The Kirk facility is located within the Center School District. We support the teachers and staff at Center Elementary School in a number of ways, including:

• Providing dinner during parent-teacher conferences

• Gift cards to help staff with expenses that often come from their own funds

• Notes of encouragement to students during academic testing

• Work with the school social worker to help families in particular need

The Kirk facility is located within the Center School District. The Center Friends program provides positive relationships between caring adults and students and staff from the Center School District. These relationships help students form friendships leading to greater success and connects volunteers to the school experience.

Through the Presbyterian Peace & Global Witness Offering (a PCUSA special offering), The Kirk presents four Peacemaking Awards to students from Center Middle School each year. By focusing on our oneness in Christ with all, we work to make the world a more peaceful and accepting place. Students are chosen by their teachers who see their actions each day. Students are selected based on a number of criteria including the use of nonviolent language, exhibiting reconciling behavior, and having high personal standards, among others. The award consists of a medal and a monetary scholarship that are presented during a school assembly. These awards have been given out for over 25 years and have been a foundation of our interactions with the district.

Cherith Brook is a residential Christian community in Kansas City, Missouri committed to sharing table fellowship with strangers and resources with one another. The Kirk contributes financially to the organization, sponsors clothing drives and volunteers on work days and helps in serving dinner.

(CAC) is a social service agency in south Kansas City. From hunger to homelessness, CAC works every day to help our neighbors move from crisis to a stable life, promoting healthier individuals, families, and community. The Kirk provides monetary support to CAC, helping our neighbors in need of food, clothing, utility or medical assistance.

This group’s mission is to strengthen the church of Jesus Christ, with the help of God’s grace. We are called to achieve this goal by working for the unity of the church, furthering the inclusion of LGBTQ persons, seeking understanding and reconciliation, and joining with others seeking a still more just and inclusive church.

Grace United Community Ministries is a United Way affiliate agency that works hand-in-hand with families and individuals to address their basic physical, educational and spiritual needs. This empowers them to break the cycle of poverty and live a purposeful life. As well as financial contributions, The Kirk collects food on an ongoing basis and delivers it monthly to the Grace Food Pantry. In December each year clothing, gifts and food are collected for our “Mitten Tree” which is displayed outside the sanctuary during Advent. The items collected are donated to the Grace United Holiday Shop.

The Kirk volunteers at the Harvesters Community Food Network on the second Thursday of every month from 6 – 8 PM. Carpools leave The Kirk at 5:30 PM. Everyone eight years and older is welcome to participate!

We have worked with Jewish Vocational Services to help settle refugees in Kansas City. In the spring, we furnished a home for a recent refugee from Afghanistan. We have conducted clothing drives for men, women, and children.

The Kirk’s denominational home is the Presbyterian Church (USA). Churches from all over the country work together to make an impact beyond our immediate neighborhoods through efforts such as Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the emergency and refugee program of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It enables congregations and mission partners to witness to the healing love of Christ through caring for communities adversely affected by crises and catastrophic events around the world.

As part of the Presbyterian Church (USA), we participate in the collection of four Special Offerings each year as a collective witness to Jesus Christ’s love for the whole church.

One Great Hour of Sharing enables the church to share God’s love with our neighbors-in-need around the world by providing relief to those affected by natural disasters, provide food to the hungry, and helping to empower the poor and oppressed.

The Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering is retained by individual congregations to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Peace and Global Witness Offering promotes the Peace of Christ by addressing systems of injustice, advancing peacemaking initiatives, and sharing God’s love around the world.

The Christmas Joy Offering provides emergency financial assistance to current and former church workers in the Presbyterian Church and their families. It also funds programs to develop leaders at Presbyterian-related racial ethnic colleges and schools.