It’s been eight years since a white supremacist drove into the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center on April 13 and murdered 14-year-old Reat Underwood; his grandfather, Dr. William Corporon; and Terri LaManno.
Since then, Mindy Corporon (Reat’s mother and Dr. Corporon’s daughter) — with the help of family and friends — founded SevenDays to counter the hate in our community with kindness and interfaith dialogue. SevenDays is a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization with the goal of overcoming hate by promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue. Mindy Corporon is its president.
This week, SevenDays kicked off its eighth series of events with a Kindness Kickoff Breakfast on April 13, the eighth anniversary of the murders. Activities are planned through Sunday, April 24, culminating with the SevenDays Kindness Walk at the World War I Museum and Memorial. All activities are focused on educating and inspiring people to practice kindness in their daily lives.
Members of the Jewish community have been involved with SevenDays since the beginning. Alana Muller has been part of bringing SevenDays to fruition; she continues as a SevenDays Board Member.
"Being part of the SevenDays Board provides me with spiritual fulfillment and personal enrichment,” Muller said. “Jewish tradition teaches us to engage in tikkun olam, the practice of repairing the world. Through SevenDays, I am able to honor this important responsibility while promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue."
In addition to Muller, other Jewish adults involved with SevenDays 2022 include Abby Cornelius, Ruth Baum Bigus and Cindy Bodker.
Two other members of the Jewish community currently serve on the 14-member board of directors: Lisa Schifman with AdventHealth, and Dan Cohen, a news reporter with KSHB Channel 41. Past board members include Irv Robinson and Gail Weinberg, both of whom are Jewish and active in the local community.
A number of Jewish high school students are currently members of SevenDays’ Kindness Youth Leadership Team (KYLT). Reflecting the diversity of SevenDays, this youth group is composed of students from a variety of schools, grades, faiths and races. Students are selected through an application process to attend meetings, participate in community service projects and play an active role in representing their schools in SevenDays activities.
Kate Levinson, a senior at Blue Valley High School — the same school Reat attended at the time of his death — is a KYLT member.
“Being involved with SevenDays allows me to feel like I’m making an impact on my community,” Kate said. “The work we do to encourage acceptance of all faiths is something really special.”
Emma Sandler, also a senior at Blue Valley High, is marking her third year as a KYLT.
“Being a Jewish teen involved in SevenDays KYLT has taught me to be proud of my Judaism,” Emma said. “This organization has given me a space to share my Judaism with others who have different faiths than I do. We bond over our differences and together we educate others on how to do the same, coexisting as one community.”
Other Jewish teens who are part of the 2022 KYLT team include Eden Iseman (Blue Valley North) and Gabbie Granoff (Shawnee Mission South).
SevenDays has also partnered with 14 area communities, designating them as SevenDays Kindness Cities. One is Mission, Kansas, which has a Jewish mayor, Sollie Flora.
The community is invited to participate in the remaining SevenDays activities. Full details can be found at SevenDays.org.
