Paying it forward: Center School District celebrates LINC's teamwork with Fox 4 surprise

LINC Caring Communities Coordinator Richard Williams shares a hug with Center School District’s Michelle Kruse for Fox 4’s Pay It Forward television feature.

Fox 4 Pay It Forward: Volunteers are the LINC to mobile food pantry

The Center School District’s Michelle Kruse and FOX 4 News reporter Kathy Quinn surprised LINC’s Caring Communities team at a recent monthly food distribution, celebrating the ongoing act of kindness with a $400 gift from the TV station’s Pay It Forward campaign.

“Without fail,” Kruse told Quinn, the LINC team comes out “month after month . . . rain, shine, freezing cold, snow . . . heat.”

Center started the food distributions during Covid, teaming up with the Center Education Foundation, Harvesters and LINC. Since then, according to Center, nearly 2,000 families (more than 7,300 individuals) have been served each year, totaling some 120,000 pounds of food.

Richard Williams, the LINC Caring Communities Coordinator at Center Elementary School, accepted the gift from Kruse on behalf of the whole LINC team.

“This is for the whole community,” Williams said. “People come from all over — from as far as Harrisonville — to get served and we’re more than happy to do it.”

Pay It Forward is a weekly feature hosted by Fox 4’s Quinn that gathers viewer nominations to celebrate uplifting stories of acts of service.

Fox 4 News reporter Kathy Quinn laughs with LINC’s Richard Williams during the Pay It Forward feature.