FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nicole Stevens, 816.836.8189
Truman Heartland Community Foundation Presents
Toast to Our Towns: Giving is Living
Introducing Dave Jeter and Jim Kidwell this year’s Heartland Humanitarians
HEARTLAND NEWS (April 27, 2009)- Preparations are under way for the Truman Heartland Community Foundation Gala event, to be held Saturday, September 26, 2009 at six o’clock in the evening in the Muehlebach Tower of the Kansas City Marriot. In preparation of the occasion, THCF is pleased to announce both Dave Jeter and Jim Kidwell as the recipients of the 2009 Heartland Humanitarian Award. Both share a unique experience, in that they are recipients of organ transplants. In addition, and perhaps most noteworthy, both recipients have come to learn and model for their communities that giving is living.
David Jeter has always been an exemplary philanthropist. Apart from his membership and leadership at Second Presbyterian Church and his support of many local non-profit agencies including Rainbow Center, Hope House, Community Services League, Blue Springs School of Economics, and the Community’s Foundation, Dave has also used his professional career to encourage and promote giving throughout our region. Recently retired from his practice as an estate planning attorney, Dave encouraged his clients to create lasting and meaningful legacies in the communities they care about by including charitable giving and/or charitable involvement in their lives and estate plans.
Following his heart transplant four years ago, Dave endeavored to honor his organ donor and express his thanks for the “gift of life” which his new heart represents by underwriting a Celebration of Life service which was attended by over 300 people. Since that time, he has served on the Board of Gift of Life, a Kansas City based not-for-profit, which “builds awareness of the critical need for organ and tissue donation and provides assistance to transplant patients, their families and living donors” and has been the moving force behind the creation of the Life Mentor/Life Champion program which offers support and encouragement to transplant recipients. Keith Anderson, Executive Director of Gift of Life, shares, “Nothing has been more important to Dave than to build a community in which he could raise a family, give back with boundless energy and celebrate each day in a community he helped develop.”
With a robust style that complements Dave Jeter, Jim Kidwell is also a well-known philanthropist who hardly needs an introduction. After receiving a liver transplant nearly six years ago, Jim knows he has been given a second chance at life and he chooses to lend a hand in small ways as well as the big ways. By making the most of his life, he is an encouragement to others to make the most of theirs. “I know that I have been given a second chance at life for some reason and I hope you are able to make the most of it as I am”, Jim shares with transplant recipients from Gift of Life. And Jim has made a difference. In addition to
outright and in-kind gifts through Jim Kidwell Construction, which received the 2002 Corporate Citizen Award, Jim has also given personally his time, talent and treasure to various organizations such as Gift of Life, Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Angel Flights, Circle of Hope Society, and Boys and Girls Club. Jim explains, "it’s fun to help people out. And you've got to give back. If more people did it, it would be a lot better world." Keith Anderson affirms, “Some of us work in small ways and others in big ways. Jim Kidwell does both. He rises to the occasion whenever asked.”
Truman Heartland Community Foundation is a public charity committed to improving area communities by promoting private giving for the public good. After 27 years of service, THCF continues to serve the region with assets reaching $23 million and annual grants surpassing $6.7 million. THCF provides a wide range of services to more than 1,000 donors who plan to leave lasting and meaningful legacies in the communities they care about. To learn more about the Community Foundation and charitable giving, visit us online at www.thcf.org or call the office at 816.836.8189.
Table sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available by calling the Community Foundation or visiting us on the website.
###