thing, and prayers are answered.
To the amazing volunteers at each donation site, and to each one of you who donated food and resources, THANK YOU!! Your generosity is making a difference!
You helped the most vulnerable people served by:
Thank you to these participating churches and the many others who collaborated to help spread the news:
NOTE: Did you miss this event? You can still help! Of course you can give at any time, but we encourage you to mark your calendars for May 30 and June 27 when the “big C” church of Kansas City plans to do this again, supporting the agencies who are caring for the most vulnerable residents, friends and neighbors. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks!
