KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When winter weather hits the region, Kansas City always shows up for those who need help.
Several organizations are preparing to be out and about Wednesday and Thursday lending a helping hand.
A Facebook group called Inclement Weather Transportation KCK/KCMO connects volunteers with four-wheel-drive vehicles to first responders and health care workers who need rides to their shifts.
Volunteer Adriane Handy said the group is strictly a volunteer-only, community group.
"There's no affiliations with anybody, it's just good people who want to help out other good people and share the love in the community," Handy said.
Many of the volunteers, such as Handy, are outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy winter storms because it means they get to drive their vehicles.
"A lot of us in the jeep community, you know we kind of like going out," Handy said.
Over the years, Handy has been a part of several similar organizations that drive first responders and health care workers to work in winter conditions.
"The love I have for this city and our first responders, there just really aren't words for it, and I think many of the volunteers share that sentiment, I think the connection we have in this city is just beautiful," Handy said.
The good continues across the metro in Olathe, Kansas.
Volunteers are stepping up once again this year to help out the community's most vulnerable.
Through the City's Snow Brigade program, volunteers will shovel driveways for residents with disabilities and elderly residents who can't do it themselves.
"It shows how much people still care about their community and how much people care about their neighbors," Cody Kennedy, chief communications officer for the city of Olathe, said.
Even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there hasn't been a decrease in volunteers for the program.
"I'm wondering if people just enjoy getting out of the house and getting some physical activity and that kind of thing, but we are very thankful and very pleased that our residents have answered the call year after year," Kennedy said.
Anyone interested in signing up for the program as a resident who needs help or a volunteer can contact the city of Olathe.
