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Awaken KC
**2009 Challenge Event Champion**
Active Challenge Seasons: 2009, 2010, 2011
Our team is a growing group of diverse corporate partners, friends, family and organization that have come together to show that if you reach out to those around you, your impact can grow exponentially. Our team always welcomes any new additions!
Firms Involved:
SFS Architecture, A.L. Huber Construction, Wallace Engineers, Lankford Engineers, American Italian Pasta Company, Dairy Farmers of America, Emfluence Marketing...and growing!
Mattie Rhodes Center Art Program
Awaken KC hosted an event for students enrolled in an arts program at Mattie Rhodes Center. Our team transformed an ordinary class into an extraordinary exploration of Community and Culture. With support and encouragement from Awaken KC, the young artists literally pieced the world together, creating a masterpiece that brilliantly expressed the theme for the program.
The Butterfly Effect was considered as we planned for and participated in the event. Each artist was given a piece of a larger canvass on which to create their artwork and a wide array of artistic materials and tools were available for their use. Throughout the class, Awaken KC team members engaged with the artists, offering encouragement and an extra set of hands. Upon completion, the canvass was pieced back together, with the world taking shape. The artists could begin to see that although we are many we are all part of something much larger than our individual parts. The students were excited to have worked on the masterpiece together, even if they did not know what the end result would be. The masterpiece is now being used on a postcard promoting Mattie Rhodes Center and some of their upcoming events!
Mattie Rhodes works with children and families providing creative, bilingual and bicultural mental health and social services tailored especially toward the Latino population. As one of the oldest non-profits in Kansas City we hope to truly Awaken Kansas City and help spread their wings by spreading the news of their great work.
photo credit: Nicholas Segura with 385 Agency
Benefiting:
Let's Get Dirty AND Make Prom Picture Perfect
WHEN: March 31st, 2012
9 - 3 (2 shifts)
WHERE: A. L. Huber's Offices
WHAT: Working with First Downs for Down Syndrome of Kansas City to create a successful Prom! Everyone deserves a beautiful memory that they can look back at for years to come. So let’s put some elbow grease into making a great backdrop for some excellent Prom Pictures!
Morning Shift will be creating and Priming the backdrop!
Afternoon Shift will be coloring and decorating the backdrop!
THEME: Mardi Gras
Benefiting:
First Downs for Down Syndrome - Gaining Ground on a Winning Cause!
Let's Get Dirty AND Make Prom Picture Perfect
For the GET DIRTY challenge event, Awaken KC partnered with the Down Syndrome Guild of Kansas City. This organization’s mission is to provide support and resources for individuals with Down Syndrome and their families.
Our group has always supported many organizations within the community, including Community of the Good Shepherd, University of Missouri & University of Kansas and their efforts in Autism research. However, the A.L. Huber connection with special needs is very close and personal. One of the Huber’s sister has a mental disability, and in 2010, an employee’s son was born with Down Syndrome. Having this opportunity to work so closely with Down Syndrome Guild of Kansas City was special to us.
On Saturday, April 7th the Down Syndrome Guild Kansas City hosted their annual Prom Event for teens and adults 15 years and older. This annual event was held at the Overland Park Convention Centerand was attended by 600 adults within the community.
Awaken KC’s role was to create a beautiful back drop for the Down Syndrome’s Prom so that their pictures reflected the them, which was “Mardi Gras.” Our goal was to construct a very large back drop, but was also easy to transport, store, erect and reuse for future events, including the DS Walk in September.
Work was completed at the A.L. Huber office. The arched back drop and two pillars were constructed out of two-foot thick density foam and cut by an automated CNC machine. The foam allowed the backdrop to be lightweight but also durable enough to reuse. The “arch” was built in three pieces and required assembly, painting and decorations.
Hundreds of happy guests stood under the arch beaming from ear to ear, including Beverly’s McAuley nephew. And one day, the A.L. Huber employee’s son, “Grant the Great,” will be among the many to celebrate. Although he is too young now, our hearts are always warmed with his sweetness and his quick smile when he comes for a visit to the office. We were more than happy to help this wonderful community by making something special for their event.
