Brown Delivers . . .
When United Parcel Service Chief Operating Officer Glenn Rice was confronted by the request to give up 10,000 square feet of land on his building site, it may have been one of the strangest he'd encountered in several years of philanthropic efforts by the company--but one that made great sense.
The footage was needed for a project conceived by Anita Dixon, owner of The Mid America Multicultural Travel & Tourism Network (MMTTN). Several years ago she had a vision of The Lady of Freedom Monument Project™, a project born to commemorate the contributions of women who sacrificed their lives, homes and reputations to make freedom a reality for the formerly enslaved. The 55 foot tall bronze statue has been designed by Eddie Dixon (no relation), the artist who created the Buffalo Soldier monument in Leavenworth, and recognizes the Underground Railroad and the Suffragette and Civil Rights movements.
All that was needed (besides about ten million dollars to fully create and transport the monument from Denver to Kansas City, and another seven to landscape and maintain it, set up an education center and create and provide programming for women) was the right location. UPS sits on it, on James Street in Kansas City, Kansas, right beneath the Lewis and Clark Bridge and nearly on the state line. Both KCMO and KCKS mayors have endorsed the project, as well as many other local women political leaders who attended a support luncheon at the Central Exchange in November. At that time, UPS's help was announced to much applause.
Rice understands the value of this project. "A simple fact of business today is that more and more customers want to do business with companies that understand them . . . companies that communicate with them . . . companies that have a workforce that represents them. Today, that power is evident in the fact that women at UPS now comprise 22 percent of our managers and minorities make up nearly one-third of our workforce, or well over 100,000 employees. And what that ultimately adds up to is that women win . . . diversity wins . . . and business wins."
This is the latest of UPS contributions. Its charitable arm, the UPS Foundation, has always supported organizations devoted to community causes. Its main focus has been family and workplace literacy, food distribution and volunteer management.
This year they've begun supporting the Women's Employment Network (WEN) with a 3-year grant totaling $600,000 for workplace readiness skills for poorly educated and illiterate women. In 2002, The UPS Foundation granted Kansas City's Promise with the first installment of a 3-year, $270,000 grant to help build a successful and viable Volunteer Impact Initiative aimed at children and youth.
Through the UPS Region District Grant Program, UPS was able to award Community LINC, a residential program to provide homeless families with shelter, programs and follow-up services, a $100,000 grant used to purchase two additional apartment buildings to increase their client capacity.
UPS has always been a staunch supporter of the United Way and was awarded their highest honor, the Spirit of America award. UPS employees also provide countless volunteer hours in the metropolitan area. Several organizations have received Community Investment Grants which are awarded based on UPS volunteer hours. Those organizations include the Kansas City Urban League, Second Mile Ministries, Ozanam Home, Junior Achievement, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Gordon Parks School.
The Kansas City Urban League recognized UPS Chief Operating Officer Glenn Rice with the Corporate Difference Maker Award. Every Wednesday finds Rice and a host of UPS volunteers sitting with children, kindergarten through third grade, reading and working on school assignments at the Gordon Parks School.
Whether it's land, money, or volunteer efforts, UPS is definitely going the distance to help our community!