Spencer Arrowood volunteers on behalf of Forest Avenue Family Shelter. This year, you can help the cause! Simply participate in the Christmas Toy Drive:
Christmas Toy Drive
The Forest Avenue Family Shelter plans a toy drive every year to benefit the community. The greatest wish is to collect 3,000 gifts for women and children in Kansas City. New toys for children 0-15 years old requested. Please do not wrap gifts. You may drop off toys on Oct 4-6 from noon-3pm at Providence Community Church (10113 Lenexa Dr., Lenexa, KS). 913.307.0710
Some people live with a posture that leans toward generosity, benevolence and sacrificial love. They find a need and fill it. So it is with these Kansas City teens who dedicate their time and talents to caring for the forgotten in shelters, bringing fun and freedom to children bound by disabilities and capturing candid moments that inspire.
Spencer Arrowood, 17, Olathe
“True service should be motivated out of a love for the humanity one serves.”
Spencer, when he’s not composing on piano or violin in pursuit of a career in musical composition, helps coordinate volunteers and a book donation drive for Forest Avenue Family Shelter (FAFS), which houses homeless women and women with children. Initially, it was the Boy Scouts of America organization that made service an integral part of Spencer’s life, but volunteering at the shelter was driven by a ministry effort through Spencer’s church.
“Forest Avenue Family Shelter is not a large organization, and it has many needs,” Spencer explains. “Part of the reason that helping there is enjoyable is the simple fact that it is small and very personal and works to improve the lives of those who seek its help.”
Spencer has seen the fruit of this shelter’s care impact many women and their families. He describes one woman who, befriended at the shelter by his mother, went from being homeless and without work to living in her own home, happily married, in the span of two years. His mother is still friends with her.
“There is no doubt in my mind that, from the time my mother talked with her at dinner in the shelter, to the time I played the Bridal March at her wedding, a transformational work had been done,” he says. “It is my belief that there are many more such stories of which I have no knowledge.”
Indeed, this transformational work has impacted Spencer himself: “I have grown immensely from seeing the plight of impoverished women staying at FAFS. In large part, their attitude is surprisingly good. Every time that I work at FAFS, I receive something of a much deeper nature than I could ever give them.”
Zach Stevenson, 19, Weatherby Lake
“Getting involved with things will open more doors than you can possibly imagine.”
Zach Stevenson isn’t new to volunteering. He’s been in the Snow Creek Ski Patrol for four years and has earned many honors, including Outstanding Patroller, Student Patroller of the Year and a nomination for Patroller of the Year for the entire United States. His passion, though, is sailing.
“I have been sailing for about 10 years. I love it because you’re hard pressed to find a sport that relies so much on fine-tuning and self-reliance—making the slightest adjustments can kill a race. Nothing can compare with a nice day of 15 mph winds on a boat when you can just sail,” says Zach. “It’s something that’s hard to describe to people until they experience it for themselves.”
And helping people, specifically kids with disabilities, experience the joy and freedom of sailing has become Zach’s mission. With the aid of fellow Weatherby residents Bill McGovern, Tom Sanders and Greg Carlile, Zach has developed an adaptive sailing program for children with disabilities.
“I suppose I was inspired by all the people at Weatherby Lake to help the kids. Weatherby is a fairly small lake and an even smaller community. We’re all very close and we try to do as much as we can to help our neighbors.”
Not only has Zach grown by helping others, he describes his sailing as being infused with “a new joy.” In the near future, Zach plans to study mechanical engineering at the University of Missouri while still enjoying his favorite hobbies: ski patrolling and sailing.
Emily (16) and Alex (18) Goldman, Leawood
“Our best advice is to incorporate your passion when helping your community.”
When Emily and Alex signed up for a photography class at summer camp, the sisters never envisioned where the click of a shutter button would take them. But as they paired their bubbling creative juices with their entrepreneurial spirits, the result was Photos4Good, a free professional photography service that has captured events for more than 20 non-profit organizations, including Operation Breakthrough, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired and Catholic Charities of Kansas City.
“We have gotten to work with charities around the Kansas City area that we never would have known about otherwise. Our estimates count that we have worked at events with attendees totaling more than 20,000 people. To be able to say that we have helped that many people is absolutely amazing, and we are amazed at what Photos4Good has grown into.”
And it’s still growing. In the future, the sisters would like to expand Photos4Good into several other states and possibly internationally. “It’s an easy platform that could be successfully exported,” says Emily.
Her advice for other teenagers with a heart to serve others: “Incorporate your passion when helping your community. We loved community service and photography and made Photos4Good out of our hobbies. If you love to cook, bake cookies for the elderly and then take them; if you love to play soccer, offer your skills to inner-city schools that may love to have your assistance. There are so many ways to get involved, so think about what you love and how you can help.”
When she’s not writing, Wendy Connelly, Overland Park, enjoys coordinating Princess Power Training, a church program equipping young girls with confidence.