Support $3 million fundraiser for Don Bosco Community Center
A $3 million fundraising campaign will add to the exciting amount of activity and diversity in the Northeast area of Kansas City. The solid plan is to restore the “third leg” of the long-standing mission of the Don Bosco Centers.
The money would revitalize the Don Bosco Community Center, 526 Campbell St., just north of the Don Bosco Senior Center. The community center was built in 1940 by Italian immigrants who learned bricklaying skills from J.E. Dunn, who donated the brick for the building. That family connection has Bill Dunn Sr. and Bob Dunn involved in raising money to renovate the building.
Don Bosco Centers for decades have helped resettle immigrants in the Northeast area.
“After World War II all immigrants coming to the United States went through Don Bosco to learn English and get jobs,” said Bill Dunn Sr., chairman emeritus of J.E. Dunn Construction. The centers helped resettle Southeast Asians in Kansas City after the Vietnam War ended in 1975 and many other immigrants from different countries.
More than 1,000 adult immigrants and refugees — 40 percent Latinos — from about 75 nations are enrolled in Don Bosco English as a second language classes at 309 Benton Blvd., offered by the Independence School District. Adults also take classes to get their high school equivalency diplomas and participate in citizenship preparation training. The classes have been part of Don Bosco’s mission to help immigrants get jobs, become U.S. citizens and live the American dream.
Don Bosco’s second leg is its senior center, providing hundreds of meals a day in the cafeteria for older area residents in addition to 325 daily Meals on Wheels deliveries. Other services help seniors to continue to live independently in their own homes.
Restoring the community center takes Don Bosco back to its roots of serving young people in the Northeast area, which is teeming with immigrants. Notably, the center will offer a welcoming hand that’s missing in the current discourse against immigrants and refugees.
The Don Bosco Community Center is needed because few places in the Northeast area provide easily accessible youth activities that are educational and constructive.
The youth programs at the restored Don Bosco Community Center will be offered through partnering with other agencies. They will include basketball in the community center gym with six hoops and hardwood floors. Below and in back of the gym are classrooms, where Don Bosco officials expect to offer computer training, culinary classes, photography, local history, tutoring and multicultural learning experiences.
“We’re always in need of space,” said Torre Nigro, who is on the Don Bosco Advisory Leadership Committee for the fundraising campaign. In addition, a multipurpose community space will be available for parties and receptions.
The fundraising for the community center started in January. Some of the money will be used at the senior center. Construction could start as early as six months from now; the Don Bosco Community Center could open in mid-2017.
People involved in the fundraiser say Don Bosco Centers play a crucial role in helping to shape Kansas City as a welcoming place for newcomers.
“This is where Kansas City started in a lot of ways,” said Anita Gorman, who’s on the fundraising campaign committee. Revitalizing the community center “will help lift” the whole Northeast area.
It is a great project worthy of the community’s financial support.
This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 7:05 AM with the headline "Support $3 million fundraiser for Don Bosco Community Center."