Leawood UMC Mission Trip 2021

This is how our day started - part of our purchase from Scraps KC   Howard plays a pretty mean cardboard tube. We didn't have to be at Happy Bottoms until 10am so there was time for some more - yes, you guessed it - foosball.  Howard and Kate vs Molly and Connor  - the rematch version 250,000.  Game one to Kate and Howard in a landslide.  Game two went to Molly and Connor.  Things were tense as Game three started.  It was very exciting.  Molly and Connor prevailed.   As soon as that game was over, we were out the door.  Happy Bottoms started with one diaper drive.  The hope was to gather 7,000 diapers but 15,000 arrived at her garage.  An idea was formed and now Happy Bottoms distributes 2,100,000 diapers a year.  They are the largest program like this in the country.  We had a variety of tasks in the morning - we added tags to bags, cleaned tags, fulfilled orders, and inventoried donations.  We had to ...

 Today started before the sun even rose... at 5:30 AM !!!!! Duh Duh DUHHHHHH (think Pum, pum pummmm) !!!! We reheated burritos that we cooked the night before for a quick breakfast before we headed off to glean some kale for the organization After The Harvest (and by some kale we mean A LOT OF KALE). We worked two hours in Arnall Early's field (that he uses just to grow food for After The Harvest!) and gleaned a total of 175 pounds of kale!!! WOW! and we even had help from our supervisor Ricky the orange cat. We then loaded up the kale and went off to deliver it to Community Center of Shawnee in our two cars. After we went on the hunt for a Dairy Queen (even though it was only 10 am in the morning...) to keep with tradition. We ate blizzards, cheese curds, fries, and dairy-free dilly bars and had a great time visiting all while crammed into one corner booth. Our next service project of the day was going to be at Scraps KC, but since we weren't due to arrive until 1pm (and it wa...

We had another long and treacherous drive to start our second and ultimate day at The Hub Argentine. Much like yesterday, most of us continued to paint cabinets but then moved on to painting a hallway where we encountered a bat (picture included)! Now that doesn't happen every day (or has happened on any mission trip for that matter!)! While most of the group painted, Stacy and Howard finished up the weed-eating outside of The Hub. During our mid-morning break we had the privilege of going down to see the Argentine mural which showed the history of the area in a very beautiful and detailed 660 ft mural. After that, we finished up painting the cabinets and put up the doors that were dry — and even got to see the color palette all in one place with the drawers that we painted in place (a picture of that is also  included). We finished up the hallway (Connor got some grey hair getting too close to the wall a couple too many times) with one minute to spare from our goal and ended our t...

                        Woke up this morning from the longest road trip ever... Waking up at 7:00am, Barb, Connor, and Caleb prepared the first breakfast of the trip! We scrambled eggs, set out cereal and yogurt, and some fresh hot coffee.  We also put out the lunch ingredients so everyone could make their own  sandwiches. After our yummy breakfast, we were ready to head out to our first site at The Hub Argentine! The Hub is a community helping each other as neighbors. As we arrived, we had a big warm welcome from Carter and Ollie, the dog. We started out by introducing ourselves and learning what The Hub is all about. Our first mission was to paint a bunch of cabinet doors, walls, and a couple of shelves. About half way through the morning, Church of the Resurrection arrived to deliver a couple pallets of food for The Hub's food  pantry! They do deliveries 4 times a year and were happy to have hel...

 It was a long and torturous journey but we are nowat  Hollis Renewal Center. Hackey Sack  has been played.  The Care Cards video has been shared.  We are looking forward to serving the community this week.  Thank you for your prayers and support.  Foosball updates to follow.

 This year, we will be serving in the Kansas City metro area.  We leave from church on Sunday, July 11, 2021 around 6pm.  We will be based out of Hollis Renewal Center for the week and serve various ministries around town.  Please follow our journey as we learn more about our community, ourselves, and each other.