KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Village KC, Inc. is a new nonprofit that just launched in late February.
It is housed at DeLaSalle Education Center and their focus is to provide a safe space and resources for middle and high schoolers to grow and learn.
Financial literacy, health and wellness and community services are just some of the opportunities for teenagers in the metro.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, some programs had to be put on hold. Instead of stopping what they do, founder Di'Anna Saffold said she decided to just switch gears.
The organization started the initiative 'Feed the Village KC' to provide free meals for families in need.
They teamed up with Urban Community Connection, Youth Empowerment Readiness, Love United Missionary Baptist Church and The iMatter Experience.
The free meals are delivered directly to families' doorsteps.
"The first time, we served 42 families 150 meals. This time, there's 140 meals and 34 families, so there's some families that have multiple children and they're able to get five sacked lunches per family," Saffold said. "And we end up seeing a greater need than we anticipated because we have people who wanted to sign up after the fact."
While several things are at a standstill, Saffold stressed the importance of continuing to move forward to help serve others in need.
"It's always important to serve, no matter what's going on," Saffold said. "And a lot of these families depend on our service. And so how can we meet a need even though our original plans were tossed to the wayside? Because service should always be at the forefront of anything that you do."
The meals are for families who have children in grade school. Delivery days are Mondays and Fridays.
Families have to live within the Kansas City, Missouri; Hickman Mills, Center, Grandview and Raytown school districts. Sign up for for the service is required.
To learn more on sign ups or how you can donate to help the organization provide the meals, click here.
