Missouri Western State University will be presenting awards next month to recognize people in the community who are committed to social justice and multicultural education service.

The Center for Multicultural Education at Missouri Western is accepting nominations for the 2018 Drum Major for Justice Awards.

The awards are presented at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Justice Banquet on January 17, 2018.

Missouri Western Multicultural Education Director Latoya Fitzpatrick said the Drum Major for Justice Awards are given out to citizens who live ordinary lives but do extraordinary acts of service.

“Sometimes the work can get very very weary… so just giving folks that are within the fight and are trying to make things better, just a little encouragement to keep continuing on with the fight in hopes that at the end of it, yes, we all want to see equality, but I just know that a lot of times in this work, people get weary and want to give up,” Fitzpatrick said. “So we’re going to recognize you here and we’re going to give you that extra boost to make sure that you continue to fight and that you know you have the support of your community.”

The award is presented to one student, one member of the St. Joseph community and a Missouri Western employee.

Nominations can be submitted online. The nomination deadline is January 10th.

A holiday arts and crafts event will provide an opportunity to find Christmas gifts and support local families in need.

Executive Director of The Crossing Outreach Ministry Danny Gach says the ministry started about five years ago and they have a campus of building where they care for the homeless in the area.

Gach said they’re helping put on a Christkindl Market this Saturday and next Saturday. This is the first year for the Market, which will be held in the Guenther Building at 8th and Charles Streets.   

“The owners of the building decided to make use of a building they owned for quite awhile,” Gach said. “Their family’s owned the building since, like, 1918, and used to be a number of different things in there, it was the Montgomery Ward Farm Store for a number of years.”

Gach said the market will include a variety of antiques, hand crafted items and more.

“At The Crossing we make rag rugs and purses on 100-year-old rag rug looms… that helps people that come through our building and they get paid a percentage of the profits of the rugs, so that helps us a lot,” Gach said.

There will also be music, Christmas caroling and food vendors at the event.

Gach said funds raised at the ChristKindl Market will support outreach programs for St. Joseph families in need.

“We’re developing an upscale food pantry, it’s actually going to be a nutrition center and it’ll be right here on the campus,” Gach said. “The pantry will actually include dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables and we’re working with Second Harvest and they’ll help us supply the nutrition center. The Missouri Extension will have people on site there that will help people with food budgeting… and also nutrition value of different foods and how to prepare meals.”  

The Christkindl Market will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday the 9th and Saturday the 16th at the Guenther Building at 224 South 8th St. in St. Joseph.

For more information about The Crossing Outreach Ministry, click here.

Renovations to Bartlett Park in St. Joseph will begin with demolition this week.

Julie Noel is the Special Events and Communications Coordinator for the City of St. Joseph Parks Department.

Noel said, weather permitting, demolition of part of the park’s equipment will start on Wednesday.

“Bartlett Park used to be the best park in town… and over the years, the playground has broken, we had a piece that’s broken down or parts have become unavailable and as those parts have become unavailable, we haven’t been able to fix them, so we just removed them to keep the park safe for the kids to play in,” Noel said. “It’s really needing a facelift and it also needs to be updated so that everyone can play on it regardless of ability or age.”

Noel said the renovations are possible because the Parks Department received a Land, Water and Conservation Fund matching grant for $250,000. Noel said the renovation will also include putting in a disc golf course that will start in Bartlett and run south toward South 28th Street. New bathrooms will also be installed in the park.

Noel said the Treehouse at Bartlett Park will not be removed and will remain open, but the playground area will be closed during renovation. Noel said anyone who usually uses the playground equipment at Bartlett Park is encouraged to use the playgrounds at Patee Park, Hochman Park, College Hill Park, John Lucas Recreation Center, Maple Leaf Park, Northside Complex, or South Park Complex during the renovation period.

Noel said the renovation is anticipated to be complete in the spring or summer.

The “Shop with a Cop” program received a donation Monday morning that will enable the program to help at least 100 children in northwest Missouri.

Mike Hardin is the President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3. Hardin said the $15,000 donation from American Family Insurance employees in St. Joseph means they’ll be able to serve many more children this year.

“The huge donation we received was unbelievable,” Hardin said. “The employees have been, for months now, raising money through different bake sales to give us a donation. That donation was much larger than we ever anticipated and with that donation we’re going to be able to go from the, usually about 30 kids a year that we get to take shop with us, to (being) able to help a hundred kids this year in northwest Missouri.”

Hardin said every year they partner with the St. Joseph School District and other school districts in the surrounding area.

“We have them pick out well-deserving children whose Christmas may not be as bright without our help. So those children get to come and shop with a uniformed officer and each and every year it’s very special to us,” Hardin said. “We are able to get to know these kids as we shop with them, we get to talk to them and get to know them personally and they get to know us and see us in a different light than just as police officers. They get to see us as people and come to know that we’re nice people too and we’re here to help them and we want to be their friends.”

Shop with a Cop will take place later this month.

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday, a day focused on charitable giving.

Youth Alliance is one nonprofit organization in the St. Joseph community. Youth Alliance Executive Director Robin Hammond said Giving Tuesday is a national day of giving.

