Project Change

Homeless Point in Time Survey

Benefiting: Homeless Services Coalition & Heart to Heart

For our “Person” activities, BRR collected 5 trash bags of warm clothing (coats, scarves, gloves, hats, etc) for the Point in Time Survey Homeless Count on January 27th. These were dropped off that morning and hopefully distributed that day!

We also collected items and assembled 50 care kits for the Haiti relief effort in partnership with JCCC put on by Heart to Heart. The kits consisted of:

· One new hand towel

· One new wash cloth

· One Wide-tooth comb (or pick)

· One small bottle of shampoo

· One new individually wrapped tooth brush

· One travel size tube of tooth paste

· Ten(10) adhesive bandages

· One individually wrapped bath-size bar of soap

· One plastic travel size soap dish

· Two (2) one gallon size zipper seal bags.

These kits were assembled on the 29th of January and delivered to the Heart to Heart warehouse.

Back Snacks!

Benefiting: Harvesters

BRR has really enjoyed this month. For our “Places” activity we volunteered at the Harvesters Volunteer Center packing backpacks full of food for kids to eat over the weekend.

The Backsnack program was started because children who are on the reduced or free lunch program at school are then going hungry on the weekends. This program started with just a handful of kids, now this year they are planning on feeding 10,000 kids. It just keeps growing! Teachers and parents report improved grades and behavior. BRR is very proud to help tackle the fight against childhood hunger. We had 6 volunteers on March 16th and packed over 650 meals.

We have 12 volunteers signed up for next Tuesday, March 30th and our goal is to pack 1500 meals on that day. We forgot our camera the first time, so I have attached one picture we got with a cell phone. I can send you more after our Volunteer time this coming Tuesday.

Art Auction

Benefiting: Shawnee Community Services

On April 22nd, BRR hosted a silent art auction to raise money for the Shawnee Community Services building fund. Fifty pieces of art was donated by 35 employees, friends and family of BRR and local artists. The night of the auction, the Byron Cohen Gallery hosted around 50 people that bid on the various artwork to help raise $1,220 dollars!!

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their donations;

• Price Chopper - Beer, wine & water
• Megan Blacklidge & Kathy Kem - Cupcakes
• Barley’s restaurant - Tablecloths
• BRR Architecture – KC Royal’s tickets for raffle & basket of BRR items
• Shawnee Community Services – spa basket for raffle
• North Kansas City Community Center – passes, water bottle & bag for raffle
• Byron Cohen Gallery – for the use of their space

Clothing Drive

Benefiting: Shawnee Community Services

BRR’s February event partnered with Shawnee Community Services to help “Warm the Homeless”. SCS has been committed to creating a “hand up”, not a “hand out” for over 25 years in the Merriam/Shawnee area.

For our event we chose to plan a neighborhood clothing drive for the center. All BRR employees, surrounding businesses and residences within approximately ½ mile were invited to participate. BRR volunteers passed out almost 500 door hangers in an effort to notify the public and gain participation.

The clothing drive ending on February 21st gathered 110 participating donors and 1,279 pounds of clothes. The director of SCS was ecstatic about the large donation and how many deserving people these clothes will help. It is an event we look forward to planning yearly from now on.

Download Our PowerPoint Presentation Here!   

Back Snacks

Benefiting: Harvesters, St. Mary's Food Kitchen & NE Johnson County Food Pantry

For our March activities, BRR partnered with the Harvesters' Back Snack Program, St. Mary’s Food Kitchen and the NE Johnson County Food Pantry.

In two separate volunteer sessions, 17 BRR employees helped serve 840 people at the food kitchen. 14 volunteers helped assemble 1,153 food bags for the Harvesters' Back Snack Program and 20 people donated 181 lbs. of food for the local pantry, including $60 in donations!

Park Work Day

Benefiting: Antioch Park & Rebuilding Together – Shawnee.

In two separate volunteer sessions at Antioch Park, which located across the street from our office, 9 BRR employees helped rake 31 bags of leaves, paint a soda nook and stain an entire stretch of fence facing Antioch Road to help the park prepare for the spring season and its nearly 1,000,000 patrons each year. The work crews could actually be seen from our building!

For our Rebuilding Shawnee event, exterior painting, window replacement and general yard clean up was performed by 20 BRR participants (so far). Our company helped update a 50 year old home to be more energy efficient and help perform tasks that the home owner could not afford on their own. Although, we have had to reschedule the second session twice due to rain and our pictures are still pending. 

Playgrounds & Play Things!

Benefiting: Children's Mercy, Antioch Park

For our May events we partnered with Antioch Park, Children’s Mercy Hospital and hosted an in-house volunteer drive.

Antioch Park Playground Master Plan

Johnson County Parks and Recreation is in need of a new playground facility at Antioch Park. The park is comprised of over 40 acres and is intended to serve a population of nearly 1.1 million. The park Master Plan (2003) calls for the demolition of a 25 year old playground structure and the addition of an alternative, “non-traditional” playground in its place. BRR has committed to planning and designing the alternative playground for the city. The city will then designate funds towards the playground and implement the plan once the funding is secured. This month we hosted a mini design charette in our critique space that was open to all BRR employees to discuss preliminary ideas. Two designs were then chosen and presented to JCPR. A preliminary site plan is included in our submittal and final renderings & plan will be submitted. We will continue to work with the city and park with design assistance and presentation information to help fundraise for the project. BRR looks forward to the completion of the new park space across from our office where so many children will be able to use it.

Children’s Mercy Small Toy Drive

Our second event was a month long drive to fulfill needs on Children’s Mercy Hospital’s wish list. BRR employees helped support three of Children’s Mercy’s drive programs: Art Supplies, Stickers and Treasure Box items. We gathered enough supplies to fill 5 wagons! These goodies will allow the children a creative escape during their stay at the hospital.

End of Month Volunteer Drive

To conclude our Project Change events, we are hosting a volunteer drive for all BRR employees. Information will be available for different local volunteer opportunities that fulfill all of the goals established by Project Change. There will be opportunities to volunteer at local hospitals, homeless shelters and food banks, mentoring opportunities, animal shelters and caring for the elderly. If there is a need around us, we hope to address it. Our commitment to community involvement will not end in May, but with this effort we will encourage everyone to continue and make information easily accessible.