KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luke Clarkson didn’t know what to expect.
He and a group of friends felt compelled to do something as they saw COVID-19 creep into the Kansas City area. When metro municipalities enacted a stay-at-home order, he and friends like Maggie Black teamed up to collect masks, disinfectant wipes and whatever they had to donate to medical clinics struggling to keep the shelves stocked.
“We thought, ‘Okay, it’s 25 masks, they’re not going to care. It’s a tiny donation.’ But they were so thankful,” Clarkson said.
After the first delivery, the group of friends named its makeshift organization WeCanKC.
“It was like we’re going to do 100% or nothing,” Black said. “We built a website, built a database, built a distribution structure in under a week.”
The website allows nursing homes, clinics or medical offices to request items. There’s also a way for individuals or businesses to donate items. As soon as donations come in to fill a request, members of the group make a delivery.
Clarkson said each recipient is truly thankful. The group posts photos from nearly every donation on Facebook.
“We wanted to be able to help our Kansas City heart and soul, that is where our heart is at,” Jeff Huff said.
He and his wife own Restoration Emporium. When they came across WeCanKC on social media, the Huffs sprung into action. First, they donated items. Then, they donated space in their workshop for WeCanKC to sort and distribute its donations.
“I was in the military, we always had each other’s six. Kansas City always has each other’s back,” Huff said. “If something happens, there is someone there to help and it’s usually a lot of people. I could not be more proud to be a Kansas Citian right now.”
The group is collecting items you'd expect, such as hand sanitizer, soap and toilet paper, but also puzzles, word games and other items to turn into care packages for the elderly.
Clarkson and Black make sure to point out they are not a registered nonprofit and they cannot guarantee they’ll get enough donations to fill all the requests. But they wanted to get something up and running as soon as they could.
For more information on the group, click here.
