Now entering its second decade, SevenDays is a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization that overcomes hate by promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue. SevenDays will take place in the Greater Kansas City region beginning Monday, March 31, and continuing through Tuesday, April 8. Each day has a special theme — “Love,” “Discover,” “Others,” “Connect,” “You,” “Go” and “Onward” — reflecting the overall spirit of kindness.
SevenDays was founded after a White Supremacist murdered Dr. William Corporon, his grandson Reat Underwood and Teresa LaManno outside of Jewish facilities in Overland Park in 2014. Reat Underwood’s mother and Dr. Corporon’s daughter, Mindy Corporon, is co-founder.
Now in its second decade, SevenDays 2025 continues the healing journey following the murders that took the lives outside of Jewish facilities in April 2014. This year’s events are meant to reflect the determination of SevenDays to carry on kindness and change the world.
“As we step into our 11th year of spreading kindness, I am both humbled and amazed,” said Mindy Corporon, SevenDays co-founder. “Eleven years ago, I didn’t think I could survive 10 days after losing my son Reat, my father Dr. William Corporon, and Terri LaManno. But here we are, honoring their lives through this mission of love and understanding. SevenDays exists to remind us that kindness has the power to bridge divides, heal hearts, and inspire change. By educating and fostering dialogue in schools, workplaces, and communities, we’re showing that kindness isn’t just a virtue — it’s a ripple that, when set into motion, can truly transform the world.”
SevenDays 2025 will also include a Cultivate Kindness Breakfast taking place at the Resurrection, A United Methodist Church (Building B, the Foundry) in Leawood on Wednesday, April 2, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. During the event, 12 individuals will be recognized with the Ripple of Kindness Award. SevenDays established this award to recognize people whose impact in the community is apparent but with no expectation of reward or return. The 12 individuals are:
- Sisters Amber Schreiber and Lindsey Krumbholz, founders of The Golden Scoop
- Carol Barnett, a Hospice caregiver (and co-owner of Mid-America Merchandising)
- Courtney Boyle-Smith, co-founder of KindCraft
- Gayle Packer, community philanthropist (and president and CEO of Terracon)
- John Nonnemaker, veteran and executive director of Veterans Without Orders
- Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor at Resurrection, A United Methodist Church
- Rev. James Harper, social justice and community activist and longtime chaplain
- Rosilyn Temple, founder of Mothers in Charge-Kansas City
- Sammie Magee, founder of Sammie’s Toy Drive
- Shuryce (Niqui) Hill, an early childhood educator
- Will and Senia Shields, former KC Chiefs player and Pro Football Hall of Famer and co-founders of the Will to Succeed Foundation
Joining SevenDays as honorary co-chairs are Dana Wright, and Dr. Michelle Robin. Wright is a career broadcaster and storyteller and is the co-host of the popular talk/radio “Dana and Parks Show” on KMBZ-FM. Wright is a multiple award winner including the National America’s Promise Alliance Award for her commitment to stories about children and families and founder of My Legacy Recording. Robin is founder and chief wellness officer of Your Wellness Connection. She is an executive wellbeing coach, founder of the Kansas City Wellness Consortium and founder and executive director of Small Changes Big Shifts. A frequent keynote speaker, Robin is also the host of the “Small Changes Big Shifts” podcast.
Sponsorships and limited individual tickets are available on the website.
On the ensuing days, SevenDays encourages schools, businesses and families to celebrate kindness through the other daily themes. Free resources are available from SevenDays including tools for educators, faith groups, businesses and organizations.
During SevenDays 2025, the Kindness Youth Leadership Team will lead a joint community service project with the teen councils of Overland Park, Kansas; Olathe, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and other youth organizations in the metro.
SevenDays continues to broaden its efforts to engage K-12 youth in the ripple of kindness. SevenDays offers grants for Kindness Clubs and Kindness Walks adopted at educational institutions. SevenDays resources and grants for Kindness Clubs and Kindness Walks have reached Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
SevenDays Kindness Youth Leadership Team
This year, 43 area high school students from across the region are serving on SevenDays Kindness Youth Leadership Team (KYLT). The youth group is made up of students from a variety of schools, grades, faiths and ethnicities. This year’s team includes siblings as well as the brother of a former KYLT member.
KYLT members meet monthly during the school year to work on various aspects of SevenDays including planning events and activities. They receive mentorship from adults involved with SevenDays and go out in the community performing community service for other nonprofit organizations. KYLT members also work to increase participation in SevenDays activities by students at their schools.
Art competition and Kindness Action Scholarship
A signature of SevenDays has been distributing colorful stickers with designs reflecting each day’s theme. For the ninth year, an art-design competition took place in the fall, inviting area high school students to submit their artwork for consideration. Designs from eight different students were chosen for the 2025 SevenDays stickers. Each winner receives a $500 award.
Each year SevenDays awards the Kindness Action Scholarship for graduating high school seniors with $1,000 scholarships for post-high school tuition. This year, 11 area seniors were chosen as winners for creating a project of kindness addressing one or more of the SevenDays themes, executing it and submitting an essay about its impact. Each student receives a $1,000 scholarship to be used for their post-high school education. In addition, longtime partner the Community Blood Center offers donation opportunities at its centers during SevenDays. Since this partnership began, almost 20,000 units of blood products have been donated through SevenDays, equating to about 60,000 lives saved.
SevenDays Kindness Cities, Counties and more
Seventeen area communities have signed on as SevenDays Kindness Cities – in Missouri: Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, Lone Jack, North Kansas City, Raymore and Parkville; in Kansas: Bonner Springs, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Roeland Park and Shawnee. In addition, Jackson County, Missouri, has joined Johnson County, Kansas, as Kindness Counties and the Mid-America Regional Council is its first regional partner, representing 119 cities across nine counties on both sides of the state line. The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce has joined as the first Kindness Chamber.
