The holiday season kicked into festive high gear with Community Builders of Kansas City’s third annual Turkey Drop where 1,900 members of the community were treated to Thanksgiving turkeys, food, diapers and books and 500 received vaccines and boosters. Holiday festivities continued with The Soul of Santa Tree Lighting celebration beginning with a spectacular evening tree lighting and continuing the next day with a toy giveaway and free breakfast for Blue Parkway neighbors.
“Community events are at the heart of CBKC’s mission to empower families in the urban core,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., CBKC president and CEO. “The Turkey Drop and Soul of Santa tree lighting celebration are just two examples of how we are executing on our mission by partnering with other organizations to provide access to resources and cultivate community and inclusion.”
This year’s Turkey Drop was hosted at Friendship Baptist Church, 3530 Chelsea Drive. CBKC’s holiday elves and community partners provided Thanksgiving turkeys, food, diapers and books to 1,134 adults and 971 kids. Together with Swope Health, COVID-19 vaccines or boosters were administered to 472 adults and 123 kids. CBKC is grateful to all the partners who contributed to the success of the event: Blue Parkway Sun Fresh, Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, the Greater Kansas City Building and Trades Construction Council and the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, Happy Bottoms, Harvesters, the Kansas City Public Library and Swope Health.
With families stocked for Thanksgiving, CBKC’s elves turned their attention to Christmas when it hosted The Soul of Santa Christmas Tree Lighting at The Shops on Blue Parkway. The Soul of Santa’s tree lighting delivers an inclusive family-oriented holiday event to members of underserved communities. In its first year the event took place at 18th and Vine and this year was extended to include the Blue Parkway community.
Friday night’s festivities began with Christmas carols followed by a spectacular tree lighting along with free hats, mittens and scarves for those in need and remarks from special guest speakers Mayor Quinton Lucas and Emmet Pierson. The fun continued Saturday morning when 75 families were treated to free hot breakfast and kids were able to write letters to Santa, participate in book readings and receive a Christmas gift.
Thank you to The Soul of Santa for bringing its festive holiday event to Blue Parkway.