Chiefs in the Community Part I: Health & Wellness
Chiefs in the Community Part II: Fundraising & Food Drives
Chiefs in the Community Part III: Honoring the Military & Encouraging our Youth
Hope House
The Chiefs Women's Organization (CWO) visited the women and children at Hope House to host a holiday party for those currently residing in the shelter. Just over 35 women are living at the facility, with about 27 children. The shelter provides a secure home for women and their children, along with daily therapy sessions and group support sessions.
The CWO provided cookies for the children to decorate, helped with arts and crafts and led the group in some Play 60 activities.
"The reason for visiting Hope House was to help these children forget about their circumstances and their situation and instead focus on the joy of the holidays and the blessings in their lives," Tammy Reid, wife of head coach Andy Reid, noted. "For years back in Philly and currently in Kansas City, I've been involved with domestic violence shelters, so I've seen the impact something like this can have on families and I know that any little bit that we can help will go a long way." READ MORE.
Operation Breakthrough
For the past five years, the CWO has participated in the Adopt-A-Family program with Operation Breakthrough, a non-profit organization serving children and their families in the Kansas City metro.
In December of 2014, the CWO adopted 54 families and purchased gifts for 170 children. Over the last five years of this partnership, nearly 300 families have been adopted and 783 children have received gifts for the holidays.
"The CWO has adopted some of our families because a lot of our families can't afford Christmas," Sister Berta, one of the Operation Breakthrough founders, explained. "We probably have 30 percent of our families that don't have utilities at home and we have a lot of kids without food. So many of our families live below the poverty level. We have about 100 homeless kids. We serve some of the poorest kids in Kansas City." READ MORE.
Children's Campus
A week before Christmas, the Chiefs Rookie Club, cheerleaders and KC Wolf visited the Children's Center Campus, which houses three agencies, including the YMCA, the Children's Therapeutic Learning Center (TLC) and the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI).
The group interacted with the children, singing songs, reading books, decorating cookies and handed out special Chiefs toys. READ MORE.
The Kansas City Chiefs rookie club and community caring team visit the Children's Center Campus to interact with the children during their classes.
Toys for Tots
For nearly five decades, the Chiefs and members of the Marine Corps have hosted an annual Toys for Tots collection at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs Toys for Tots collection is the longest of its kind between an NFL franchise and the Marines. The program continually helps meet a significant need for area children and the Red Coaters are some of the top contributors each year.
The Chiefs Red Coaters donated 47 bikes, 10 scooters and 57 helmets. The toys, along with bikes and scooters, are taken to the Toys for Tots warehouse, where they are then organized and distributed to local charities. The monetary donations are used to buy toys that are still needed.
"This event tugs on my heartstrings, it's just awesome," Carolyn Lehnus, Chiefs Red Coater said. "If a child gets a toy, they may only use it a year, but if a child has a bike, they'll use it for several years. We hope this helps puts a smile on a child's face and that they are able to use it for several years."
