A Platte County establishment owner used her voice and her birthday to help raise funds and donations for local charities.
Dawn Huff is part owner of Arthur’s Lounge on NW Prairie View Road south of Barry Road. Huff celebrated her 50th birthday on Saturday, Oct. 10, with a party in the parking lot out in front of the bar. Huff told the Platte County Citizen her husband and daughter were asking her what she wanted to do for her birthday.
“I said ‘I don’t want to do anything,’” Huff said. “I have everything I need. But so many of my neighbors don’t.
“If I want to do something for my birthday I want to do something kind and remind people there’s more to this world and our community than what you see on the news,” Huff added. “We can make it better. We have that choice.”
Huff set up three tents in the parking lot for three charities she supports on a regular basis. Jill’s Hope is an organization that helps cancer patients and their families. The organization was started by her late friend Jill Heckman who lost her battle with breast cancer.
The second organization was the Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter (FOPAS). Huff said FOPAS was started by volunteers and is run by volunteers.
“These are our neighbors volunteering their time for our animals in Platte County,” Huff said.
The third organization was Synergy Services of Parkville.
“Synergy Services is so huge in our community for what they do,” Huff said. “The scope of what Synergy Services does is remarkable.”
Huff set up the event on Facebook and depended on word of mouth to get people out. Huff put a wish list of items each organization needed so that those who wanted to donate could just pick up the items and drop them off.
Suzy Mahurin of Kansas City North heard about the event from one of her class instructors and decided to bring her daughter, Angela Wilkins, with her to donate to FOPAS.
Corky McCaffrey is the community engagement coordinator for Synergy Services. McCaffrey told the Platte County Citizen she wasn’t surprised to get a phone call from Huff to have Synergy Services come to her party. McCaffrey said Huff often uses her business to raise money for Synergy Services.
“Dawn is a great community supporter and we so love what she does for us,” McCaffrey said. “She is constantly doing some kind of donation drive for us and she is tremendously helpful. I’m not sure what we did to deserve her but I’m glad we have her.”
Huff said she gets excited to see the expressions on someone’s face when they receive a gift they love but she also loves the feeling it gives her. She wanted to not only get that feeling but also share it with others.
“There are simple joys in our life that we forget about when we get frustrated,” Huff said. “It’s not about what you’re getting. It’s the excitement you get from giving. That’s what I want. I want people to feel that. I want to see that look over and over again on my birthday.”
Huff said with COVID-19 and all of the things in the news it can be easy to fall into a trap. She wants to help people escape that trap at least for one afternoon.
“I just want our community to find joy again in a world full of hate,” Huff said. “Even for a couple of hours to remember we have the choice to find the joy in giving. It’s not hard to be kind.”