As it marks its 10th year of spreading kindness in the community, SevenDays is making some changes to its annual events.
This year, SevenDays is adding more weekdays to its yearly celebration of kindness and will replace the usual “Kindness Walk” with a new Community Kindness Festival, the organization announced on Tuesday.
SevenDays was founded after tragedy
In April 2014, a white supremacist murdered Dr. William Corporan, his grandson Reat Underwood and Teresa LaManno outside of the Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom senior living community in Overland Park.
The shooter was a self-professed antisemite who targeted Jewish facilities in Overland Park, but none of the people he killed were Jewish.
Underwood was a Boy Scout and active in school musicals and local community theater productions.
Corporon had moved to the Kansas City area about a decade prior to the shooting to be closer to his grandson.
And LaManno was an occupational therapist at the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired.
In the years that followed the shootings, members of the Corporan family and the community banded together, forming the annual SevenDays kindness celebration and the Faith Always Wins Foundation.
“I hope that what you think about and what comes to your mind and your heart is that SevenDays exists because of that,” SevenDays cofounder Mindy Corporon, whose son and father were killed in the shootings, said during the announcement on Tuesday.
Over the years, SevenDays has spread beyond Kansas City, including to New York, Washington and Arkansas.
Additionally, many local cities have signed on as designated “Kindness Cities,” and this year Johnson County became the first official Kindness County logged by the organization.
“Hate is still among us and it will be, but our goal is to continue to make a ripple and change the world,” Mindy Corporan said Tuesday.
SevenDays will last April 10 to 18 this year
- As usual, SevenDays will kick off with a Kindness Breakfast, this year on Wednesday, April 10.
- But, instead of running for seven consecutive days, SevenDays will run for seven business days this year.
- Mindy Corporon said this will give schools, businesses and other organizations the chance to celebrate each day and theme.
- The themes this year are “Love” on April 10, “Discover” on April 11, “Others” on April 12, “Connect” on April 15, “You” on April 16, “Go” on April 17 and “Onward” on April 18.
SevenDays debuts new Community Kindness Festival
- The Community Kindness Festival is scheduled for Sunday, April 14, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park.
- This event, which will take the place of the Kindness Walk this year, is free to the public.
- There will be live music, family-friendly activities and food trucks on site.
- Kate Cosentino, who was a finalist last year on the reality competition show The Voice and is a relative of Terri LaManno, will be the festival’s headline performer.
There are 10 Ripple of Kindness Award finalists in 2024
All 10 of the finalists for the Ripple of Kindness Award will be recognized at the Kindness Breakfast. In past years, just the winner has been honored.
The Ripple of Kindness Award finalists this year are:
- Kevin Birzer, founder of the Giving Grove
- Alvin Brooks, a Kansas City metro community activist
- Peggy Dunn, former Leawood mayor
- Alan Edelman, chair of the Greater KC Interfaith Council
- Eyyup Esen, from the Dialogue Institute of the Southwest
- SuEllen Fried, BullySafe USA founder
- Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
- Dr. Gary Morsch, founder of Heart to Heart International
- Barbara Unell, founder of the Raised with Love and Limits Foundation
- Kar Woo, founder of Artists Helping the Homeless
SevenDays will also award the Kindness Action Scholarship winners at the breakfast.
They are:
- Gabriel Decker, from Blue Valley North
- Alex Dominic, from Blue Valley Southwest
- Avery McKenna, from Staley High School
- Fargol Rozati, from Blue Valley Wes
- Benjamin Soyka, Leavenworth High School
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