KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Organizations in Kansas City, Missouri, will continue their tradition of turning Martin Luther King, Jr. Day into a day of reflection, connection and service.
Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, the Heartland Conservation Alliance in conjunction with the Kansas City, Missouri, Parks Department will host the 8th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Nature Walk.
The walk begins at 9:30 a.m. Participants will meet at Martin Luther King, Jr. Square Park, at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Woodland Avenue. From there, they will walk 2.5 miles along Brush Creek to the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center.
Nova Clarke, a naturalist from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will guide the walk while pointing out environmental and historical landmarks.
Bill Coe, of Green Acres Urban Farm and Research Project, will be the keynote speaker at an event taking place at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center. Organizers also plan to play a film depicting the life of King.
From 1 to 2:30 p.m., KC Parks will lead a cleanup effort along the banks of Brush Creek.
A bus shuttle service will be available to take anyone who walked to the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center back to their cars at Martin Luther King, Jr. Square Park.
Madeline Putman, with Heartland Conservation Alliance, is helping organize the event. She said the goal is to connect King’s message of civil rights and social justice with today’s environmental justice movement.
“Health is essential to our communities and there is a huge correlation between natural green spaces and health,” Putman said. “So we need to start a conversation about bringing in health in different ways, like promoting green spaces.”
To address environmental justice, KC Parks created the Quality of Life Investment District in October 2021.
The district manages all 38 parks within a five zip code region of Kansas City, serving a mostly minority population with lower life expectancy rates. The goal is to eliminate any inequities between parks in the district and parks in other parts of the city.
The new district is a result of KC Parks’ Life X initiative which aims to build a city where zip codes do not dictate life expectancy.
It offers qualifying residents free memberships to the city’s community centers and overall promotes a healthier lifestyle with more tailored opportunities for exercise.
Already, KC Parks has improved baseball fields, basketball courts, the playground, picnic tables and more at Town Fork Greenway through the Quality of Life Investment District.
You can register for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nature Walk in advance online, or in-person on the day of the event.
