Community Presentations

October 9, 2025
At our October 9 meeting, Judy Temaat (Executive Director) and Meagan Walker (Case Manager) shared how KC Kansas Angels walks alongside foster families, children, and youth across Douglas, Johnson, Wyandotte, and Leavenworth counties. Their mission is to offer consistent, relational support to help foster families thrive - because nearly 50% of foster families close their homes within the first year, leading to more instability for children who are already grappling with a lot of change and upheaval.

KC Kansas Angels’ programs address both family and youth needs:

• Love Box Program: Volunteers commit to one year of intentional giving and relationship-building with a foster family, providing practical help like groceries, household supplies, and gas cards, as well as emotional support such as babysitting, tutoring, or simply being a listening ear. Each match is tailored to what that family needs most.

• Dare to Dream Program: For youth ages 11–22, this mentorship program pairs each young person with a carefully screened adult who meets with them twice a month to offer guidance, teach life skills, and help them plan for their futures.

The impact is clear: foster youth face higher rates of homelessness and incarceration - yet KC Kansas Angels shows that with consistent community support, those outcomes don’t have to be inevitable.

As of the time of our meeting, 15 families (60 kids!) were waiting on Love Box volunteers and 8 kids in our area were waiting for mentors. You can view local families and children in need of support on their website’s interactive family map and youth map and learn more about how to get involved.

August 14, 2025
Maddie Bouton, Deputy City Administrator and Finance Director for the City of Basehor joined us at our Happy Hour to deliver a presentation on the Brighter Basehor: Sales Tax Election. She explained how the proposed measure would fund future improvements to roads and parks in Basehor.

Maddie also took time to answer many questions about how local taxes work, helping our members and guests better understand this important topic. We’re grateful to her and the City of Basehor for keeping our community informed. If you have questions about the election, feel free to reach out to Maddie - she can get you answers!

More information about the Brighter Basehor initiative is available here: City of Basehor – Brighter Basehor Sales Tax Election

August 14, 2025
Jessica Pontbriant with the Leavenworth County Council on Aging shared the many ways they support older adults so they can stay independent and in their homes for as long as possible. From Meals on Wheels and in-person dining here in Basehor at the Basehor United Methodist Church, to the Senior Express Transportation service throughout Leavenworth County, to the Friendly Visitors program to address loneliness, and even pet support through their PALS and Pet2Vet programs, they’re filling critical needs with care and creativity. Some services start at age 50, and others begin at age 60 or are income-based. Some services also support disabled people regardless of age.

We also learned about their Leisure & Learning programs - everything from fitness classes to the adventurous BLAST series (because you're never too old to Zipline!). They keep their calendar packed, and it offers great opportunities for seniors to engage in community.

Thank you to the Council on Aging for giving us a deeper understanding of the resources available right here in Leavenworth County. It’s good to be reminded that caring for our community spans all ages - from children to seniors, and everyone in between.

See https://www.leavenworthcounty.gov/departments/council_on_aging/index.php for more information on the services they offer, how to volunteer with them, and how to donate to their cause.

August 14, 2025
Linda Hughes, Community Outreach Program Manager with Lead to Read KC, shared how their organization mobilizes volunteers to improve literacy for 1st-3rd graders in high-need schools across the greater Kansas City area. In some KC classrooms, only 23% of 3rd graders are reading at grade level - something Lead to Read is working hard to change through one-on-one reading time, tutoring, author visits, and free book distribution.

While their programs aren’t active in Basehor schools, Linda encouraged caring adults in our community to volunteer in neighboring districts where kids face greater barriers to reading at home. Helping children succeed in school - whether here in Basehor or in other Kansas City area communities - ultimately strengthens our whole region.

You can learn more or sign up to volunteer at leadtoreadkc.org.

May 8, 2025
Rachael Hissong, Library Director of the Basehor Community Library, and Clara Knipp, Youth Services Coordinator at the Linwood Community Library, presented at our meeting and told us about their Summer Reading programs. Rachael also told us about Basehor Community Library's project to expand the children's section by adding onto their building. Clara explained how Linwood Community Library is a crucial gathering place for community members and how they provide programming to meet that need.

See their sites for information on upcoming events and programs they have:

• Basehor Community Library Events

• Linwood Community Library Events

April 10, 2024
Heather Shue, Basehor-Linwood Mentors and CareCats District Coordinator, presented at our meeting and told us about the student-driven CareCats program and helped our Club Members onboard for the MENTOR program. This program enables community members to be safely vetted, lightly trained, and then allowed to volunteer at schools around town. This program allows us to run the Terrific Kids program at BES! If you're interested in learning more about the MENTOR volunteering opportunity, contact Heather for more information! 

March 13, 2024
The Basehor-Linwood VEX Robotics Club came to speak with us again this Spring about their upcoming VEX Robotics World Championships. They explained how the club helps has prepared them for college, which schools they will attend and degrees they will pursue this Fall, and how they have helped upcoming students prepare for their VEX futures. It has been so much fun watching them grow and learn over the last year, and seeing them find success again as they travel to Worlds this year. We wish them the best, and can't wait to hear about how well they do with their robot!

September 12, 2024
Joan Shearer, owner of Cider Hill Family Orchard, stopped by to make us feel welcome and tell us more about how they give back to the community. They’ve worked with After the Harvest for years and donate as much as 800 pounds of windfall apples to local food banks every time the gleaners stop by. They also intentionally set up the orchard to be a no-cost gathering place, from allowing people to fish in their lake, take a hay ride, or just stop by for a picnic. They don’t charge for entry or parking, which allows people to come and enjoy the beauty of nature they have. And they even allow our club to use their barn as a meeting space once a month. We love the spirit of community that they bring to our area, and are especially grateful for the beautiful location they provide for our club to gather so we can carry out our mission to help local children. 

August 8, 2024
Julie Luttman with the Brain Injury Association of Kansas & Greater Kansas City came to speak to us about their mission. They are a small, local organization that has spread nationwide with the intent of helping people who have acquired or inherited brain injuries. Brain injury doesn’t have as much support and is a fairly niche area, so a lot of what they do is connecting people to the resources, information, and support they need. As an example, in the entire state of Kansas, we only have one facility that exists to help people with brain injuries, so knowing who to go to that can help with various challenges someone with an injury is experiencing is important. Not all of the effects of a brain injury are apparent when looking at a person, so they need a variety of treatments targeted to the needs of the person who has experienced the injury. One of their missions is education on treatment and prevention, so if you’d like to learn more, please contact them! They’d love to make the connection. 

May 9, 2024
Our club enjoyed listening to Darren Koester speak about the wonderful work BLAS does for members of the Basehor and Linwood communities. He shared information on all the types of assistance they provide, including the Backpack Buddy program he spearheads, which gets food sent home from school with kiddos who need it. We look forward to supporting their work in the years to come. If you’d like to support them, you can donate on PayPal here: https://www.paypal.com/US/fundraiser/charity/1984965 

April 11, 2024
The Basehor-Linwood VEX Robotics Club came to speak with us about their upcoming VEX Robotics World Championships. They explained how the club helps them develop science, math, coding, organization, planning, and presentation skills. They talked us through how the competitions work, and even demonstrated how one of their robots works. They also explained how they have grown their program significantly in the last few years, and provided their projections for how they expect the program to grow between this year and next year. It was wonderful learning about one of the many activities at the local high school.