A Roeland Park nonprofit is fundraising through a summer concert series to try to pay off more than $1,000 in student meal debt for a Shawnee Mission elementary school.
Neighbors for a Better Roeland Park is using its summer concert series to pay off student meal debts at Roesland Elementary from the 2024-25 school year.
This is the fifth year that Neighbors, a nonprofit resident group, is hosting its R Park summer concert series, which serves as a fundraiser for various Roeland Park-focused efforts.
In previous years, donations received at the summer concert series have gone toward The Mighty Bike (a climbable art sculpture planned for R Park), an annual holiday kindness project and a climbing wall at Roesland Elementary.
“Our mission is to make sure that Roeland Park stays a vibrant and welcoming community,” Shea Geist, a member of Neighbors, told the Post in a previous interview. “These concerts make sure we have what we need to do the things we need to do to operate, to put on the concerts, but also to make the community better by funding things like the holiday kindness project.”
Roesland students owe $1K in student meal debt
- Currently, Roesland students have $1,608 worth of meal debt from the 2024-25 school year.
- Shawnee Mission students across the district have a total of more than $208,000 in unpaid meal debt for the same school year, Chief Communications Officer David Smith told the Post.
- The district recently updated its donation policy as it pertains to donations regulating how private money can be accepted to fund school staff positions, but those updates have no impact on donations toward student meal debt, Smith confirmed.
- Student meal debt has resurfaced as an issue in school districts like Shawnee Mission since the U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled back allowances — put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic — for free school meals for all students.
The R Park summer concert series kick off June 28
This year, the Neighbors’ R Park summer concert series starts on Saturday. Here’s a look at the 2025 concert dates and the corresponding lineup:
- Saturday, June 28, featuring “Detour”
- Saturday, July 19, featuring “AnnaLee & the Lucky So and Sos”
- Saturday, Aug. 23, featuring “Miss Major & Her Minor Mood Swings”
- Saturday, Sept. 13, “Fiesta RP!” which features Latin and Indigenous vendors, food and artists
All R Park summer concert series start with food and beverages at 6 p.m., followed by a concert from 7 to 9 p.m. Additionally, all the bands have at least one person who is a Roeland Park resident, Geist said.
How can I donate?
- At the summer concerts, the group offers food and beverages, including hot dogs, chips and sno-cones, for a donation.
- A bake sale and raffle during the concerts will also contribute to donations.
- The group prefers donations to be made via card or Venmo, but cash is also accepted.
- In addition to Roesland’s student meal debt, Neighbors also plans to continue using donations for the Roeland Park’s holiday kindness project — a Neighbors and police department effort that lends a helping hand to those in need during the holiday season.
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