Foam backdrop materials were donated by Architectural Building Technologies
Paint supplies donated by Switzer & Associates
Labor provided by A.L. Huber, SFS Architecture & Wallace Engineering
Media Coverage – Three local stations
Everyone deserves a beautiful memory they can look back at for years to come. Our team’s accomplishments was truly a rewarding experience to see the smiles and happiness these guests and their families look forward to celebrating a fabulous event.
Benefiting:
Let's Get Dirty AND Make Prom Picture Perfect
Benefiting:
Valentines for Veterans
For our February Challenge our team decided to organize an event to share a little love with our local veterans. Oftentimes people think to send cards or gifts to soldiers overseas but don’t think of those who have returned home and undergoing treatment at the local VA hospitals. Our team directed our efforts to coordinating an event to make Valentines cards to be distributed to veterans at the local Kansas City VA hospitals.
So, we conspired to Make Change Without $Change. Kaleidoscope at Crown Center generously donated their creative art space and all the materials for our project. We had our own table where our team members and visitors spent a Saturday making valentines from a wide array of materials. Our team of volunteers had a great time working with the kids at Kaleidescope cutting, gluing, coloring and crafting 184 cards. Each card was completely unique. Our team collected all the finished cards and delivered them to the Kansas City VA Medical Center on Linwood the week before Valentine’s Day so that they could be distributed to all the soldiers. The cards were sent with the message of love to the soldiers to let them know that they are appreciated.
The event was promoted by our team to friends and co-workers on Facebook and via email. Our project was taped by NBC and aired on the 5:00 pm news program, sharing info about our event, as well as, spreading the word about Project Change!
Benefiting:
Sleepyhead Beds Bed-drive
1 in 42 kids in the Kansas City area do not have a bed to sleep on at night and it is the mission of Sleepyhead Beds to try and help supply beds to those in need. When our team heard about this amazing organization that is run completely by a small group of volunteers we wanted to find a way to help. Our team set out to spread the word about Sleepyhead Beds and help them place as many beds as possible. By reaching out to our team's network of resources we were able to...
-provide enough volunteers and trucks from our team to help take in 203 beds and distribute 68 beds over two weekends (and AL Huber did various runs throughout the week as well)
-hold a happy hour that raised $300 for sleepyhead beds
-provide storage space at AL Huber Construction, letting Sleepyhead beds run the bed drive from their facility (storage has been one of their biggest issues because they are operating out of their homes which made gathering more than a few beds at a time difficult)
-score free t-shirts and printing so our volunteers could sling beds in style
There are now 68 kiddos in Kansas City that will be getting a good nights sleep in a real bed thanks to Sleepyhead Beds and our team's efforts!
The following news outlets covered SHB during our project...
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/local_news/donated-mattresses-help-needy-children-
Star article: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/12/2721327/fairway-womans-nonprofit-gives.html
KCTV5 video: http://www.kctv5.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4580658
Benefiting:
Border Challenge for Autism 3
Benefiting:
Valentines Party!
Benefiting: Boys & Girls Club
RECYCLED with LOVE
Valentines Party for Boys & Girls Club
“green is the new pink”
For our first challenge team Awaken KC organized a sustainable Valentines Party for 9-12 year olds at Boys and Girls Club. We had the room set up in stations for snacks, crafting valentines cards from recycled materials, a video interview on LOVE and a LOVE banner that was left with Boys & Girls Club to be hung up in the Club.
Treats… local chef, Philippe Lechevin baked 250 chocolate chip cookies, American Dairy Farmers donated boxes of string cheese and American Italian Past Co. donated boxes of pasta for every kid to take home.
Banner…made from re-used scraps of paper, the banner was signed by each kid with a message of LOVE for friends, family or Boys & Girls Club.
Valentines Cards for Loved Ones…we let their creativity run wild on tables full of recycled materials collected by our team members. Every card was truly one of a kind!
Video…kids were interviewed on love, sustainability and why they love boys and girls club. As you can imagine many of the responses were hilarious. Youtube video coming soon to our Facebook page!
More photos at Awaken KC Facebook page
Benefiting:
Happy Hour for the Restore!
