November 2, 2020
Community Day in the Face of COVID
Every year, DMH sets aside a day to give back to the Kansas City community. Whether building tiny homes for veterans or organizing clothes and landscaping at a domestic violence shelter, we enjoy this tradition of giving. But this year, things looked a little bit different.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused hardship for people all across the country. And right here in our hometown of Kansas City, things are no different. As schools and community centers closed or limited capacity, more and more people experienced food insecurity – a lack of access to nutritional food.
To help our community, while being cautious of CDC-recommended guidelines, DMH hosted a contactless, drive-through food drive in our office parking lot. The food drive benefited Harvesters of Kansas City, a local organization that works year around to provide food to those in need. The goal was to collect 3,000 pounds of food. To kick off the drive, DMH donated $1,000 worth of food.
“Harvesters appreciates all the support we receive from the business community. Whether it’s a food or a monetary donation, that support helps the one in seven people in our community facing food insecurity. The current pandemic has limited many traditional food drives and volunteering, but companies are still finding ways to support Harvesters, which is so critical to helping us meet the increased need for food assistance.”
- Logan Heley, Community Engagement Manager, Harvesters-The Community Food Network
But in true DMH fashion, we didn’t stop with just a food drive. We used it as an opportunity to spend some socially distanced time together, parking lot party style. Complete with live music, food and drinks, we put on our masks, sanitized our hands and had some fun.
In just four hours, as a result of contributions from DMH, our client partners, friends and family, we were able to collect 3,227 pounds of food, which is the equivalent of 2,689 meals. This will be a huge blessing to the Kansas City residents that are most in need and struggling to get through these challenging times.
As for next year, we hope to be back out in the community, getting our hands dirty helping our neighbors.
