Seven members of the 2025 SevenDays Kindness Youth Leadership Team (KYLT) are Jewish students. Students in the KYLT meet monthly to participate in leadership training, perform acts of community service and advance SevenDays’ message of spreading kindness at their schools.
SevenDays is a Kansas-City based nonprofit organization that promotes kindness and understanding through education and dialogue. SevenDays was founded in 2014 after a white supremacist murdered Reat Underwood, his grandfather Dr. William Corporon and Terri LaManno outside of Jewish organizations in Overland Park.
“I joined KYLT because of my connection to the Jewish community and the hatred that was shown in 2014,” said KYLT member Jonah Stein, a junior at Blue Valley North High School. “I have always loved all the amazing work that SevenDays does, and since joining KYLT, I have gained an appreciation for what they do and also learned about the diverse cultures in our communities. I have learned positive advocacy and been given the ability to make our world a kinder place.”
SevenDays’ mission of kindness was a major attractor for Blue Valley High School junior Mia Mondry, who knew the effects of its absence.
“I joined KYLT because I saw and experienced unkindness during my early teen years, and it impacted my mental health negatively,” Mondry said. “I didn’t want others to feel that, so I joined the organization that aimed to make others feel positivity and kindness that not everyone can experience.”
In addition to the message of spreading kindness, the Jewish KYLT members say that the organization further connects them to their Judaism.
“I feel like I am more comfortable talking about and sharing my Judaism because [SevenDays] was started from a terrible act of antisemitism,” Mondry said. “I know that being silent is never the answer and that speaking up about being Jewish, especially in this day and age, can make a huge change.”
Involvement in the KYLT has also led the Jewish members to connect with more of the community.
"Through SevenDays, I was able to meet more Jewish people in the area and connect with them on deeper levels,” said Sam Sandler, KYLT member, BBYO president and student at Blue Valley High School. “A part of my identity — that, due to antisemitism, I have to hide at times — gets to shine at every meeting… I get to not only teach about my Jewish traditions, but I have opportunities to share them with other members, and in return, they share their traditions. It's truly wonderful how SevenDays brings such a diverse community together. Everyone is welcome no matter what disability, skin color, gender or religion — everyone has a place here."
“Being in KYLT has allowed me to meet others that are Jewish and connect over our similarities,” said Sophia Naronov, a junior at Blue Valley North High School. “In a way, it’s strengthened my Jewishness and my pride for being Jewish.”
The seven members include Stein, Mondry, Sandler, Naronov, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy sophomore Dani Glickman, Pembroke Hill School junior Bea Colbert and Barstow School senior Abby Hill (whose editorial about the KYLT was published in the March 27 Chronicle issue).
SevenDays leadership also includes Jewish community members, including board members Alana Muller, Matt Waggoner and Jake Goldman and team member Ruth Baum Bigus. One of the organization’s 2025 Ripple of Kindness winners, Carol Barnett, is also Jewish.
More information about the Kindness Youth Leadership Team or other youth activities is available by emailing Jill Andersen, SevenDays’ youth engagement director, at , or by visiting sevendays.org.