SevenDaysis on a mission to silence hate and spread kindness across the Kansas City area.
“To show that people do care about kindness, and they do care about having conversations that heal wounds rather than cause division,” said Lama Matthew, spiritual director at Rime Buddhist Center.
Eight years ago, tragedy struck SevenDays President Mindy Corporon’s loved ones. On Sunday, family, friends and community members showed up to honor those lost at the SevenDays Kindness Walk.
“SevenDays was created because my dad William Corporon and my son Reat Underwood and Terri LaManno, they were murdered in April 2014. It’s been eight years, and eight years of SevenDays,” she said.
Matthew says the walk was a visual sign of solidarity.
“The walk is really us as a community, standing up for those families who have been victims of gun violence and hate, that we are here for them and we want to support them,” he said.
With the help of the community, SevenDays is working to turn the deaths of William Corporon, Underwood and LaManno into a legacy of kindness, starting with youth.
“Who do we need to talk to? We need to be talking to our youth. We need to be talking to our teenagers about the importance of kindness,” Mindy Corporon said.
As more people participate, SevenDays can create a greater ripple.
“It’s just so important for people to be together and to celebrate and to be happy to just be in a community again,” said Janey Wetzel, member of the SevenDays Kindness Youth Leadership Team.
