Mahomes foundation gives $15K in hazardous duty pay for Kansas City child care workers
Patrick Mahomes and his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation are at it again, giving money to help children and families in Kansas City.
This time the Chiefs quarterback’s foundation donated $15,000, matched by another $15,000 from Turn the Page KC, to kick off a fund to provide hazardous-duty pay for early childhood educators working through the pandemic.
Just last week, Mahomes’ foundation announced a grant toward building a playground at Martin Luther King, Jr. Square Park.
With $30,000 so far for the educators, Turn the Page, along with the KC Early Education Funders Collaborative, is asking the community to contribute too. The collaborative is made up of 12 philanthropic groups that support improving access to quality early childhood programs in Kansas City.
“In many ways, early educators are the unsung heroes who have continued operating and educating children so that parents and caregivers, many of whom are essential employees, are able to work during the pandemic,” Marques Fitch, executive director of 15 and the Mahomies Foundation, said in a statement.
“We know that early education plays a critical role in helping kids achieve success in school and in life, which is why it remains a key area of focus for the Foundation.”
The fund will “provide some relief” to child care workers who may have struggled financially while continuing to work during the pandemic or made some other sacrifice to keep caring for the children of other essential workers.
“I’ve been talking to early educators about what they’ve been experiencing since COVID hit and it’s incredible,” Elle Hogan, director of community engagement at Turn the Page KC, told The Star.
Consider Birdsall House, a small child care provider in a home near Troost Avenue. “They moved their entire program outdoors because they believed that was the safest way to continue operating. The teachers — most of whom are middle aged and older — all wore masks outdoors in 90-plus degree heat,” Hogan said. At some other child care centers, “staff had to cut hours because enrollment declined, so they all suffered financially.”
In Missouri, early childhood educators earn on average about $10 per hour, and have an annual average salary of $23,490.
“Even in the absence of COVID-19, centers run on extremely tight margins,” said Mike English, executive director of Turn the Page KC, which works to make sure children learn to read. “We’ve heard from many providers who have had to reduce staff pay … in order to make ends meet.”
Money from the fund will go directly to workers. They could get anything from a small one-time check to help pay bills at home, to a grocery store gift card or a thank-you lunch for a center’s entire staff.
The fund will be taking donations from the community through the end of the month. There is not set goal. “We want to grow it as much as possible,” Hogan said.
To donate directly to the COVID-19 hazard pay fund, visit turn-the-page-kc.square.site.
The donation is the Mahomes foundation’s second announcement in Kansas City. Last week, his foundation announced the playground at Martin Luther King, Jr. Square Park, off Blue Parkway and Woodland Avenue. Mahomes, last season’s Super Bowl MVP, said the foundation, established last year, is “pumped” to build the playground that will honor King.
The 15 and the Mahomies Foundation has made several other donations for children and families in the city since the pandemic began. In addition to donating 15,000 meals for Harvesters Community Food Network in March, the foundation committed $100,000 in aid to Kansas City Public Schools lunch programs and local organizations that provide household items to those in need.
