Rev. Corey Meyer, Director of Mission Partnerships

For over two decades, Bridging the Gap has been dreaming of programs to encourage Kansas City to think creatively about ways to promote environmental sustainability. During this year’s Easter season, you heard it from our worship leaders, read it in The Christian, and saw the flyers saying our generous church raised over $18,000 for Bridging the Gap and Amaneser 2025 in Puerto Rico.

This past week Lance Jessee, our Grants and Special Offerings Team Chairperson, and I drove down to the West Bottoms of Kansas City to meet with the director of Bridging the Gap, Kristin Riott. You might miss the building if you find yourself driving through the industry of the area. We arrived to discover that we were meeting with Kristin and the entire staff of Bridging the Gap at the tail end of their weekly standing meeting. They were all aware of Country Club Christian Church, as we’ve talked with many of their program leaders in the last few months, and members have had a relationship with them for years. We all introduced ourselves, who we were, what we do, and I shared our commitment to collecting special offerings during Christmas and Easter to be awarded to some of the best organizations locally and internationally. You could see the appreciation on their faces, and the feeling of gratitude in the air, that of all places in Kansas City, a church is supporting their efforts.

Kristin opened the award letter that was prepared and began to read aloud. Half way through the first sentence she paused abruptly. She leaned over and asked, “Is this right?” I smiled and nodded. Kristin finished reading, “enclosed is a check for $9,181.” Kristin shared this was the largest single donation that Bridging the Gap had received in its two decades of work. She said this was no small gesture for their organization, that the money we raised during a season of resurrection is a gift of the opportunity to dream about new life for Bridging the Gap.

Lance and I spent time talking with Kristin in her office. She shared that they are in the middle of a transition. They want to expand their programs to match the increasing necessity of our community addressing environmental issues. Kristin shared that with our money, they now had the opportunity to do some exploratory programs, find innovative solutions, and allow their staff to think creatively about the environment in a way they never could before. Our donation would be seed money for future programs. We rarely know the impact our generosity has on the community. With Bridging the Gap, we know our generosity will impact Kansas City for generations, through the hands of a small crew of people dedicated to improving our community.