Benefiting: Habitat for Humanity KC and ReStore
For our team’s 2nd Challenge “Place” we worked with Habitat for Humanity KC and ReStore. ReStore helps to fund all of the operations of Habitat for Humanity KC so it is a critical component to Habitat’s overall success. It has been the goal of Habitat to open a second ReStore and they recently purchased a building at the corner of Troost and Linwood in Midtown KCMO that has been vacant for years. Our team’s goal was to help Habitat & ReStore in a way that took advantage of the varied resources of our team and provided the best service to them to help get ReStore 2.0 moving forward. Our project ended up having two parts to it.
Part 1 was utilizing the professional skills of our team members in design, engineering and construction to provide some evaluation of the building they purchased and some opportunities/cost of how they could best use that piece of property.
Part 2 was an awareness campaign and happy hour to draw attention to ReStore. We designed and produced 500 buttons that were distributed at various young professionals’ organizations, at our team’s happy hour and in Westport on St. Patty’s day. When a team member gave out a button a team member they explained ReStore and encouraged them to learn more about the store on the website listed on the button. We also organized a Happy Hour at Martini corner that was promoted to friends, co-workers and various organizations. For $5 happy hour attendees received bracelets that got them food/drink specials. Our team raised $500 that will go towards ReStore 2.0.
Benefiting:
Border Challenge for Autism II
Benefiting: MU Thompson Center & K-CART
After the success of the “Border Challenge for Autism” event that our team held last year many of the individuals and organizations asked if we could do the event again in 2010. We selected to do the event in April for Autism Awareness month and again partnered with the MU Thompson Center and K-CART (Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training).
This year’s event, “Border Challenge for Autism II” drew 250 attendees to Boulevard Brewing Co. for a Wednesday evening happy hour event. At the event a short presentation was given on the two organizations it benefitted, as well as information on Project Change. To tap into the MU / KU border rivalry, we invited Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty of 810 Radio’s Border Patrol to be our emcee’s. Attendees were able to vote for the school they were supporting by placing their ticket into the bowl for their school. The school that got more people to the event received a larger portion of the money raised.
This year the winner was KU…who beat out MU after their big victory last year. Both organizations were incredibly pleased with the increased awareness we generated for them and are ready to continue the event again in 2011. The $10,000 we raised through sponsors, ticket sales and raffle was just icing on the cake!
More photos at Awaken KC Facebook page
Benefiting:
Community LINC Basement Remodel
Benefiting: Community LINC
Our team’s second challenge was “Warm the Homeless” and we worked with Community LINC to create a project that would “warm the hearts” of the teenagers living there. Twice a week, while the parents spend their evenings learning about life-skills, such as budgeting, their children are broken up by age groups in different parts of the facility to study, receive tutoring, and hangout with their peers in a supervised environment. The space that was serving the teens is located in a basement and was rendered unusable by a flood. Our team performed an “extreme makeover” and renovated the space so that it could once again be used by the teens. Awaken KC team members met with the teens to hold a design charette and learn what they would like to see in their space. Donations of materials and services came from team members and beyond to provide new furnishings, flooring, paint, cabinetry and décor. In addition to donations of professional labor for skilled work like carpentry and pouring/finishing a new concrete floor, our team held team-wide work days on March 14th, 21st and 28th that involved demo, painting, and installing new cabinetry, furnishings, and décor to renovate this space a great new hang out for a deserving group of teens.
Our team held an “unveiling” party after the project was complete for the teens to see their new space for the first time. The project was featured on NBC’s 10 pm news. A professional photographer also attended the event and took pictures of the teens that will be framed and hung in the space.
The project involved over 350 unskilled man hours and over $20,000 in materials donations and skilled labor to create a space that will serve Community LINC for many years to come. Our team also donated 2 carloads filled with clothing for the families at Community LINC.
Click here for more photos on our blog!
Benefiting:
Food & Cooking at Community LINC
Benefiting: Community Linc
Awaken KC tackled Feed The Hungry for our first challenge. We selected to work with Community LINC, a non-profit group that provides transitional housing for the homeless in Kansas City, taking a holistic approach aimed at developing self-sufficient families over the long term. Community Linc currently has 24 families living in their facility, all with children. The goal of our first challenge was to aide those transitioning from homelessness to self-sufficiency by stocking up their pantry and providing some tips for creating healthy, economic, quick meals for themselves and their families.
