Thelma’s Kitchen – the first ‘donate what you can’ café in Kansas City.

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By Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers

Restoration ServicesPart of the KB team went on a field trip this week to visit Father Justin Mathews, Executive Director of Reconciliation Services at 31st and Troost.

Reconciliation Services

Since Kenton Brothers’ move from the Crossroads to the East side of Kansas City, we’ve been seeking an organization to partner with to develop our community relationships. We found Reconciliation Services to be an incredible organization doing powerful work in the heart of Kansas City. We learned about the racial and economic division that Troost Avenue symbolizes in our city’s history.

Restoration ServicesAccording to Fr. Justin, in order to be the city we aspire to be, we have to get Troost right. It’s going to take more than poverty programs to heal this division in Kansas City. Fr. Justin is adamant, “It’s not enough to address the blight of the buildings only. We must also address the blight of the heart. It’s going to take true reconciliation.”

Their website reports that Kansas City is one of the top five most economically and racially segregated cities in America according to a recent study. In Kansas City, 23% of African Americans live below the poverty line compared to only 6% of whites. While these disparities have been persistent, they need not be permanent.

Last year, RS staff and hundreds of volunteers worked together to build relationships and care for 5,150 men, women, and children living in poverty, mostly on the east side of our city. Since the 1980’s Reconciliation Services’ goal has been to transform Troost from a dividing line into a gathering place, a place of healing and comfort. A place where guests, volunteers, and staff can come and find their strength.

Thelma’s Kitchen

Thelma's KitchenWe enjoyed lunch at Thelma’s Kitchen – the first ‘donate what you can’ café in Kansas City. Thelma’s Kitchen was created to meet the need for affordable, high quality, nutritious food access and to bring people together as a community gathering place. Thelma’s Kitchen is an alternative lunch spot for every category of people, working, non-working, students, and families to enjoy a great meal in a caring atmosphere and donate whatever payment your heart directs you.

I’ll be returning to Thelma’s to host some of my business lunches – and in lieu of paying a national chain for a lunch meal, I’ll donate that money to Thelma’s Kitchen, a community organization to help be a part of the change for good in our neighborhood. What a great concept!

There are a variety of ways, we as business leaders can collaborate with Reconciliation Services to affect positive change in Kansas City. In addition, they offer an entire continuum of care including social services, mental health services and economic building services to build social and financial community capital.

I encourage you to check them out, reach out to Fr. Justin and schedule a visit and a meal at Thelma’s Kitchen—it’s good for the soul. #kbway #donatewhatyoucan

Thelma's Kitchen Thelma's Kitchen Thelma's Kitchen Thelma's Kitchen

 

 

Creating Security Peace of Mind for Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center

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By Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers

Samuel U. Rodgers Health CenterIn 1967, Dr. Samuel U. Rodgers opened the first federally-recognized community health center in Missouri — just the fourth such center in the country at that time.

Dr. Rodgers believed families deserve access to everything they need to thrive. That’s why he chose to open his health center at the Wayne Miner Housing Project, so families got the care they needed right in their neighborhood. In 1988, the Wayne Miner Health Center was renamed in honor of its founder and Executive Director: the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center.

Dr. Rodgers dedicated his life to providing quality, compassionate and affordable health care to Kansas City.

Like Dr. Rodgers, Kenton Brothers Systems for Security has a long lived passion… ours is for creating security peace of mind. KB partnered with the Health Center as their security integrator of choice to upgrade and expand their access control and video surveillance systems. KB has been securing people, property and possessions for over a hundred years.

S2 access control and Milestone video management systems were utilized to increase peace of mind through effective administrative control and reporting. Kenton Brothers worked with the IT and Security teams to redesign and improve the capabilities and effectiveness of their systems. The end result was meeting the current needs at their main campus.

Kenton Brother commends the associates at Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center as they build healthier families, enrich neighborhoods and strengthen the community via their five locations in the KC metro, serving more than 25,000 patients.

#KBWay

Hunt Midwest Invests in Community Awareness and Crime Prevention

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By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

As one of the largest area developers and property managers, Hunt Midwest manages commercial, retail, industrial and residential properties all over the Kansas City Area. They are also the owner and developer of SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex.

Hunt Midwest Crime Prevention MeetingHunt Midwest supports their businesses and the whole Kansas City Metro through hosting meetings to allow for collaborative discussion on how crime can be prevented. In July, I attended a very collaborative meeting with business and community members of the Hunt Midwest properties as well as the Kansas City Police Department and the Cass County Sherriff’s office.

