In its third year as an organization at school, the Women’s Empowerment Club continued to make a change for people in the Kansas City community.
This 2025 Thanksgiving season, the WEC organized a food drive to collect food for a local shelter. Members brought in many food items and made more than 30 bags of meals for families.
“It went really well; we had each table divide up,” WEC historian Anna Gordon said. “Someone would write a card, someone would decorate the bags, and someone would fill the bags. And everyone really loved working together. It was nice to see a big part of Staley come to help the greater community.”
Throughout the preparation process, the event progressed according to plan. After each meeting and event, WEC’s mission was reflected in its activities and interactions within the community it serves.
“We want to make the young women at Staley feel that they are important, strong members of the community that are able to give back to their community, both at Staley and in the areas surrounding Kansas City,” sponsor Carrie Bowman said.
The members’ role extended beyond attending meetings; they worked behind the scenes to plan and execute events that carried WEC’s mission into the community.
“Even our members are very active and coming up with ideas and ways that could impact the community,” Bowman said. “The Thanksgiving meal bags that we put together for Big Brothers Big sisters was an idea brought from a member, not someone on the leadership panel. So, I think it’s a really cool thing that we are able to bring ideas in, not just from leadership but from our members as well.”
For this winter season, the WEC has an upcoming warm winter drive collection.
We’re going to be collecting all sorts of just things to keep people whom for the people that can’t afford it,” Gordon said. “We always have good turnout. We’ve been doing this all the years WEC has been a thing.”
The WEC will be collecting and distributing gently-used coats and winter accessories like hats, gloves and scarfs for people in need.