Our team developed a cookbook of fast, easy, healthy recipes that we gave to each of the 24 families along with 2 large reusable grocery bags stuffed to the brim with pasta and recipe ingredients. The donation was made possible by a generous contribution from team member American Italian Pasta Company of over 500 bags/boxes of pasta and $500 for the recipe ingredients. In addition, we held two classes with the parents where we provided dinner for them and held a discussion on fast, economical cooking ideas. Both evenings were lively events with parents and team members sharing their favorite tips and recipes. The families went home with their bags of groceries, recipe books and some new ideas. The wide array of activities that were involved with our challenge including, making the recipe book, partaking in the pasta sorting party and attending the programming nights at Community Linc, allowed team members to get involved in a variety of ways.
Check out more photos here! http://www.flickr.com/photos/36069095@N08
Benefiting:
Building a Community Garden!
Benefiting: Community LINC
Our team’s third challenge was “Save the Planet” and we wanted to work with Community LINC to improve their facility in a way that would make it more sustainable and provide a benefit to staff and families living there. We chose to build a community garden that would serve residents by providing a healthy, economical, sustainable source of fruits and veggies and we built a french drain and raingarden to help resolve some of the drainage problems that exist on their site, as well as reduce the strain on the city storm water system.. A comprehensive garden plan was created by Patti Banks Associates for the entire garden area which our team used to then solicit donations of materials for the projects.
One important goal of our team was to engage the families at community Linc in our project so they could learn about the gardening and sustainable practices, as well as, help build and maintain the garden so that they truly feel that this is their garden. We held a programming night with the elementary and middle school children where we taught them about gardening and let them plant their own seeds to later be transplanted into the garden. The children also made mosaic stepping stones that were then placed throughout the gardens.
The kids and their parents were invited to join us for our planting day on the 25th and we had a great turnout. We had over 50 volunteers from our team and Community Linc over the 3 days we worked on the project. People even came out in the snow the weekend we dug the trench and in the rain the day we built planters and did prep work for the gardens. On our final planting day we had a huge crew and everyone had a great time getting their hands dirty, riding in wheelbarrows, and helping to build a garden that will serve their families.
Special thanks to Applied Ecological Services, Musselman Hall, Missouri Organic, Midwest Block & Brick, Kansas City Community Gardens, and Sturgis Materials whose materials donations made this project possible.
Click here for more photos on our blog!
Benefiting:
Border Challenge for Autism
Benefiting: MU Thompson Center, K-CART & Community LINC
For our 4th challenge, Nurture the Children, our team selected autism awareness as our cause and partnered with the MU Thompson Center and K-CART (Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training). Although most people have heard of the disorder, few understand how prevalent it has become or the impact it has on families and children dealing with ASD. We selected to work with the autism foundations at MU and KU to tap into the border rivalry for a good cause and help them introduce their organizations to the KC community. Our event, Border Challenge for Autism drew 225 attendees to Boulevard Brewing Co. for a Thursday evening happy hour event. At the event a short presentation was given on the two organizations, as well as a lot of informal networking. In addition to the individuals who attended the event, over 3,000 individuals received our event poster featuring K-CART and the Thompson Center. Both organizations were incredibly pleased with the increased awareness we generated for them and are ready to make this an annual event. The $10,000 we raised through sponsors, ticket sales and auction was just icing on the cake!
And since our team has had such a great experience working with community linc we also held an additional fundraiser for them to contribute to the amazing work they do for homeless children and families in KC. We had over 80 attendees to our happy hour event at Sol Cantina and raised $900.
Over the last 4 months our team has grown from 7 companies to over 40 contributing companies, along with additional friends and family that brought our team participants to over 300 individuals. The relationships we built with our charitable organizations and fellow team members was one of the most rewarding aspects of this experience and together we proved that with each of contributing a small piece we can accomplish some pretty amazing projects!
Click here for more photos on our blog!
Benefiting:
