Free complimentary copy November 20, 2015 • Volume 3, No. 4
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Raytown principal sets $10k donation goal for Special Olympics By Kris Collins Raytown Central Middle School Principal Jason Vaughan is setting his sights high this year for his Special Olympics Polar Plunge donation campaign.
“This is the first year I’ve ever shot for the moon,” said Vaughan, whose 7-year-old son Owen is a special needs child. Vaughan is a “super plunger” for the Polar Plunge Jan. 29 and 30 at Longview Lake, which means he
Photo by Kris Collins Jason Vaughan, right, stands with Greg Byers, bodybuilding event promoter, in front of a poster picturing Vaughan’s son, Owen, promoting Special Olympics at the competition Nov. 14.
Photos courtesy Jason Vaughan Jason Vaughan is raising money for Special Olympics. His efforts of reaching $10,000 culminate in late January with the Polar Plunge. He poses with his 4-year-old daughter Emery and 7-year-old son Owen, a special needs child.
has to raise a minimum of $2,500 to receive the designation. As a super plunger, he will also take to the frigid water once every hour for 24 hours. “It sounds a little bit more difficult than it is,” he said. “They have a big tent set up for the super plungers, they’ve got a hot tub right outside the tent and then you’ve got a buffet of food all day. They cater to you because of the cause. You try to catch sleep when you can when it
gets late. I figure for all it’s worth, it’s (only) 24 hours.” Vaughan kicked off his campaign at a bodybuilding competition Nov. 14 at the Ararat Shrine Temple with the goal of walking away with $2,500 in funds. Jason and Owen Vaughan planned special father-son choreography to arouse the crowd and bring awareness to Special Olympics. “The promoter of this event, Greg Byers, is a personal friend and
also just kind of an iconic person in the realm of bodybuilding, and events and such,” Vaughan said. “As I started my pledge to the state for Special Olympics, and more specifically Polar Plunge, he had reached out to me knowing I was prepping for bodybuilding shows along the way. He had asked me, ‘Why don’t you come and basically guest pose, entertain the crowd, do
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Raytown cemetery offers free plots for first responders, veterans By Kris Collins Voicing support and showing it are vastly different. Steve Pierce and Charlie Passantino, coexecutive directors of Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Raytown, know that. That’s why the two started offering free burial space to first responders and veterans three years ago. “This was developed, No. 1, to have a memorial to honor those individuals who serve us here locally and abroad but also to give veterans an opportunity to have something here local,
as opposed to going to Leavenworth or Higginsville to get the benefit,” Pierce said. “Opening it up to first responders was just to, again, honor those who serve us locally here, as well.” Pierce said the two memorials, called gardens, are the most frequently used part of the cemetery. The late Kansas City Fire Department Firefighters John Mesh and Larry Leggio, who died in the line of duty Oct. 12, are buried side by side in the first-responder garden, Passantino said. “A lot of the veterans have a lot of family members buried
here,” Passantino said. “Instead of going to the national or state veteran cemetery, they still want to be locally with their family members. That helped us get the idea and what we could do for them as gratitude for their service.” The granite memorials, inscribed with a heart-felt thank-you and dedication to first responders and veterans, stand high on a cement platform and American flags and flags for various military branches or emergency service departments fly overhead. The
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Photo by Kris Collins The Legacy First Responders Memorial at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Raytown.
Mission of Hope debuts office expansion with ribbon-cutting By Kris Collins Community leaders, elected officials and friends of Mission of Hope Clinic gathered at the office near Evanston Avenue and Raytown Road Tuesday evening for a ribbon-cutting ceremony debuting the clinic’s 3,800-square-foot expansion and renovation. “On behalf of the city of Raytown, we’re glad that you’re here to fulfill a really, really bad need we have in this city with the working poor and people that are underserved who can’t afford medical care at other places,” said Raytown Mayor Mike McDonough. “It’s been phenomenal to see what you guys have been able to do here and we’re looking forward to you guys helping all of our citizens here in Raytown, those that haven’t been able to get service and now can get dental and eye and medical service. I thank you very much for you efforts and doing this in our town.” The expansion nearly doubled the amount of rooms the clinic had
available to care for patients and added an ophthalmology room, which could come into service as soon as February 2016, said Janet Lowe, Mission of Hope executive director. “I would say the biggest word is ‘relief,’” Lowe said of the completed improvements. “I’m not having to think about the next big expense … I would say that it’s a relief in that my efforts are not so much concentrated on who’s coming in, who’s going to build it out, who’s going to pay for that. That’s kind of done. Now, I can put my efforts back on how I’m going to fund patient care.” Mission of Hope previously occupied a small portion of the clinic and purchased the rest of the building in 2010. In total, the acquisition of the additional space and renovation cost approximately $340,000. The expansion was funded through donations and fundraisers. Lowe specifically cited Gene and Dot Land, the larg-
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Photo by Kris Collins Janet Lowe, Mission of Hope executive director, prepares to cut the red ribbon Tuesday evening among friends and family for the unveiling of the clinic’s 3,800-square-foot expansion. Raytown Mayor Mike McDonough, center, holds the ribbon while Jeff Hirst, Raytown Area Chamber of Commerce Board Secretary/Treasurer, looks on.
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