The Power of Two | by chris becicka

photography by v. craig sands

Many people, including those at Ingram’s, have pointed out that Kansas City is a giving community. We point to our charitable contributions with civic pride; we say we are blessed to live in a place where so many people care. Statistically, we have more people giving more hours and dollars proportionately than most other cities in the country.

None of this, however, is to say that we have eliminated poverty, defeated homelessness, or conquered any number of diseases brought on by ignorance or deplorable living conditions. But what we do have is many, many people who are just trying to help.

That many of these people are related by marriage is probably no surprise. Certainly a commitment beyond oneself is strongest if shared. There are thousands of these couples in Kansas City, of all ages, of all incomes, of all backgrounds. Some grew up poor or sick themselves; some saw examples around them of people who cared; some have just somehow decided to commit some part of their lives to others however they can. All have decided to live their commitment together.

The married couples following are cited not because they are the most deserving of recognition in Kansas City, not because their commitments are the greatest, but because, whatever their causes and enthusiasms, they do serve as examples of the kind of people we’d all like to be. They are, every one, making a difference. Striving to improve others’ lives, they all understand they are not alone in their efforts. If you’ve not already and many of you have you might think about joining them.  Their stories should help you understand the power of two.

Shirley and Fred Pryor

When Shirley and Fred Pryor gather for a planning session with daughters Sherilyn Coulter and Becky Pryor Phillips, the table is smothered with documents. They are allocating time, energy, and money to causes all of them agree upon.

“If you stop to think you didn’t get where you are by yourself, you feel compelled to help others. Just as we have learned from others, now we want to help others learn and grow,” affirms Fred.

That belief has propelled their interest in education. Fred created the Pryor Leadership Fellows program at William Jewell College, where both graduated and where Fred is on the Board of Trustees. Students apply for this comprehensive program which includes mentoring, internships, team building through Outward Bound, as well as the Lasting Legacy program which helps instill community values.

The couple bought the Attucks school building and gave it to the Jazz Museum for parking and retail space. Plans are now underway for the best use of the school. Shirley, on the board of MOCSA, an organization created to counter sexual assault, is also active in putting on the Northland’s Harvest Ball which adds money to that community’s coffers and works with the Assistance League of Greater Kansas City.

Fred spends every Tuesday asking other people for money to help improve his fraternity as recognition that time spent there had an impact on him. This year, as part of a larger commitment, he’s also found 40 people to “join” the Tocqueville Society donors to the United Way of $10,000 per year. He believes that people can give the gift of their name as well as their money for their name may inspire others to donate, too.

But financial gifts, no matter how large, are not what matter according to the couple. “You can feel success, you can feel satisfaction, but what you really want is to feel significance. It is making a difference, whether small or large, that is significant.” A new goal is making a difference to the handicapped with their Danielle Fund, established through the Women’s Foundation, to honor their granddaughter’s positive spirit.

“As you draw your last breath,” Fred says, “If you made a good difference in someone’s life is what will have made it all worthwhile.”

Janice and John Kinney

Picture the hottest day in August, 2000. Then imagine one of the largest single garage sales ever tens of tables piled four feet high, boxes of books, shelves stacked high with glass ware and dishes, bikes and trikes, racks of children’s clothes, furniture and toys set all over the lawn on the corner of Meyer Boulevard and Walnut. Now, wonder who could ever have a garage sale this large, every year for the last three years.

You might catch a glimpse of that person, Janice Kinney, the creator and co-chair of Friendship House’s annual garage sale fundraiser. You might also see husband John, a willing volunteer as always, still helping ten hours later as they exhaustedly put the few remains back in the garage. This year it was worth $7,000 not bad, all in all. Neither wants to count up the hours they’ve spent, but both know they, and the many volunteers who’ve collected, sorted, priced, moved, and hawked items it’s more than the money all understand they’re building awareness and future friends for Friendship House, a women’s recovery home.

Janice works hard to balance her life as a self employed executive search consultant, a new-ish wife, an in-town grandmother, and an ardent volunteer. She has served on the EVE Project Board for nearly three years; is an active member of the Central Exchange, chairing its Community Service Group for the last two years; and is a committee member of its KC Promise to Youth Partnership with the Youth Volunteer Corps of America.

Janice and John volunteer continually for shorter term projects with Operation Breakthrough, Rose Brooks, and others. John, an attorney with The Terracon Companies, recently won the “Golden Door Knob Award” for volunteer of the year for The First Step Fund, an organization which assists low income individuals start or grow entrepreneurial businesses. He is now board president for EVE (Elders Volunteering for Elders), and one can find him out painting and fixing up homes as well as figuring out ways to gain the organization the financial support it needs. “So many people need help,” he says. “The little we do is never enough. But you have to start somewhere. You have to do something.”

Liz and Denny Barnett

While corporations and organizations sometimes see community involvement as a marketing issue and suggest that their employees “get involved,” few see such dedicated volunteers as Liz and Denny Barnett.

