The Pulse

The Need for Speed

Heart to Heart adopted the "Tools for School" initiative in 2006. In the first two years under our wings, roughly 8,000 disadvantaged children per year received a new backpack filled with essential, age-appropriate school supplies.

Then, in 2008, we were able to reach out to 12,000 kids in the Kansas City area and beyond.

During each of those three years, volunteers gathered in one of the underground warehouses operated by Meritex Logistics off 95th Street & Renner in Lenexa, KS. Over the span of two weeks, hundreds of volunteers would filter in and out of the warehouse location to help us fill the backpacks. If you were there to see it, you'd say it was pretty amazing -- even inspirational -- to see people of all ages coming to give kids a boost before the start of the upcoming school year.

This year, we moved the initiative to our Global Distribution Center in Kansas City. We also simplified the process. A lot. Instead of learning a whole system for filling the backpacks, we introduced pre-packaged school supplies, which were quickly inserted into new backpacks and packed in boxes.

The result: Nearly 10,000 backpacks were filled in less than five days! (For the non-math students in the audience, that's basically half the time it used to take to fill the backpacks.)

Thanks to all those who volunteered for this effort (even those who signed up for the second week)! You changed the course a student's life!

Stay tuned for video footage from the effort.

The Good Doctor: What's in a Name?

We are excited to introduce a new column penned by our President and Founder, Dr. Gary Morsch. The column will appear periodically on the HHI Blog and share thoughts from "The Good Doctor." This edition reflects on the name of Heart to Heart and what it's worth to us...

We recently received a copy of the first report on the power of brands in the nonprofit sector. Somehow the producer of the report (Cone Inc.) sifted through the balance sheets from thousands of nonprofits, analyzed the strength of each brand, and came up with a list of the top 100 nonprofit brands in America. Considering that there are something like 2 million charities in the United States, anyone would be excited to be in the top 1,000--let alone the top 100--nonprofit brands in America.

Heart to Heart came in at #75!

We're still putting our arms around this new honor. For me, it boils down to our name.

"Heart to Heart" has so much emotional appeal. I mean, when you hear the name, it creates an immediate reaction.

We attribute the naming of our organization to Keith Johnson, a member of the Olathe Rotary Club and one of our staunchest supporters between 1992 and 1997. Keith runs an independent newspaper called Johnson's County Gazette. He has a flair with words, and he was instrumental in helping us communicate with the public in those early years when nearly everything at Heart to Heart was run by volunteers.