Causes & Community

Overland Park may have found a workaround to get money to several nonprofits that face a funding gap after changes to a federal grant program. The service organizations had previously received federal money from the city through the federal Community Development...

Wil Sykes, a Blue Valley Northwest freshman, made his mark on New York City last month. A photo of Wil, a person with Down syndrome, appeared on two jumbotrons in Times Square on Sept. 12 as part of the National...

If you’ve ever wondered how many people it takes to pull a fire truck down the street, the folks behind the Law Enforcement Torch Run have a pretty good idea. That group raises money to support the Special Olympics in...

Editor’s Note: This story is part of our series “Helping Hands”, which aims to spotlight Johnson Countians doing good in the background of their community. If you have an idea for someone to spotlight in a future “Helping Hands”...

Earlier this summer, a small Merriam church that was once home to the Madam C.J. Walker School made history by landing on the National Register of Historic Places. For Tony Adams, who grew up in the South Park area of...

The way Debby Simon remembers it, the first word she ever learned to say was probably “dog.” It’s fitting for the Overland Park dog lover, who always wanted a collie growing up. So, when she reluctantly moved to the Kansas City...

Shawnee Mission West junior Abby Buell was most eager to get back on the field with the marching band this school year. But it’s looking a little different for the trumpet player now. Early in June, Buell was at swim practice...

Officer Freddie Castro’s mom, Michaela Robles, wants her son to be remembered for his smile and all he accomplished in life. Just 23 when he died, Castro had already reached all of his goals, which is something Robles said made...

Jeff Maher is supposed to be retired from marathons after he hung up his running shoes, supposedly for good, in 2019. By that point, he’d already completed dozens of the 26.2-mile races, including some of the top races in the...

For Erin Adan and Mandy Danforth, an effort to make fashion sustainable and free for Shawnee Mission turned into a passion project. Adan and Danforth are job coaches at Shawnee Mission North and Shawnee Mission East, respectively, who run Broadmoor...

Editor’s Note: This story is part of our series “Helping Hands”, which aims to spotlight Johnson Countians doing good in the background of their community. If you have an idea for someone to spotlight in a future “Helping Hands”...

For Monique Johnson, a Mission resident, floating in a body of water is her happy place. Johnson’s family and friends can guess on any given summer day, particularly a weekend, that she’s at a pool. That was the case on the...