KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Isabella found this story while covering the recent loss of SNAP benefits and how people were trying to help those in need. She also is interested in stories about how citizens interact with government the challenges for both the government workers and the people who need help.
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A University of Missouri-Kansas City senior woke up at 3 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving to smoke turkey, make mashed potatoes and grill beans for hundreds of people in need of a good meal.
Dominick Love, founder of the nonprofit Love's Village and a UMKC student, organized a Thanksgiving meal distribution in Kansas City's Ivanhoe neighborhood. His organization gathered 900 pounds of food through donations to create hot meals for anyone who needed one.
Attendees could also pick up fresh produce, a hygiene kit and hats and gloves.
"Everything that your heart could desire for Thanksgiving," Love said. “This is one of the best things we could do during this season."
The initiative came in response to SNAP benefit cuts in Missouri and Kansas City. Love decided to take direct action to address food insecurity in the community.
"We wanted to raise food when we got news of the SNAP benefits being cut in Missouri and Kansas City. So we decided to just do footwork action," Love said.
While most college students were spending time with friends and family the day before Thanksgiving, Love was focused on serving his community. He believes the effort represents the true spirit of the holiday.
"What are you grateful for? When it comes to Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for the individuals that allow us to help them," Love said.
The meals were served throughout the Ivanhoe neighborhood and beyond, with volunteers delivering food around town to local shelters. Community members appreciated both the food and the gesture.
"I feel like that's good for the community, because not everybody can eat like this every day, or eat like this at all," said Arvesta Schine.
When asked about the most popular dish, Schine was quick to answer: "Definitely the mac and cheese."
This marked the first official Thanksgiving meal for Love's Village, but Love plans to continue addressing food insecurity year-round. His goal is to make the organization accessible to anyone facing food challenges.
"Being able to be a phone call or email away for somebody that is facing some type of food insecurity or anything of that nature, that's our end goal, being available 365," Love said. "It takes a village."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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