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Giving Back to Kansas City

By Sean, 09/09/15, 3:45PM CDT

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Your Community Needs Help Too

#SeanBlog #Top3 09.09.15

#liveunited #spiritofcaring – The 2015 United Way of Greater Kansas City Campaign Kickoff & Spirit of Caring Event was held today at Union Station.  Many of you know that I am an avid United Way leader, volunteer, donor.  I believe in what the United Way does for Kansas City.  A few of the negative stereotypes of the organization are grounded in some truth, but on balance I believe overstated at times and not a fair representation of today’s United Way.  The employees, volunteers, and donors that I have had the great pleasure of working with are all involved for one primary purpose, to make Kansas City a better place to live.

It was easy for me to get involved with the United Way while at Sprint.  The Corporate Workplace is the bread and butter of United Way fundraising and executive support for employees to contribute time and money was generally easy to obtain.  I am finding it more difficult to stay involved now that I am away from Sprint.  This is not a fair reflection of my intents or interests, rather an honest example of the domino impacts of making a life changing decision to leave Sprint.

Ironically, this is a problem statement for the United Way as well.  Maintaining relationships with donors and volunteers after they leave corporate partners has been a pain point discussed at fundraising prep meetings for as long as I have been involved.  I did not understand it then, I understand it now.  I don’t have a magic fix, but hope to shed some light on this and maybe drive some discussion that will lead to some new ideas.  My goal, increase United Way awareness among the ever-growing community of individuals that no longer work for (or never worked for in the first place) large Kansas City companies and/or existing workplaces with United Way ties and see if we can’t move the needle on donors and volunteers in this group of people.

#YOUTHrive – I recently became aware of an organization focusing on youth as they “age out” of Foster Care Systems.  The website is youthrive.org for those interested in learning more.  The organization is helping this population of people in need with a new program, MyPath, designed to support these youth as they transition to independence.  A great cause.

Upshot of relevance to me…I discussed this concept with a friend of mine and former co-worker at Sprint not 5-7 years ago, not a year ago, but 6 short months ago at a coffee shop during one of the first of my many coffee networking discussions.  He had left Sprint shortly before me and we discussed his plan…it sounded familiar.  His plan did not have specifics yet.  His plan did not have an End Game yet.  His plan did have a cause and a passion about it that was remarkable.  He knew he wanted to help this specific cause and was already spending his new “away from Sprint” time researching, networking, brainstorming, and ultimately delivering.  Fast Forward six months to mid August when I read a Facebook Post announcing MyPath to the world…My first thoughts, “WOW was that fast.  He did it.”  I immediately forwarded to several of my friends, my mentors, my supporters.  Not to try and interest them in donating to the cause, although it is a great cause if you choose to donate, but as an example of how dreams can become reality and how quickly something new can be created.  More for me than for them of course as it motivated me to keep our journey moving forward.  Thank You, Tim, and Congratulations.

#kc3and2 #50Years #KCStar – I hope you have had an opportunity to read the article in Saturday’s Kansas City Star about Kansas City 3&2 Baseball and our President, John Hager.  You can find the article at www.kansascity.com/living/article34029246.html on the Kansas City Star website.  It is a great read and represents Mr. Hager’s impact on our community very well.  It represents the impact of our league on the community as well.  Thank You Kansas City Star for taking the time to research and publish the article.  Thank You Mr. Hager for all your have done and continue to do for the youth of our community.

That's all for now.

SEAN