The “Kind KC” public service campaign waged by Kansas City Mayor Sly James and KSHB-TV is a clarion call to the citizens of our communities to unite in a movement around kindness and helping others. The campaign’s pledge to “say no” implores us not to fall deaf to the familiar drum beat of violence that continues to plague our city day after day.
Statistics tells us that violent crime in Kansas City has remained well above the national average for a number of years, with a homicide rate that increased from 76 deaths in 2014 to 108 in 2015, and now tops 120 for 2016.
For 100 years, our University has remained a proud anchor in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast Neighborhood — an area that knows well the ravages of violent crime, and that continues in the fight to reverse the grim trend in our city’s statistics. Through extensive volunteerism, clinical outreach and continued investment in the revitalization of Kansas City’s Northeast, KCU is committed to helping make our neighborhood a safer, healthier environment for all.
As a leading voice of Kansas City’s medical community, we believe we have a role in encouraging dialogue on the public health issue of violence and in disavowing the bullying and discrimination that damage the physical and mental well-being of those all around us. And we seek to ensure that tomorrow’s physicians and other healthcare providers will be called upon far less often to treat victims who suffer at the hands of violent crime.
On behalf of KCU, I’m proud to stand with the Mayor, KSHB-TV and all of the local organizations that participated in this important campaign, raising awareness of the violence that tears at the fabric of our city and encouraging us all to speak up loudly and “say no.”
