Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA) held its 50th Civic Service Celebration on Sunday, March 10, honoring Mindy Corporon with the Civic Service Award for outstanding contributions to the community.
About 300 guests gathered for the event in the Count Basie Ballroom at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown.
Corporon, a former CEO of a wealth management firm, experienced a life-altering tragedy on April 13, 2014, when her son, Reat Underwood, and father, Dr. William Corporon, were victims of a hate crime on the Jewish Community Campus. In response to this, Corporon channeled her grief into founding the SevenDays organization, dedicated to promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue.
A video was shown depicting Corporon's journey and founding of SevenDays.
“The way she handled everything was inspiring,” said attendee Jessica Rudnick. “I still wonder to this moment how she even does it… how she can watch the video of that horrible day and still speak so beautifully before a crowd. She was the best honoree HBHA could have chosen for this award.”
The evening highlighted the impact that both HBHA and Corporon have on the community. Following a kosher dinner and preceding a dessert reception, the program was emceed by HBHA students Ruby S., Norah P., Shua R. and Ava G.
“I’ve attended over 10 Civic Service Celebrations, and this was the best program I’ve seen,” said attendee Harold Kaseff. “From the students’ participation to the video presentations, it was unbelievable.”
The program included videos and musical performances to underscore the importance of community support and resilience in the face of adversity. The celebration concluded with professional singers and KC SuperStar contestants singing one of Reat Underwood’s favorite songs, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Reat and Dr. William Underwood lost their lives attending Reat’s KC SuperStar audition.
"It was such a beautiful evening,” said Kelly Reichman, the art teacher at HBHA. “I found myself wiping tears away during that sweet program after dinner.”
“I've been to so many dinners, and this was the best thing HBHA ever did,” said Rudnick.
The celebration was chaired by Jane and Josh Sosland. Honorary chairs were Dianne and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver; Peggy and Terry Dunn; and Debbie Sosland-Edelman and Alan Edelman. Event management and show production were done by Eventology, LLC. and Donna Thomason. Photos were taken by Brian Turner.
