Kansas City is not just a location, it is a state of mind.

Friends of many faiths from across the city gathered downtown at the Church of Scientology Kansas City last week for a special celebration of World Interfaith Harmony Week, set aside by the UN each year to promote harmony between all people regardless of faith. The event included a screening of the new documentary Operation: Do Something About It, which features a segment on the Kansas City Church at a time when cooperation and help were vital to the people of the city.

Within months of the November 2019 grand opening of the new Church of Scientology of Kansas City, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the city. And it hit hard.

As in so many other communities, stay-at-home orders shut down entire industries. Some 68,000 Kansas Citians had to file for unemployment. So many were left with no way to feed their families: The need for food assistance increased by 40 percent. 

The Church immediately rallied its Volunteer Ministers, who partnered with local community groups, churches and nonprofits to help on food drives across the city.

They started at the Justice and Dignity Center, located in one of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods. The number of people lining up for their weekly food distribution had multiplied by five times and they needed help. Scientology Volunteer Ministers organized the lines and helped expedite food delivery, enabling the center to provide food for nearly 500 families in just over an hour. But this wasn’t just a one-time activity. The Volunteer Ministers returned again and again for 36 weekly food drives, bringing help to 21,000 families.

This pattern was the same at the East 18th Street food drive, set up right in the parking lot of the Church Scientology to provide food from the city’s largest food bank, where the Volunteer Ministers and their partners distributed 30,000 pounds of goods.

Volunteer Ministers also partnered with other local churches for months on end and supplied more than 87,000 families with nearly 150,000 boxes equating to some 3 million pounds of food.

“They’re very generous,” says the Justice and Dignity Center President. “And there is one thing about the Church of Scientology. If they say they’re going to be there, they are going to be there. They do what needs to be done. There’s no complaining. We can depend on them.”

The founder of a gang intervention nonprofit speaks of the energy and commitment of these volunteers as being an inspiration to others. And the president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce describes the Church of Scientology as an “anchor for downtown Kansas City where much help was needed.” 

Scientology Churches around the world screened the new documentary Operation: Do Something About It at celebrations of World Interfaith Harmony Week. The film presents a living example of the motto of the Scientology Volunteer Minister, that no matter the circumstances, “Something can be done about it.” 

In the mid-1970s, noting the steep decline in values and the simultaneous increase in crime, corruption, drug abuse, and other pressing social problems, Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard developed the Volunteer Ministers program to instill purpose, truth, and spiritual values in society. Find out more about the Volunteer Ministers and the other humanitarian and social betterment programs supported by the Church of Scientology. Take a tour of the Public Information Center of any Ideal Scientology Church, open daily throughout the year. Find your nearest Scientology Church through the Scientology global locator.

Watch Operation: Do Something About It, available in 17 languages on the Scientology Network, airing on DIRECTV Channel 320, DIRECTV STREAM, AT&T U-verse and streaming at Scientology.tv, on mobile apps and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.

The Church of Scientology Kansas City is an Ideal Scientology Organization dedicated November 2, 2019, by Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige. The Church continues to work extensively with other religions, nonprofits and officials on programs to uplift and benefit the community.