Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. Chicago’s Mercy Hospital. A Kroger grocery store in Kentucky. Jewish facilities in Overland Park. Austin’s in Olathe. in Olathe.
What do these places have in common? All these locations were the sites of acts of hate resulting in the murders of innocent people — including four here in the metro area.
Our world continues to be bombarded with these hateful acts yet one Kansas City area organization is determined to make a difference through acts of kindness and interfaith dialogue. It is The Faith Always Wins Foundation (FAWF), an organization with three pillars — Interfaith, Kindness and Workplace Healing.
SevenDays® Make a Ripple, Change the World is the foundation’s annual weeklong series of events demonstrating how hatred, bigotry and ignorance can be overcome by kindness and understanding each other.
SevenDays® will take place for the fourth year in the Greater Kansas City area Tuesday, April 9, through Monday, April 15, 2019.
SevenDays® 2019 continues the healing journey following the murders that took the lives of Dr. William Corporon, his grandson Reat Underwood and Teresa LaManno outside of Jewish facilities 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.
Sponsored by the Faith Always Wins Foundation and LaManno-Hastings Family Foundation in partnership with several organizations, SevenDays® engages all people to discover commonalities and overcome evil with acts of kindness. Their vision is to make a ripple to change the world by connecting communities.
“As we embark on our fifth annual event I take pause to see how far our families have come from the day we lost my father, Reat and Terri,” said Mindy Corporon, Reat’s mother and Dr. Corporon’s daughter. “While our families will always remember, we are also healing and moving onward with passion. Our passion is to help others through their own personal tragedy, to explore another faith and to find commonalities with their neighbor or coworker through acts of kindness. We are all human,” Corporon said.
“The majority of us do not want violence, terrorism or even sarcastic remarks about our religion, so let’s continue the conversation. 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.”
Jim LaManno, husband of Teresa LaManno, said SevenDays® is more important now than ever.
“Though we still remember our loved ones, we strive to make things better for all the other families who have lost loved ones to senseless violence. We must remain steadfast and redouble our efforts to spread kindness and give joy and peace to all through SevenDays and every day,” LaManno said.
SevenDays® is under the leadership of Mindy Corporon and its new Executive Director Jill Andersen, who has been involved since the beginning.
SevenDays® of Kindness
Everyone has the power to make a ripple and change the world — and that’s the focus SevenDays®. Each of the SevenDays® has a special theme — Love, Discover, Others, Connect, Go, You and Onward — reflecting the overall spirit of the effort. Beginning with Tuesday, April 9 — Day One — the week kicks off with a special interfaith program and awards ceremony at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Kansas City. Other events include a diversity dinner, a weeklong blood drive in partnership with the Community Blood Center, interfaith workshops and a day focused on taking care of yourself. One 2019 highlight will be three different presentations by reformed white supremacist Christian Picciolini and reformed neo Nazi Skinhead Shannon Martinez.
Each day will feature special activities — everything from speakers and films to workshops and hands-on community service projects. For 2019, the annual Faith Love & Walk will be held on Monday, April 15, taking off from the National World War I Museum and Memorial. The walk will circle the grounds of the memorial before a celebratory conclusion. Fourteen area charities will be on site showcasing the work they day to make Kansas City a kind community. Registration for the walk is now open at www.givesevendays.org.
The entire community is invited to participate in SevenDays® events, both digitally and in person. Events will be held at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. The SevenDays® team of volunteers has created resources for educators, learners, business and organizations allowing for participation at each person’s desired level of engagement. All ages are encouraged to participate.
Community groups and organizations are invited to create their own activities and share them through SevenDays® social media sites using #givesevendays and #betheripple. Information about the themes, activities and sponsored events will be continuously updated on the SevenDays® website, www.givesevendays.org as well as the Facebook page @givesevendays.
SevenDays® Supportive Cities
To date, five area communities have signed on as SevenDays® Supportive Cities – Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa and Kansas City, Missouri. As a SevenDays® Supportive City, each has committed to promoting kindness and encouraging its citizens to participate in the weeklong event. Additional cities are being asked to join the effort.
SevenDays® Youth Planning Team & Button Contest
Twenty-one area high school students have been chosen to serve on the SevenDays® Kindness Youth Leadership Team. Reflecting the diversity of the SevenDays® effort, this youth group is comprised of students from a variety of faiths including Atheist, Christian, Hindu, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim.
Each member of this youth team is paired up with an adult partner in a mentoring relationship. Together, they are working on various aspects of SevenDays®.
In addition to the Kindness Youth Leadership team, another group of teens in the metro is involved on the interfaith side of the Faith Always Wins Foundation, called the Interfaith Youth Leadership Team. Working in partnership with the KCIYA, the foundation offers year-round programming for its interfaith youth component. Clare Stern serves as executive director of the interfaith youth engagement for the foundation. These activities are open to any interested teens.
Buttons, Kindness & Songwriting Competitions
A signature of SevenDays® has been giving out colorful buttons with designs reflecting each day’s theme. For the third year in a row, a button-design contest took place inviting area high school students to submit their artwork for consideration. Designs from eight different students were chosen for the 2019 SevenDays® buttons, which are now in production. Each student will receive a $250 award for their design. The buttons, which are free, will be available beginning in February.
One act of kindness has the power to start a RIPPLE to CHANGE the WORLD. Applications are now available for high school seniors for the fourth annual SevenDays® Make a Ripple, Change the World Scholarship competition. Seniors are encouraged to create a project of kindness addressing one or more of the SevenDays® themes, execute it and submit an essay about its impact. Five $1,000 scholarships will be awarded for higher education tuition. Full details can be found on the SevenDays® web site. The submission deadline is March 1, 2019.
Music is a universal language with tremendous healing powers. Submissions are now being taken for the fourth annual Faith, Love & Song songwriting competition, sponsored in partnership with the RRACE (Racial and Religious Acceptance and Cultural Equality) Foundation. Kansas City Drs. Ekkehard and Sieglinde Othmer founded RRACE in protest of blind prejudice and intolerance.
Open to those 14-21, the Faith, Love & Song competition was established to reward composers who create music and lyrics that inspires others to be accepting of diversity, understanding of those of different religious, racial and cultural backgrounds and to show compassion for other human beings.
Those interested submit original compositions that address the subjects of racial, religious, and/or cultural equality and acceptance. This song competition is aimed at promoting understanding, tolerance and acceptance through the arts. Submissions will be taken until Feb. 15, 2019; the public will help choose the three finalists in the competition via YouTube. The top winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship and the finalists will perform during SevenDays®. Complete rules and details for the song competition are now available on the SevenDays® website.
While most SevenDays® events are free of charge and open to the public, there is a participation fee for the Faith, Love & Walk on April 15. The fee does include a commemorative T-shirt; other SevenDays®-themed items are also available through the website’s shop.
During the first four years of the SevenDays® effort, more than $133,000 has been given to various nonprofit organizations that further interfaith, kindness, performing arts and youth health needs. The Reat Griffin Underwood Memorial Foundation and The LaManno Hastings Family Foundation are equal beneficiaries of net proceeds and donations of SevenDays® to continue this important work. Donations are tax deductible.
For more information about SevenDays®, contact Ruth Baum Bigus, 913-707-7746 or at . Additional information is also available at www.givesevendays.org.