Debbie Wilkerson, President and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, discusses who they are and why you might want to know more about them. In 1978, their founders passed a hat and collected $200 to help anyone willing to listen be more effective with the money they give to charities. Today they are managing over $5 billion. Their mission is "To improve the quality of life in Greater Kansas City by increasing charitable giving, educating and connecting donors to community needs they care about, and leading on critical community issues."1 

Last year, Wilkerson was named to Forbes "50 over 50", which is "a collection of women who reject the conventional wisdom that their best years are behind them." She holds bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Kansas. In the mid 1990s, she was doing estate and tax law. When Ewing Kauffman died in 1993, his estate included the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Debbie got the task of ensuring that the team would be sold to an owner who would commit to keeping the Royals in Kansas City with proceeds benefiting Kansas City charities. She worked with the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation to accomplish that. They were so impressed with her work, they hired her in 1998 and promoted her to President and CEO in 2012. 

The Community Foundation holds more than 7,000 individual funds established by individuals, families and businesses to support the charitable causes that are important to them. Over 5,800 of those are "donor advised", which make up more than two-thirds of the Community Foundation’s assets. They also help people create and manage scholarship funds, designated funds, agency funds, etc. 

They've given away more than $7 billion in grants since 1978. In 2022 alone, the Community Foundation and its donors gave away over $800 million in grants to thousands of nonprofits nationwide.1  

FOOLKILLER EVENTS



Also, two Foolkiller events are scheduled for July 13 and 20, two Saturdays, 4 and 11 days from this broadcast.



July 13, 1-10 PM, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut, KCMO, will feature a full day of music, theater, storytelling, and progressive political discussion. 1-5 PM will feature an open mike. 5 PM a Mediterranean buffet. 7-10 concert. The open mike is free. $20 for the buffet and $25 for the concert, plus a 10-16% service fee. More information from Brown Paper Tickets.

July 20, 1:30 pm at Kansas City Oasis, 1717 W 41st, KCMO, the 35th Anniversary of FOOLKILLER FOLK RADIO will be celebrated with an audience singalong of songs of celebration, inspiration and agitation. Net proceeds will support the Missouri Peace Foundation, a 501(c)(3) associated with Peaceworks Kansas City. This is part of the Kansas City Fringe festival. Tickets are available on the Fringe website. (NOTE: You may need to purchase a Foolkiller Button for $5 in addition to a ticket for the Singalong. This was communicated verbally by someone who thinks they know. It was NOT documented in the web page for ticket sales when checked.)



Since 1970, Foolkiller, later known as Cross Currents,  has been a major force for creative community, cultural activity in the Kansas City area. Over the years hundreds of people have participated in plays, discussion groups, songwriting circles, kkfi radio programs and other cultural activities designed to create a better world by encouraging folks to become involved in creating their own culture rather than being a cultural consumer. These activities have been directed towards a variety of community activities, including agitating for social justice issues and supporting the Mid Coast Radio Project during its 11 year struggle to create a new community radio station, which became KKFI.

Kansas City Foolkillers were planning a 50th anniversary for 2020. It did not happen then due to circumstances beyond their control,