KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There's a special gift shop off Highway 291 in Harrisonville, Missouri.
Its co-owner, Michele Shanahan DeMoss, thinks it has a little bit of everything.
"I think I've been playing store my whole life," Shanahan DeMoss said. "I would just play around with names in my mind and I just said one day, 'good things will happen under the awning."'
She named the store, Under the Awning, and recently moved it from Independence to its current location.
That hasn't stopped some customers from noticing her.
She said: "Some people will say to me, 'Oh, you look familiar."'
Her store front is something she's held close over the years.
"It allows me to use a different energy and a face that people don't see," Shanahan DeMoss said.
In 2011, her daughter, Blair Shanahan Lane, was killed by celebratory gunfire on the Fourth of July.
She went back and forth to Jefferson City for years to finally get Blair's Law passed in the summer of 2024.
The law penalizes celebratory gunfire in Missouri.
"Blair gave the biggest gift when she donated six organs, giving the gift of life to five people," Shanahan DeMoss said. "That really is the representation. I feel like any time somebody crosses the threshold into the store it's an opportunity."
Giving back runs in the family.
Shanahan DeMoss' storefront selects products with a charitable cause.
A former foster family, they've also had a non-profit called Blair's Foster Socks.
Blair named the project the week before she was killed.
"There's a lot," she said about her community involvement. "I just don't necessarily keep a list."
She may not keep track of everything, but the Truman Heartland Community Foundation noticed.
The organization already has a scholarship in Blair's name.
One day, they sent Shanahan DeMoss a message to come to the office.
Shanahan DeMoss said: "When they said that you have been chosen for this award, it still makes me emotional because I didn't sign up for any of this. I just kind of got it handed to me. Every day I wake up and persevere."
She was chosen as the organization's humanitarian of the year. She received the award on Saturday.
"I just really think there's a bit of a humanitarian in all of us...the reality is I would do it again. I would head on back to Jefferson City," she said.
Shanahan DeMoss wears many hats these days — grandmother, philanthropist, advocate.
The title that still holds everything together is being 'Blair's mom.'
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KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
