‘Kansas City strong’ shirts are raising thousands for Chiefs rally shooting victims
It speaks volumes of Kansas Citians that — in the wake of a tragic mass shooting — they’re reaching into their pockets to help, Grant Morse said.
Perhaps it’s indicative of the slogan on the clothing he’s selling.
Red-and-gold hoodies, crew necks and T-shirts display the words: “Kansas City strong.”
“I think it shows that Kansas City’s resilient,” Morse said. “Everyone was immediately on board.”
Independence native Morse — along with local podcaster Braiden Turner and fellow Chiefs fan RJ Erigio — created the shirts to benefit victims of Wednesday’s Chiefs rally shooting.
Morse promoted the shirts on his Chiefs-centric sports commentary platform, Arrowhead Live, Thursday, with over 100,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) alone, and watched as donations climbed.
In came $1,000. Then $5,000. $10,000.
As of Friday morning, the apparel raised around $14,500. And that number was growing by the minute.
The shirts are available for purchase at bonfire.com/store/kansascitystrong/. Prices for each item vary, but short-sleeve tees are selling for $27.99.
All the proceeds are going to help the 23 shooting victims and their families, Morse said. He’s selling the shirts through Bonfire, a platform that helps organizations fund raise through product sales.
Bonfire will hold the money until the fundraiser is complete, which Morse plans to continue through the weekend or longer, depending on demand.
Morse said he and his cohorts will then disperse the money fairly among the victims. He said he’s been contacting families and is attempting to reach more.
“I’d like to be fully transparent,” he said. “That’s the reason I’m posting updates about the total that’s been earned and whatnot.”
On Wednesday, thousands of fans gathered for a parade in downtown Kansas City to celebrate the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory against the San Francisco 49ers.
After the rally at Union Station, gunshots rang out on the west side of Union Station. Of the 23 who were shot, half were under the age of 16. Victims range in age from 8 to 47. Two teenagers were charged in the shooting Friday.
Hours after the news broke, Morse, Turner and Erigio began discussing how they could help. They decided to create tees sporting the phrase, “Kansas City strong,” and began advertising.
“We were trying to be as quick with this as possible, and get it out there,” he said. “It was within probably eight hours, I think we posted … just letting people know that we were going to be selling the shirts.”
The catchphrase was also spelled out with white folding chairs outside Union Station Thursday afternoon. The Chiefs and United Way also launched a #KCStrong campaign, in which funds will go to victims’ families and to violence prevention efforts.
“This moment is an opportunity to turn our collective outrage into action,” the campaign reads.
Several GoFundMes have been set up for victims. Three verified fundraisers include one for Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old Johnson County mother who died at the scene. Taylor Swift donated $100,000 to Lopez-Galvan’s family.
Morse said he’s been in contact with one of Lopez-Galvan’s family members.
“He was basically saying, ‘We’re still just kind of trying to wrap our heads around it, but the support that we’re receiving is incredible,’” Morse said. “That takes a lot of the pressure, financially and the mental burden kind of off of them.”