The meeting was a great example of community based policing and crime prevention and how business and police departments can work together to not only catch criminals but prevent crime from taking place in the first place. KCPD Shoal Division Community officers Bill Keely and Richard Jones spoke at length about the ways KCPD is partnering with local businesses to help them promote a safe crime free business community. KCPD uses patrolling officers, community interaction and technology to not only catch the criminals but make it uncomfortable for them to commit crimes in KC because of vigilant citizens.

As a part of the KCPD Business watch program and the KC Watch program the city uses camera feeds shared to them by business owners to catch criminals in the act, build forensic evidence and deter crime through vigilant effort.

Once example given was a surveillance camera was set up to catch illegal dumping.

The perpetrator was caught on camera dumping at a commonly used dump site and even before the criminal was done unloading, the police had arrived and detained him. This was a successful operation because a business owner alerted the police of the dumping going on, the police investigated and found an excessive issue then installed Video surveillance to catch the suspects. It was a story of great collaboration.

I want to thank Hunt Midwest for providing this opportunity and hosting this type of meeting, as well as their commitment to safe, secure business environments. Kenton Brothers is proud to be your security partner!

Hunt Midwest Crime Prevention Meeting Hunt Midwest Crime Prevention Meeting

KB Truman – Kenton Brothers is moving to the East side.

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By Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers

After 46 years at the corner of 18th and Baltimore, and two prior locations on Walnut since our founding in 1897, Kenton Brothers Systems for Security is moving to the East side! We’re referring to the new location as KB Truman.

After a five year search for a new location, we finally found a location that meets all of our needs. 3401 East Truman Road in Kansas City, Missouri. Much like our experience of being a part of the transformation of the Crossroads District over a decade ago, we’re now joining in the transformation of the Truman Road corridor.

KB Truman Under ConstructionOur new location sits at the start of the Truman Community improvement district at Truman Road and Indiana streets. KB, along with many other local businesses, is excited about the future and the focus of bringing new companies to the area.

We had several requirements when we were searching for the new location.

First and foremost, it needed to be centrally located in the KC city limits to continue serving our long time contractual clients like the City of KCMO and Jackson County. It needed to have easy highway access for our clients. And we needed our fleet of service trucks to be able to easily get to our location from a major interstate.

We required plenty of room for our existing team and the current needs of our organization, which is much more technology focused. We also need plenty of room for growth and expansion. And one more important addition to the have-to-haves list: PARKING. One of the biggest struggles we’ve experienced at our current location in the Crossroads District is the lack of parking.

An Experienced Team

KB Truman Under ConstructionKB partnered with long-time HEMP friend Jay Tomlinson of Helix Architects to design our new headquarters and create an environment to showcase the security industry’s state of the art technology. We selected Courtney Kounkel’s Monarch Build commercial general contractor to handle the renovation and birth of the new space. The team at Country Club Bank provided their expertise and the financing to make the transition to the new building easier.

We can’t wait to share more about KB Truman in the next couple of months. Things are coming together quickly and we can’t wait to move into our new space at 3401 East Truman Road.

KC Pet Project: Adopt A Pet This Holiday Season!

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By Kristen Harper, Controller and HR Manager at Kenton Brothers, talking about a community project that Kenton Brothers is involved in… adopting pets for the holidays!

Kansas City Pet ProjectThis holiday season, Kenton Brothers will be partnering with KC Pet Project to bring some much need support to homeless pets. This is a “no kill” shelter that provides medicine, veterinary care, vaccines, food and other resources to save animals that would otherwise have no hope.

Kenton Brothers is a pet friendly work place. We’ve seen the benefits time and time again of having a furry friend around to lift the spirits of our team. We believe it’s important to give back to those in need. And it doesn’t have to be just humans! What a great way to support our four legged friends by helping KC Pet Project.

Here are a few of the benefits of having a pet:

  1. Fewer Allergies: Research states that a child can be 33% less likely to developing allergies if they have a pet in the home and tend to develop stronger immune systems.
  2. Good for your heart: Statistics show decreased blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels for pet owners.
  3. Personal Trainers: Pets need a good walk every day. It’s a good reason for us to get up and move!
  4. Combat the Blues: Pets provide companionship, unconditional love and bring joy and happiness in any environment.

We encourage you to check out the KC Pet Project Wish List this holiday season. It’s a great opportunity to make a donation. Even better, maybe you have room in your family to bring one of these dear animals home!

Kenton Brothers: Adopt a Pet This Holiday! Kenton Brothers: Adopt a Pet This Holiday!