Foundation Journal

During the weekend of national service on January 20, 2013 some family and friends joined together to volunteer for work at Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City. The facility provides subsidized child-care services for 500 children in KC, many near the facility at 31st and Troost Avenue. Here are a couple videos from the tour that concluded the volunteer work.

Thanks to the Kansas City Star' s Mary Sanchez for her clear and persistent voice on reducing the digital divide in Kansas City. Her Sunday, December 16, 2012 column shared efforts to provide free Wi-Fi access , very low-cost computers ($50), and free digital literacy classes to Rosedale Ridge residents in Kansas City, Kansas. When children leave school, district equipment becomes useless unless they can find a Wi-Fi hotspot. Now, that place is home. The plan is to work with housing authorities and other Section 8 property owners to expand the project on both sides of the state line. Rosedale Ridge Flyer on free Wi-Fi access provided by Connecting for Good.  

A major investigative series on the largest beef producers appeared over three days this week in the Kansas City Star . Star reporters should be congratulated on the amazing, in-depth work to present reports that clearly were not welcomed by the beef producers and supporters.  One co-worker who works on hunger relief said she had not seen the article yet because she does not subscribe to the paper. For anyone involved in the local farm/food movement, food safety, hunger relief, and nutrition, this article series is a MUST READ. While the articles pulled no punches on a range of topics, including the impact of the health of consumers and the impact on the environment with the mountains of cattle waste at feedlots, the series only focused a cursory glance at worker safety. The opening article in the series appearing in the Sunday, December 9, 2012 edition of the Star documented the large number of people getting sick from food. Specifically, the report mentions that "a rece...

I met up with a worker at a social service agency that directly serves residents to learn more about the challenges and operations of a food pantry, one that is served by Harvesters food bank. As a worker at a food bank I don't often get to interact with food pantry workers to understand the day-to-day difficulties of people seeking food assistance. I was a bit late for the meeting and called my acquaintance to notify him of my arrival. At the entrance I announced my visit to the front desk coordinator. About 20 people waited on chairs in the front lobby with me, some having checked in for a food pantry visit, others for employment consultation. The mostly white residents waited with a family member, perhaps a spouse or a child. One woman waiting in a wheel chair with a Chiefs coat -- it was cold this morning -- nervously shook her hand. A younger woman with a baby in a car-seat walked in after a man got up to hold the door open for her. My acquaintance gave me a quick tour, ...