When two lifelong friends in their mid-20s began searching for volunteer opportunities in Kansas City eight years ago the search resulted in a service organization they founded called Uncover KC.
Brent Lager and Brent Lobdell had both volunteered for large non-profits over the years but they decided to focus their time on smaller ones where they could see more of a direct impact on people’s lives.
Lager, a former sports reporter at the Citizen, had loved covering sports and writing stories but after five years found himself searching for something more meaningful, and that’s when he and Lobdell began exploring ways to make a difference in their community.
Uncover KC is a grassroots organization that establishes creative connections with people and organizations to facilitate volunteerism, education and events with the goal of using authentic connectivity to produce social good and collective impact in the community.
“Our three imperatives are to drive people to action, to create community partnerships and to work in robust, relationship-focused methods,” Lager said. “By executing those objectives, we’re able to achieve our mission of creating positive social impact in Kansas City through community engagement.”
Uncover KC works with a wide assortment of partners from every sector of the community — corporate, education, civic and nonprofits including the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Liberty Hospital Foundation and Northland CAPS.
The nonprofit has an eight-member board of directors, 10 committee members, nine advisory council members and two full-time employees. Depending on the season, the group will fluctuate from 30-40 volunteers to make the organization operational.
Uncover KC seeks community partnerships through volunteer outings, drives, marathons and festivals. They explore different options for the creation of these partnerships.
“We like to support innovation, creativity and forward thinking when it comes to civic engagement, so we often try to connect the civic, education, corporate and nonprofit sectors to accelerate the power of service,” Lager said.
The non-profit has been focusing on helping people navigate the COVID pandemic. With long-standing relationships and solid infrastructure within the area’s nonprofit ecosystem, Lager said they pivoted entirely into increasing connectivity for the general public when COVID hit. They worked to inform and connect the people in need to the available resources out there. They were able to provide accurate and direct access to nonprofit services for anyone in need — or those people who wanted to help others during the shutdown. It resulted in a robust resource network that now houses more than 240 services.
The group has worked with many organizations in the Platte City area including, Synergy Services, Hillcrest Hope, Feed Northland Kids, Mimi’s Pantry, Cornerstones of Care, Newhouse, After The Harvest, Platte County Parks Department, City of Parkville, local schools and the KCI Rotary Club.
Funding comes from donors through the Monthly Giving Cub, foundation grants and program revenue, which includes payment for education programming in schools, corporate programming with local businesses and community organizing efforts. The Monthly Giving Club provides consistent funding of $10 to $20 that helps the group get through the lean months. “It also doesn’t break the bank for our supporters,” Lager said.
The group has supported the local Black Lives Matter protests, as well as several racial justice efforts with area organizations like Showing Up for Racial Justice, Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity and One Struggle KC among others.
“We do this as a nation, city and community, we can no longer be complicit to the systematic oppression that exists in our world,” Lager said. “Being not racist is not enough. We must be anti-racist and act accordingly. It’s extremely important that we unite and stand up for racial justice together.”
Lager said Uncover KC’s mailing campaign has become a simple, impactful way for people to keep up the urgency in the community’s fight for racial justice. They have pre-designed and stamped postcards that simply need a signature and a line for why the author supports specific changes to the Kansas City Police Department. These changes include banning the use of chokeholds and strangleholds, or reallocating police funding to community-focused social services.
The group’s current campaign is aimed at adding 10 new members to the Monthly Giving Club. “We currently sit at 51, which brings in $815 per month,” Lager said. “We would love to get that to $1,000 per month by the end of June, and so 10 new people giving $20 per month would make that possible.
Benefits that come with being a part of the club include free tickets to upcoming events, free chances to win sponsored raffle prizes and a free T-shirt for anyone who donates more than $25 or more monthly.
For Lager, the most important part of being the founder of the group is simply to help people who are going through hard times with a hands-on approach.
“I’m a Christian and being able to share Christ’s love with whoever needs it — no matter their race, sexual orientation, economic status, faith or background — is most rewarding,” Lager said. “Just giving and living in unconditional love is the best part.”
For more information email info@uncoverkc.org