Liz, a vice president for Citibank, and Denny, Director of the Volunteer Connection which administers Kansas City’s Promise, moved here from South Dakota three years ago and figuratively threw themselves into Kansas City’s philanthropic efforts. Both concur that “giving back” is just the way they want to live. “Despite all the cliches and all the often cited reasons for helping others, which are all true, for us it simply feels like the right thing to do. It’s the way we want to live,” says Liz.

She credits her husband with making her more aware since his life has always been about the community. Liz is now serving as the co-chair for her bank’s annual United Way campaign, a campaign which already is the most successful in its history. Liz credits her “incredibly dedicated group of volunteers” who raised awareness and the organization’s belief that United Way is an efficient and effective way to channel funds to the community. She also appreciates the fact that Citibank helps through its continual support and its “angel day” a day off without pay to those who give their fair share.

Liz is a new advisory committee member of LISC, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the largest community development organization in the country. It helps grassroots nonprofit organizations, called community development corporations (CDC), and other neighborhood groups rebuild their communities through important services. It has already invested more than $75 million in the Kansas City area.

Denny’s job is also an avocation. He is truly excited about the effect of Kansas City’s Promise, because it will help “connect the dots of all the services out there with all the needs that children have, so they can have more success in life.” He is an active volunteer in their two children’s school and sports, their church, and is on the National Board of Directors for National Volunteer Association. He says, “The best part of my career is the people who you meet, people who have the passion. There are incredible people here who really care.”

Senia and Will Shields

Sister Berta of Operation Breakthrough, a child care center at 31st and Troost, tells a short story that while mostly about Will, reflects the attitude of both, she says. “On Dr. Seuss’s birthday this year, Will was on the floor reading to a couple of kids on one of his many trips here. One of our foster granmas, clearly not a football fan, asked him if he worked for the library. ‘No, ma’am,’ he just said. ‘I work for the stadium.’  That answer just sums them up unassuming . . . kind . . . thoughtful.”

And, they work really hard for what they believe. They, together, do much more than lend Will’s KC Chiefs’ fame to causes that mostly affect women and children, because, “That’s where the difference has to be made.”  Senia, reflecting upon her social welfare native land of Denmark, is startled and horrified by what poverty is in America, and how women and children, especially, can live in shelters at night, be kicked out during the day, having nowhere to go. “How do children survive that?” she asks. “How can we all not help them?”

Whether Senia is going door to door in her neighborhood for Operation Breakthrough collecting $50 emergency donors, working on the board for KC Reads, or food and gift shopping for the Marillac Center, that’s only part of what the two of them do together. She gently points out that helping others has always been a part of Will’s life. While at the University of Nebraska, he began with Big Brothers Big Sisters, with beliefs and commitment that in 1993 resulted in his Will to Succeed Foundation, which seeks to guide, inspire, and improve the lives of abused and neglected women and children. The Foundation currently sponsors almost two dozen programs where Will is a “hands-on” participant in all the activities as he also contributes necessary financial support.

Although Will particularly has been recognized for his charitable activities, such as the Arthur S. Arkush Humanitarian Award by Pro Football Weekly and most recently, the Citizenship Through Sports Award, he reflects that it’s not about awards. He agrees wholeheartedly with Senia’s comment, “It’s just a human obligation. You have to help others.”

Shirley and Barnett Helzberg

“What’s wrong with writing up the Helzbergs is that it’s not just the money. It’s the work, it’s the time, it’s the love in your heart that matters. It’s all that counts. That’s what it’s really about. And anyone can do it.”  Barnett Helzberg means every word he says.

Wife Shirley enthusiastically re-emphasizes his point, “Being able to help change people’s lives is truly exciting . . . to personally make a difference . . . to help make this wonderful community even better brings us joy, too. That may be the selfish part, but the result is a better quality life, in one way or another.”

The Helzbergs may be among the “pillars” of the Kansas City philanthropic community, but what is clear from talking to them is that even with their foundation, their generous gifts to the arts and education, their devotion of their time to their favorite causes, they love what they do. Their concerns, their passions, their thrill in their pursuit of a better world are more than evident.

Their resumes are endless but if you had to pick a focus, it’s education in its broadest and best sense. Shirley believes that the arts help create both a better world and societal change and her active involvement with the symphony, Starlight, and the Nelson highlight that belief. That work also becomes concrete as she helps organizations like Della Lamb and United Way as well.

Barnett’s current loves include the three month old charter school he helped found at 56th and Troost for 210 junior high kids. The goal is a solid education and higher scores and college for children who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance. It’s his reflection of a philosophy that says people will help if you ask them his Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program is the grown-up version. It’s already expanded to St. Louis and his dream is for it “to spread like a fungus,” all over the country, giving greater opportunity to millions of entrepreneurs.

These two people, who regard themselves as a career working couple but whose work is the hard work of doing for others, both agree that what they do, “. . . is fun, exciting, and challenging. We have wonderful lives and want to share.”