Alex, age 10, and Josh, age 6 seen below in "homemade" Support the Mission shirts.

On Friday, May 15, 2009, Alex, age 10, and his brother Josh, age 6, visited City Union Mission to see first hand the hearts of the homeless and how their donations make a difference.

Since the age of five, Alex has had a special place in his heart for serving others.  Every year Alex picks one or two organizations to raise funds for and volunteers his time.  This year, after doing extensive research on City Union Mission, Alex chose the Mission as the organization he wanted to support this year.  Alex has two bank accounts that he keeps- one for himself and one for charity.  He donates part of his allowance as a way of raising funds.  He received the Volunteer Service Award last year for having 250 hours of volunteer service and also won the President's Award for Volunteer Service.

Josh is also learning the importance of public service and giving to others at an early age.  He has raised funds to donate to charity by baking and selling baked goods at his neighborhood garage sales.  He, too, chose City Union Mission this year as the organization he wanted to support.  He and his brother have learned the importance of public service from their parents, Rebbecca & Lindsay Wood of Lees Summit, who are both in public service as attorneys.

Alex and Josh combined their donation monies and went to the City Union Mission website to find a list of ongoing items needed.  They were, of course, very shrewd shoppers with their money and purchased many of the items needed.

We are deeply grateful to Josh and Alex for having such big hearts at such a young age and for choosing City Union Mission as the organization they wanted to support this year.  We appreciate the efforts and sacrifices you have made but most importantly we honor you for being such good examples and leading the way for others to help the homeless and needy.

Thank you!