Kansas City parent Tiffany Relves was in a state of mind of feeling “like there is no hope” when she got word of one of the Church of the Resurrection’s food drives with LINC.

“We have been going through some very hard times this past year,” she said after picking up food and resources in the distribution at Rockhurst University Dec. 19. “This means everything to my family. This has truly been a blessing to me and my children’s life.”

LINC began planning the special food distributions with Church of the Resurrection after the Overland Park-based congregation looked for help to share food and resources with families in several Kansas City Public Schools that the church helps support. Morning Star Baptist Church and KCPS also joined in the partnership.

Church of the Resurrection has reached out to partner with many schools, including Troost, J.A. Rogers, Wheatley and Phillips elementary schools. Diane Roth, who has tutored children at J.A. Rogers Elementary, was one of the organizers of the food distributions.

“We’re excited to give back to the Rogers community and the other KCPS schools we partner with,” she said.

LINC, with its long-standing relationships with the schools’ families, helped reach out to the schools and invite the community to a series of distribution events during the schools’ holiday break. LINC also provided books, resource information and grocery gift cards.

“We have the opportunity with our partners, Church of the Resurrection and Rockhurst University, to meet the needs of families,” said LINC Caring Communities Administrator Sean Akridge. “We want to show families we appreciate them, we’re looking out for them and we want them to have a great holiday.”

Many supporters of the Church of the Resurrection’s outreach helped make the food drive possible, said the church’s Liz Campbell.

“We’ve had a lot of donations for this to happen and we are thankful for that,” she said. “We are also really blessed to have people come through and give them the opportunity to get some extra food in this difficult time.”

Rockhurst provided the space for one of the food drives. Morning Star Baptist Church provided the site for two drives and another was set for KCPS’s East High School.

“Rockhurst is proud to participate,” said Alicia Douglas, the university’s director of community relations and outreach, especially with one of the schools — Troost — as a neighbor. “Rockhurst is here for good, and (is happy for the opportunity) to be in companionship, do the food drive and just spread some cheer.”

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer