Poverty. Crime. Anger. Despair. Confusion.

They’re everywhere. The pain is deep and far and wide these days in Kansas and beyond. When I am near downtown Topeka, I shop at a store where there are people who exhibit great needs. I often see homeless people with stolen grocery carts, using them as places to keep their belongings.

A local nonprofit called Let’s Help is opening a location nearby, and I can just see ahead to the people who will seek assistance there. I truly care, however, and my compassion gives me strength in a time when despair and lack threaten to overtake us all.

Last month, I was given a tour of the Lois Curtis campus on Indiana Street in southeast Topeka. They have renovated an old grade school to provide services to people in need, especially those who have a disability. They have a food bank section, a room with durable medical equipment along with other resource rooms. The people who work there are lovely.

That’s just how it is for folks. Poverty affects too many people, but it especially affects those who have an extra struggle, such as a physical or mental disability. It also affects people of color and those who struggle with addictions.

There are people who say that Jesus is the answer for the poverty issue — that churches are the answer, not the government. While my faith is vital to my life and very, very important, I think Jesus would ask us all to lend a helping hand. That includes local nonprofits, homeless shelters, and federal, state and local government.

It definitely takes all of us — everyone — working together to help eradicate poverty.

One of the issues I think a lot about is food insecurity. When we see someone in front of us in the grocery store checkout using a food benefit card, I would say that’s the time to offer a smile and a kind word, or even a prayer. We don’t know that person’s story.

I just completed another gift card drive for the housing specialist at a local mental health nonprofit, and my friends gave $300 in gift cards for vulnerable clients. The housing specialist emailed me and shared her joy that she and also the case managers experience when they drive their clients to the store to use the gift cards to purchase food and other necessities. This made me happy.

My grandpa was a minister for 60 years. I often wonder: What would grandpa do? My grandpa gave to people in need. He and my grandma lived in a huge home in Americus, Georgia, yet they weren’t snobs or prideful. They always helped people.

I want to make a difference like my grandparents did. I have volunteered at Doorstep, a Topeka nonprofit that gives food, clothes and rent and utility assistance. I have also helped provide food for a friend in need. I drop off sandwiches for lunch at her doorstep.

We can all work together to face the poverty we see. We can work together to address the needs creatively and bravely. We will need the courage of people like Barry Feaker, who has been helping folks experiencing homelessness for years. He and LaManda Broyles and their team at the Topeka Rescue Mission truly provide hope and health.

Sgt. Matt Rose at the Topeka Police Department and the officers there truly care about homelessness. Rose has been given a huge job to help deal with complex needs in individuals and he and the officers on his team really reach out to help people in crisis. I have the honor of speaking each year to law enforcement in the Crisis Intervention Team training. It’s very important.

Yes, it’s time to gather our courage and our strength and to work together to address these huge issues in our communities and our state. There isn’t just one easy answer, and we need to congratulate ourselves when we find even part of an answer and when we help even just one individual in need.

Let’s run into the future with hope and heart and embrace the needs with strength.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vice President Kamala Harris says she now has the necessary support from Democratic delegates to receive the nomination as the party’s presidential candidate.

Voters in the Kansas City area are excited to support Harris in the presidential election.

KSHB 41’s Charlie Keegan spoke to people voting in primary elections in Kansas and Missouri Tuesday.

The presidential race is not on the current ballot, but voters can’t help looking ahead to November.

“Last night, I threw out my Biden-Harris sign that I had been holding on to — my yard sign — thinking I would use it. So now, I’m waiting to get my new sign,” said Beth Jordan, a Harris supporter.

Voters like her are all-in on Harris because they want someone who will keep Democratic policies in place on issues like immigration, housing, taxation, and social programs.

“Since I’m social security age, I’d like her to keep social security going,” Debby Williamson said.

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Voters also feel a renewed energy with Harris becoming the front runner to replace Joe Biden who ended his reelection bid Sunday.

“I’m excited,” Peter Schloss said. “In fact, we were just discussing how much and when we should make donations.”

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Democrats said Harris’ campaign set fundraising records over the past two days.

“Now the tables are turned. Instead of Biden being the old, feeble man, somebody else is, right? That totally changes the perspective on it,” Sidney McCray said.

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Supporters also think Harris’ experience in government — particularly as vice president — will benefit her candidacy.

“As the vice president, she’s had a front row seat to every major decision over the past 3.5 years. So I think she has the great opportunity to continue the legacy,” said Jermaine Reed, a former council member in Kansas City.

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Voters who spoke with KSHB 41 News also felt emboldened by the opportunity to elect the first female president.

Republicans are jumping out to criticize how Harris handled policies along the US-Mexico border after President Biden assigned her to oversee the situation.

They also call her “unproven.”

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As the Kansas City Chiefs get set to try to win their third Super Bowl in a row this year, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is paying attention to the baseball field while at training camp.

Mahomes, who is a former baseball player and is a part-owner of the Kansas City Royals, posted on “X” about the recent, historic stretch from Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.

Mahomes also re-posted a video that the Royals put out calling Witt Jr. the “hottest bat in the universe.”

The Royals certainly aren’t wrong, as Witt Jr. has 12 hits in the four games since the All-Star break. He also came just a single shy of the cycle in Monday’s win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Mahomes has deep ties to baseball, having purchased a partial ownership stake in the Royals in 2020. His father, Pat Mahomes, also pitched in more than 300 MLB games, getting to the NLCS with the New York Mets in 1999.

Patrick was also a baseball prospect and was drafted in the 2014 draft by the Detroit Tigers but elected to go to college and play football at Texas Tech.

An MLB.com article on Mahomes’s baseball skillset discussed more of his baseball-playing background.

As a high schooler, he possessed a low-90s fastball as well as a curve that scouts said generated some swings and misses. He also had a changeup, though rarely threw it.

He did play in three games as a freshman on the Texas Tech baseball team.

Seems like he made the right choice sticking with football though.

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