What began as a simple idea grew to involve the whole community and raise over $10,000 for Johnson County’s only homeless shelter.
Peace is the cornerstone of Rotary’s mission to address the underlying causes of conflict including: Poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education and economic opportunity to name a few. Rotarians refuse to accept conflict as a way of life, without peace we cannot progress as a society.
The 39 peace poles created by community members and shared with the community of the whole at Sar Ko Par Trails Park all summer worked their magic of bringing awareness and messages of peace to Lenexa. Additionally, on International Peace Day September 21, the city made an International Day of Peace in Lenexa Proclamation honoring the Peace Pole Project.
We thank the project Sponsors – Rotary Club of Western Johnson County, Lenexa Rotary Foundation, Kiewit and Commerce Bank, and the Auction Sponsors - Park University, The Flower Market, Jack Stack Lenexa, Gill Studios, GBA Builders, and Kiewit. These sponsorships allowed us to make good on the project team’s unanimous decision to have all auction proceeds support Project 1020 – Johnson County’s only cold-weather homeless shelter which gives care and hope to those in need.
The auction evening was cool and blustery, but inside City Hall artists, sponsors, project team members, Rotarians, neighbors and guest throughout the community enjoyed drinks and heavy appetizers while generously bidding until 7:30pm when the silent auction closed. Then the top 10 poles in bid dollars advanced to a live auction hosted by Lenexa Council member, Bill Nicks. There, guest enthusiastically bid up charitable proceeds to drive the total donation over $10,000 for Project 1020.
