Taking the Team to the Ball Game

How a Walk for Unity Scavenger Hunt Led to The K

 

“Don’t give up. Just keep stepping out of your comfort zone.” That’s the advice Emily would offer to anyone wanting to make a positive difference in the landscape of racial unity in Kansas City. 

 

She, like so many, understands firsthand how easy it is to let the busyness of life or the discomfort of reaching out to a stranger sidetrack the best laid plans to bring positive change and racial unity to Kansas City. 

 

After this summer’s Walk for Unity, Emily and her winning scavenger hunt team used their prize tickets to enjoy a Royals game at The K. Though it was one of the faster games of the season, the process of getting to the game was not.

 

Emily, who took on the responsibility of organizing her team to redeem their six tickets and parking pass, explained it took perseverance to coordinate everyone’s schedules and get the team back together… and courage to pursue spending an afternoon with new friends.

 

It took a few weeks simply to select the Sunday afternoon game on Sept. 11 before moving on to coordinating the logistics of getting to the stadium. 

 

“I put the certificate for the tickets right in my car cupholder so that I would see it all the time. I knew if I put them somewhere where I couldn’t see them, I would just forget about them,” Emily explained. 

 

“And because I decided to be the one responsible for the tickets, I was like, ‘I gotta make sure this happens!’”

 

Even with all the effort it took to get there, Emily said she would do it all again. Reconnecting with her scavenger hunt team and their families, watching the kids on the team get back together after the Walk for Unity and seeing them each go home with a game ball and big smiles made it all worth it. 

 

Unite KC provides annual events Kansas City is coming to know and love, like the Walk for Unity, as well as various quarterly events and other opportunities through partner organizations, making it easier for people to connect in between the larger-scale events. 

 

Get connected by checking out Unite KC’s upcoming events and ways to volunteer to do One Good Thing.

 

As Emily’s story reminds us, let’s be intentional to persevere in getting to know our neighbors across the KC metro – one walk, one text, one ball game at a time.