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Today, on Giving Tuesday, Nurture KC is asking for the community’s help to rally around our Giving Tuesday 2020 effort and, in turn, the vulnerable families we support through our Healthy Start program. These families have been hit disproportionally hard by COVID-19, as many lost their jobs in the hospitality industry as waiters, cooks, hotel maintenance workers and more.

“Every dollar we raise today stays in KC to help our local families. Every single donation matters and directly helps our moms and babies, who are struggling right now,” says Tracy Russell, Executive Director of Nurture KC. “We have been supporting our families with services throughout the pandemic, such as providing some food and diapers, but it’s just not enough.”

Anyone can give at www.nurturekc.org/givingtuesday2020 and donations are tax-deductible.

Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: A day that encourages people to do good. Over the past eight years, this idea has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

With several school districts heading back to in-person learning this week, the time is right to remind the public to get their flu shots. Nurture KC is offering 10 free drive-through flu clinics throughout Kansas City in partnership with Walgreen’s, which has provided the vaccines. The next clinic is Wednesday, Oct. 7, at St. James United Methodist in Kansas City, Mo. See the entire clinic schedule here.

“Each October the Mid America Immunization Coalition (MAIC), which is an entity of Nurture KC, coordinates free flu clinics for underserved populations within the KC metro,” says Tracy Russell, Executive Director of Nurture KC. “This effort has never been more important than this flu season with COVID-19 cases on the rise across Kansas City. It’s a scary scenario. We want to help people prepare and want everyone to have the chance to be vaccinated if they choose. Quite simply, vaccines save lives.”

Nurture KC shows how immunizations save lives through a new immunization story bank on its web site featuring these local stories:

Andy Marso – “I almost died from Meningitis”
Jenny Dioszeghy – “My infant got Measles”
Curtisha Anderson – “Lupus weakens my immune system and puts me at risk”

“The bacterial infection had released toxins which were burning through my blood vessels. Blood could not get to my extremities. Three weeks later, when I woke up (from a coma), my limbs were in bad shape – essentially rotting away while still being attached to my body,” says Marso. “I’ll never forget when my bandages were removed and I saw what was left of my hands and feet for the first time. Awful doesn’t begin to describe it … Nothing could prepare me for the experience.”

Nurture KC promotes family health through community planning, education, advocacy and collaboration with organizations addressing infant and maternal mortality, immunization and child safety. Nurture KC is committed to health equity for all families – regardless of race, place or circumstance.

                (Click on schedule to enlarge.)

Two of Nurture KC’s trusted partners – Children’s Mercy and Truman Medical Centers – are hosting a virtual conference on the emotional well-being of mothers during pregnancy and in the first years after childbirth. This event will take place Oct. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is for pediatricians, social workers, psychologists, OB/Gyns, nurse practitioners, child-care providers and anyone working with parents and young children.

Registration is free and can be completed at: http://bit.ly/PerinatalConf2020.

Learn more about this event.

Infant mortality rates have declined, but racial disparities still exist. Tracy Russell, of Nurture KC, and Dr. Traci Johnson, of Truman Medical Centers, share how to bridge that gap in this in-depth story by KCTV-5. Data from the National Academy of Sciences and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show Black babies are 2 to 3 times more likely to survive when cared for by Black doctors. It’s not necessarily intentional racism at work; rather cultural and racial similarities can help doctors recognize subtle cues that can lead to lives saved.

Russell says expanding Medicaid in Missouri also will allow better access to healthcare. “States that have expanded Medicaid have a 50% greater reduction in infant mortality than in states that fail to act,” she said.