On The Vine: KC stepping up for the poor, the hungry
That in 2025, we are actually talking about lost funding to care for and educate young children and feed some of the most vulnerable among us is disturbing.
Yet, because of petty politics, here we are.
Amid the ongoing federal government shutdown, which has lasted way too long, the federally-funded Head Start early childhood education program, established in 1965, is set to have its funding halted.
The program provides services to children from low-income households, those with disabilities, foster children, and others.
We are talking about 2,300 children in the Kansas City metro area, where there are 17 Head Start sites.
On top of that, benefits from SNAP, the federal food assistance program, formerly known as “food stamps,” ran out on Nov. 1. That program feeds our poor families, the elderly, disabled, and the struggling.
More than 840,000 people in the Kansas and Missouri region and approximately 150,000 in the Kansas City area rely on these life-depending benefits. They are all ages, all races, and genders with low incomes.
This is what the politicians – Republicans and Democrats – who we elected to make the decisions that are in the best interest of all Americans have come up with. Shut down the government to win a fight over healthcare rather than compromise, while people are out of work, and kids, families, the elderly, and the disabled go hungry.
And more ridiculous, our Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, a Republican, pretended, even for a minute, he was doing something to help those depending on SNAP by announcing last week he was making millions of dollars available to help provide food assistance.
But it turns out the money he promoted was not new. The $15.6 million in funding had already been approved by state lawmakers months ago to help with food assistance.
That’s a lot to be disturbed about. So, it is good that I can also be proud of Kansas City area leaders, non-profits, business owners, and the public who have stepped up in a big way to help family, friends, neighbors, and strangers who’ve been pushed into a tough place by this shutdown.
Star reporters, all week, have written numerous stories about food pantries and local businesses stepping up to feed people who need the help. Restaurants are feeding some families for free. Volunteers are showing up at food pantries with donations and offering to help bag food.
And late last month, the Mid-America Regional Council, which administers the federal Head Start program regionally, announced that it will pay for all 17 sites to remain open for as long as it can afford it. Compassion, empathy, inclusion and stepping up. That’s what makes America great
Off The Vine
Below are stories about culture and identity from communities in the Kansas City metro area. Go here to find more stories on culture and identity from Star reporter J.M. Banks.
- African drumming and dance have made a comeback in Kansas City thanks to two master drummers who talked with Star reporter J.M. Banks, takes readers inside this thriving art form.
- This City Union Mission leader has a recipe for how to become and be a good man. He talked to Banks about what that is and how he developed it. Read about it here.
Around The Vine
- Join the Kansas City Public Library as it invites the director of the Kinder Institute to talk about efforts to foster civil discourse at Bridging the Divide: Talking, Listening, and Finding Common Ground, 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at the Central Library Branch, 14 W. 10th St., Kansas City, Mo.
Vine Picks.
- People may not think of Johnson County when they talk about SNAP benefits, but just hours before a freeze on federal food assistance benefits was scheduled to go into effect a line formed outside the New Hope Food Pantry in Olathe. Star reporter Laura Bauer has been following these development and writes about it here.
- Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s lawsuit against AG Kris Kobach is about getting food aid to the Kansans who need it. This guest columnist writes about how Kelly is on the right side of the SNAP issue.
- Officials in both Missouri and Kansas have begun moving with new urgency to rein in the highly addictive opioid 7-OH, which has been sold at local convenience stores. Here’s the latest from reporter David Hudnall on where things stand
Your voice matters to us. What local issues do you want to hear discussed in On The Vine?
Let me, Mará Rose Williams, The Star’s assistant managing editor for race and equity, know directly at mdwilliams@kcstar.com.
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