“It’s a great way to remember nonprofits in the community and throughout the nation and to send a gift that kind of shows that you support the work that they do and that you value the work that they do in the community,” Hammond said.

Hammond said on Giving Tuesday, community members can support Youth Alliance programs such as Circle of Parents.

“It’s a group that has been meeting at Youth Alliance for many years and we don’t have any ongoing funding for that and we’re reaching out into the community to ask people to give to us and one avenue is through Giving Tuesday,” Hammond said. “Circle of Parents is really a support group. It’s a way for parents who maybe are isolated to come together and build relationships with other parents. It gives them an opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other. We usually have an educational component at each of the meetings. They are parent led and parent planned.”

Hammond said Youth Alliance also focuses on youth volunteerism through programs such as Youth Volunteer Corps which works with youth 11-18 engaging them in volunteer service in the community.

For more information on Youth Alliance, or to donate, click here.

In addition to Youth Alliance, here is an online list of some other organizations in the St. Joseph area.

A St. Joseph resident is working to give children around the world the best Christmas.

Hannah Jurgensen’s desire to help children in need around the world began in college and grew when she traveled on two different group mission trips to Africa.

Jurgensen now volunteers as a World Vision Child Ambassador. She first got involved with World Vision by helping develop a team for the Kansas City Marathon in 2016. The team not only ran in the half marathon, but helped raise money to help provide clean water for children in Africa.

Now, as a Child Ambassador, Jurgensen helps match children in Third World countries with sponsors.

“Child sponsorship, what it does, is it helps to provide education, food, clean water, necessary items for life that we don’t understand here in America for children in Third World countries,” Jurgensen said.

With a sponsor’s $39 a month donation, World Vision can provide clean water and more.

“They really work together to improve the living situation for the community through child sponsorships,” Jurgensen said. “Eventually the village or the community will graduate from the program, so World Vision works to help them be self-sustaining.”

Jurgensen said she has a special goal this holiday season, through a project called The Best Christmas Gift.

“My goal is to match 10 children with sponsors,” Jurgensen said. “So what that means for me is… I want to be able to give these children the best Christmas that they can have and for them it’s child sponsorship. It’s the availability of clean water, it’s the opportunity to go to school.”

Jurgensen said she encourages sponsoring a child for Christmas to get into the mindset of giving.

“It’s a great family thing, to be able to (say) for this Christmas we’re going to sponsor this child and to be able to teach your kids what it means to give and teach them there are kids on the other side of the world, it’s not just here… children all over the world don’t get Christmas gifts every year,” Jurgensen said. “Not only is it just a good way to explain that to your children and instill that in them, but they get to have a relationship with them as well. They’ll write them letters… they’ll receive letters from these children and it just creates a bond between these children and the children on the other side of the world.”

For more information on World Vision and child sponsorship, click here.

(UPDATE 10:30 a.m. Friday) Law enforcement has identified and located a suspect after one man was found dead and another injured after a shooting Thursday night.

According to Sgt. Brad Kerns with the St. Joseph Police Department, officers were dispatched to the 2300 block of South 18th Street at 11:40 p.m. Thursday on several reports of shots fired. When they arrived on scene, they found the body of a 24-year-old male.

Capt. Jeff Wilson with the police department said there was also a 22-year-old man who had sustained an apparent gunshot wound. He was transported to the hospital with a life threatening injury.

According to Capt. Wilson, the incident is being investigated as a homicide and investigators have determined it was not a random act.

Wilson adds a suspect has been identified and located by law enforcement.

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The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating after a man was found dead after a shooting Thursday night.

According to Sgt. Brad Kerns with the police department, officers were dispatched to the 2300 block of South 18th Street at 11:40 p.m. Thursday on several reports of shots fired. When they arrived on scene, they found the body of a 24-year-old male.

No one is in custody at this time. The incident is still under investigation.

As everyone begins to decorate their Christmas trees, a local library will put up their Mitten Tree at the beginning of December.

Instead of ornaments, the Mitten Tree is decorated with hats, scarves, mittens and other warm winter items for anyone who may need them.  

Washington Park Library Manager Karen Schultz said the Mitten Tree was started several years ago when staff noticed a lot of children outside playing and sledding and didn’t have any gloves or hats or scarves.

“Staff at the library brought some things into the library to give out to the neighborhood kids and it just kind of took off from there,” Schultz said. “We put up a Christmas tree at the beginning of December every year and our patrons donate, staff donate from all the St. Joseph Public Libraries, the kids sometimes make things or we have volunteers who knit or crochet hats and scarves and gloves and just bring them into the library. We put them on the tree and anyone who comes in the library who has a need just takes what they need.”

Schultz said they give away about 100 items or more every winter. Winter items can be brought to any of the St. Joseph Library branches and they will make sure it gets put on the Mitten Tree at Washington Park Library.

Schultz said the tree usually stays up through February.

“As long as it’s cold outside and people have a need for warm items, we keep that tree up,” Schultz said.

For more information, contact the Washington Park Library at (816) 232-2052 or visit them at 1821 North 3rd Street in St. Joseph.