Kansas City has not been immune to hateful acts — a white supremacist murdered three people outside of Jewish facilities in Overland Park in 2014, and another gunman killed an Indian man at Austin’s Grille in Olathe in 2017.
Despite this, one Kansas City area organization makes a difference by teaching kindness and understanding. SevenDays is a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization that aims to overcome hate through education and dialogue.
Now in its eighth year, SevenDays will take place in the Greater Kansas City area beginning Wednesday, April 13, and continuing through Sunday, April 24.
SevenDays 2022 continues the healing journey following the murders that took the lives of Dr. William Corporon, his grandson Reat Underwood, and Teresa LaManno outside of the Jewish Community Campus and Village Shalom, respectively, in April 2014. The three lost their lives at the hands of a convicted neo-Nazi shooter.
Determined to turn tragedy into triumph, family members and friends joined together to create something positive to overcome this senseless hate crime. Mindy Corporon, Underwood’s mother and Corporon’s daughter, is co-founder of SevenDays and serves as its president.
“While our families will always remember, we are also healing and moving onward with passion to help others through their own personal tragedy, to explore another faith and to find commonalities with their neighbor or co-worker through acts of kindness,” Corporon said. “We are all human.”
“The majority of us do not want violence, terrorism or even sarcastic remarks about our religion, so let’s continue the conversation,” she said. “We want to enjoy the world in which we live and leave it in a better place. We can do this through understanding commonalities, and SevenDays provides the platform for this engagement.”
Each day of SevenDays has a special theme — love, discover, others, connect, you, go and onward — reflecting the overall spirit of kindness.
SevenDays 2022 will feature two public events hosted by the nonprofit organization:
- Wednesday, April 13, 8 a.m. — Love Day: Kindness Kickoff Breakfast at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood. This event will include the presentation of the 2022 Ripple of Kindness Award to Kansas City Royals President of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore by the 2021 honoree, former Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Trent Green.
- Sunday, April 24, 4 p.m. — Onward Day: Celebrate our commonalities at the annual Kindness Walk, which will take place in person at the World War I Museum and Memorial. Highlights include a pre-walk program with a local celebrity, the 1.5 mile walk and post-walk fun with delicious meal options available for purchase from Kansas City food trucks.
In the ensuing days, SevenDays encourages the public to celebrate kindness through the other daily themes. Resources are available, including tools for educators, faith groups, businesses and organizations. People of all ages are encouraged to participate.
In addition, the Community Blood Center offers donation opportunities during SevenDays allowing those who can donate to express kindness by giving the gift of life. (Kansas City currently faces a blood supply shortage.)
Community groups and organizations are invited to create their own activities and share them through SevenDays social media sites by tagging @GiveSevenDays and using #givesevendays and #betheripple.
Information about the themes, activities and sponsored events will be continuously updated on the SevenDays website, givesevendays.org, as well as on Facebook at facebook.com/givesevendays.
