Greetings from the Board of Directors of Missouri KIDS!  As we embark on this new year, we are excited to let you know that we will be publishing a quarterly newsletter to keep you apprised of the progress of our recipient families, our organization and associated events.

As you know, 2020 and 2021 created havoc on not just our organization but all charities, businesses, and families. Unfortunately, as we look forward into 2022, it appears that Covid variants aren’t going away anytime soon! Nonetheless, there is a lot of work to be done and the struggles of our families do not diminish during this time at all.

So, we plan to continue meeting all of the needs of our families during 2022 but also to conduct safe events that we can all gather and celebrate the organization and try to provide some normalcy to the Missouri KIDS community.

In that regard, let us tell you about the exciting events we have planned for 2022 so that you can “save the date” and hopefully attend.

Another exciting development is that the Board of Directors approved a new position in order to expand the awareness and scope of services throughout the state of Missouri. The creation of the Regional Ambassador position was established in 2021 in order to connect with individuals and businesses both inside the greater St. Louis area and all throughout the state of Missouri. Our very first Regional Ambassador is an amazing individual with an incredible story himself.

Patrick Rummerfield agreed to serve as our first Regional Ambassador. For those of you who don’t know Patrick, you definitely need to meet him. As a very young man, he was involved in a tragic car accident which took away his ability to walk or physically function in any way. A fully diagnosed Quadriplegic. His injuries included fractures of all of his ribs, four sections of his cervical spine, collar bone, and massive head injuries, among other major issues. After extensive surgeries, rehabilitations and pure determination, Patrick has become fully functional, often described as “the world’s first fully recovered quadriplegic”. Over time, he began to compete in marathons, triathlons (including the Ironman!), electric vehicle competitions, dragster racing, and many other amazing achievements. He is a motivational speaker, author, and all-around amazing person that we are so excited to have him as part of our organization! For more information about Patrick’s story, you can find him on Wikipedia or even better, get his authored book “Green Bananas” which tells the entire story of his life.

If you know of any individuals who live in the Kansas City, Jefferson City, Columbia, Springfield or Cape Girardeau areas who would have a passion for our organization, please reach out to them and let them know of this new opportunity to serve Missouri KIDS.

Finally, although misfortune struck two really wonderful families this past year, Missouri KIDS now has the opportunity to help them as they transition into the next stage of adapting to severe permanent injuries of their family member. Joshua was injured in a motorcycle accident resulting in severe injuries. Our first action is to help the family transition him into his home and provide a van that can support his height and needs.

Our second new recipient, Kristian, was injured in a car accident, resulting in paralysis and brain trauma. Again, the family is in need of a van to accommodate his height and needs, as well as his parents and four siblings!

Both of these families are amazing and face these challenges with an extremely positive attitude. We are happy to help out in any way we can during these initial stages of uncertainty and frustration.

Be safe and healthy during 2022. Look for our next quarterly newsletter where will begin to feature our recipients and their stories in more details. If you wish to be featured in our newsletter, please reach out to Donna. Best regards!