DISABLED BUT NOT REALLY (DBNR)

Our mission is to empower and inspire individuals with disabilities to overcome challenges and reach their potential by fostering a mindset of courage, confidence, and competence. 

DBNR Vision

Our vision is to empower individuals with disabilities through programs focused on physical activity, nutrition, and mental health. Our organization aims to educate individuals and their communities on ways to help improve the overall quality of life for people living with a disability

Whether you’re looking to support our fundraising events, collaborate with us as we engage with the Kansas City, Missouri community, and surrounding areas, or explore corporate partnership opportunities, Disabled But Not Really would love your help. Your involvement can make a meaningful impact in creating a more inclusive and empowered future. Reach out today to see how you and your company can help uplift everyBODY.

Please join me in supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) by making a donation to my fundraising campaign for Man & Woman of the Year.

I have joined a team that is driven to find cures for blood cancer. Our team is working to raise as much as possible over the next 10 weeks. Every dollar we raise counts as one vote for my team's candidate. The candidate whose team tallies the most votes earns the prestigious title of "Man or Woman of the Year". 

As you know, though, everyone wins when cancer loses. Thanks to your support, my efforts will help fund therapies and treatments that are saving lives. Over the years, support from people like you has been responsible for the blood cancer advancements that have doubled, tripled, and in some cases quadrupled the survival rate for some blood cancers.

Many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients, but are also now used to treat patients with rare forms of stomach and skin cancers and are in clinical trials for patients with lung, brain, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers. And LLS funded drugs like targeted therapies and immunotherapies are now saving thousands of lives every day.

We really are getting close to our goal of a world without blood cancers!

All donations are greatly appreciated and tax deductible. They'll not only support LLS research, but patient services, advocacy, public and professional education, and community services as well.

Please visit my website often and tell friends who would also like to donate!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support! For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org

We exist to help children in Ethiopia overcome generational poverty - a line of family poverty that is often difficult to break because of patterns taught to each generation. 

We do this through partnering with impoverished communities, advocating for the vulnerable, and empowering you to make a difference.

If we collectively share our resources and provide tools to the resilient people we serve, we believe we will start to see a change.

Through the work of local organizations in Ethiopia and with your help, we strive to see children educated, orphans and single mothers empowered, and entire families overcoming poverty.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Kansas City works to clear the path to a child’s biggest possible future by matching them with a caring, adult mentor in a one-to-one friendship. “Bigs” help “Littles” ignite, empower and defend their potential by standing with them. Last year, 100% of the Senior Littles graduated high school, 83% reported improved self esteem and 71% reported improved grades since being matched.

Inspiring play & cultivating connections through puppetry

Internationally recognized puppeteer, Paul Mesner, established Mesner Puppet Theatre (MPT) in 1987 to create Innovative storytelling that captures children’s imagination and inspires communities. In 2006, Mike Horner joined the organization as lead puppeteer and builder developing  a cannon of shows the company still tours today. During this time, the organization received three Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA-USA) Citations of Excellence. The UNIMA-USA award was created by Jim Henson to promote high quality puppetry in the United States and is considered the ‘Academy Award” of puppetry. In their first 30 years the company impacted nearly 2 million young people through glove, rod, hand, marionette, and innovative object based puppetry.

In 2016, the company’s first education director, Alex Espy, an experienced preK educator and theater for young audiences director was hired to build an education department. Just as this new work was beginning, Paul Mesner retired from the organization after a 30 year celebrated career.  For the following three years, the company struggled to understand who it was and what it could become.  In December of 2019, the board restructured the organization and hired Meghann Henry, an experienced arts non profit leader, arts integration specialist, and theater for young audiences director as Executive Artistic Director. Henry was charged to lead the organization into its next evolution through assessing the communities needs, utilizing the talents of Horner and Espy to their highest potential, and creating financial stability.

In March of 2020, the arts world was rocked by closures due to Covid-19. The leadership seized this time to research and conduct a community needs assessment of educators, librarians, art centers, and youth social workers in Kansas City to guide the organization’s strategic vision. This work highlighted the need for learning through play and arts integration strategies to support the social-emotional development of 0-8 year olds coupled with a call for innovative ways for the very young and their parents to access professional arts as a form of family engagement.

In response to these findings in 2021 the board revised the  mission statement; “to inspire play and cultivate connections through puppetry” and the staff restructured programs to achieve the company’s vision  "to inspire our community to celebrate the arts as essential for early childhood development while becoming a national leader in the field of puppetry and arts integration for the very young."

Participation in band and orchestra programs builds successful students and strong communities, but every school year, there are children left behind in music education because their families can't afford the expense of an instrument or music camp. 

Band of Angels is a charity that addresses financial barriers students face by providing band and orchestra instruments and music camp scholarships to children in need. Band of Angels fosters the talent and academic participation of children across the Kansas City area by creating equal opportunities for music students.

We accept monetary and instrument donations, as well as run fundraising events such as the Heart Strings Gala charity concert and Art That Blows, a charity art auction.