Schools, businesses, community organizations and families are invited to create their own activities and share them through SevenDays social media sites by tagging @GiveSevenDays and using #givesevendays and #betheripple.
Volunteer opportunities are available for SevenDays; those interested are urged to regularly check the website for details and registration.
SevenDays financial sponsors to date include CommunityAmerica Credit Union, AdventHealth, BCWM, Small Changes Big Shifts, UMB, Saint Luke’s Health System, Irv and Ellen Robinson Foundation, Creative Planning, Subaru of Olathe, the Jewish Community Center, the Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors and Blessings Abound.
More information about SevenDays is available at sevendays.org or by contacting Ruth Baum Bigus at (913) 707-7746 or at .
2025 Art Design Winners
(Day’s theme, name, year in school, school and city of residence)
- Love: Ayse Demir, Sophomore, Staley High School, Kansas City, Missouri
- Discover: Megan Gray, Senior, Liberty High School, Kansas City, Missouri
- Others: Maeve Riley, Junior, Notre Dame de Sion, Kansas City, Missouri
- Connect: Darby Cobb, Sophomore, Lee’s Summit West, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
- You: Giovanna Savio, Junior, Liberty High School, Liberty, Missouri
- Go: Kali Sun, Senior, Staley High School, Kansas City, Missouri
- Onward: Abigail Means, Sophomore, Liberty High School, Liberty, Missouri
- SevenDays: Madison Smith, Senior, Blue Valley Northwest, Overland Park, Kansas
2025 Kindness Action Scholarship Winners
(Name, school, Kindness Project Name)
Jenna Barrett - Bonner Springs High School, “Spines of Hope,” Edwardsville, KS
Kripa Gauba - Blue Valley West, “#ZeroReasonsWhy We Should Struggle Alone,” Overland Park
Sammie Magee - Homeschooled, “Sammie’s Toy Drive,” Louisburg, KS
Kinslee Mitchell - Lee’s Summit West, “Menstruation Stations,” Lee’s Summit
Aashritha Musti - Blue Valley West, “Safe Reflections-Shining Light on Body Positivity,” Overland Park
Sadie Sanders - Lafayette HS, “Tolly-Food-Trolley,” St. Joseph, MO
Kai Somasegaran - Rockhurst High School, “One Bean at a Time,” Kansas City, MO
Claire Sullivan - Olathe Northwest, “Cards for Claire,” Olathe
Pranith Surapaneni - Blue Valley Northwest, “Words of Wellness,” Overland Park
Adelynn Stohs - Louisburg HS, “Continue: A Suicide Prevention Project,” Louisburg, KS
Sara Ye - Blue Valley High, “The Flow Foundation,” Overland Park
SevenDays 2025 Kindness Youth Leadership Team
(Name, high school, year, faith)
- Megan Briggs, Blue Valley High, Junior, Catholic
- Bea Colbert, Pembroke Hill, Junior, Jewish
- Leili Deshmukh, Barstow, Senior, Christian
- Shreela Duggempudi, Blue Valley West, Junior, Hindu
- MC Dunn, Bishop Miege, Junior, Catholic
- Kathryn Forge, St. Thomas Aquinas, Junior, Christian
- Dani Glickman, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Sophomore, Jewish
- Anika Goyal, Blue Valley North, Junior, Hindu
- Sai Gudla, Blue Valley North, Senior, Hindu
- Maddy Hall, Blue Valley North, Senior, Methodist
- Teah Heald, Olathe Northwest, Junior, Lutheran
- Abby Hill, Barstow, Senior, Jewish
- Taylor Jackson, Homeschooled, Sophomore,
- Sarah Jiang, Blue Valley West, Senior, Spiritual
- Michael Jiang, Blue Valley West, Sophomore
- Varun Kabra, Blue Valley North, Freshman, Hindu
- Kat Kalic, West Platte HS, Sophomore, Catholic
- Abhi Kambhampati, Blue Valley North, Junior, Hindu
- Lucy Kehoe, Notre Dame de Sion, Sophomore, Christian
- Alysha Kan, Blue Valley West, Junior, Muslim
- Maddie Koch, Blue Valley North, Sophomore, Christian,
- Caitlyn Kratofil, St. Thomas Aquinas, Junior, Catholic
- Park Lank, Shawnee Mission South, Senior. Methodist
- Ryan Lo, Blue Valley North, Senior, Buddhist
- Molly McCullough, Staley HS, Junior, Catholic
- Jaelyn McDonald, Lone Jack HS, Senior, Christian
- Mia Mondry, Blue Valley HS, Junior, Jewish
- Nirvana Mullin, Shawnee Mission North, Junior
- Sophia Naronov, Blue Valley North, Sophomore, Jewish
- Gibson Nichol, Lone Jack HS, Senior, Christian
- Pari Patl, Blue Valley North, Senior, Hindu
- Soren Petrikin, Blue Valley North, Sophomore, Atheist
- Maeve Riley, Notre Dame de Sion, Junior, Catholic
- Sam Sandler, Blue Valley HS, Junior, Jewish
- Roxy Schelstrate, Spring Hill HS, Junior
- Eva Smith, Shawnee Mission East, Senior, Atheist
- Claire Solis, St. Teresa’s, Sophomore, Catholic
- Jonah Stein, Blue Valley North, Junior, Jewish
- Erica Strathman, St. Thomas Aquinas, Junior, Catholic
- Meme Taylor, Olathe Northwest, Sophomore
- Leia Thomas, Olathe East, Freshman
- Athan Tran, Blue Valley North, Senior, Muslim
- Jamie Wilborn, Shawnee Mission East, Sophomore, Christian
