Join us November 12 at 4:00pm at the Islamic Center of Johnson County in Overland Park. Click HERE for more information, including the address, about the Center. This beloved annual event is sponsored by the Heartland Chapter – Alliance of Divine Love and the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, in cooperation with the interfaith community.
Heartland Chapter – Alliance of Divine Love announces that the 2017 Vern Barnet Interfaith Service Award, named in recognition of the lasting contribution of Rev. Vern Barnet to our vibrant interfaith community, will be presented to Sheila Sonnenschein, past Chair of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council and a long-time director of the Council, as well as co-chair of the annual Table of Faiths in 2006 and 2007.
Sheila has devoted her life to interfaith action and understanding and is active in several educational, Jewish and interfaith organizations. Besides GKCIC, she is also a board member of KC for Refugees and the Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance. She started the Table to Table program for Yachad, the Kosher food pantry, and, with husband Ken, started Mitzvah Gardens in St. Louis and Greater Kansas City. She is deeply involved in interfaith activity, helping to form the Kansas City Women’s Interfaith Circle; is a former member of the Festival of Faiths committee; chaired Peace by Piece featuring Noa Baum in September 2005 and started the Facebook online initiative Mothers on the Side of Peace. She is a firm supporter and member of The Sisterhood of Salaam/Shalom; she is a member of the national advisory board and travels around the world with that organization.
Sheila was the first non-Muslim board member of the Crescent Peace Society, a former board member of the National Council of Jewish Women and a former board member of the Kansas City Press Club. Her articles have been published in The Catholic Reporter, Outlook Magazine, The New Light, Being Jewish, Suburban Journal of St. Louis, The Kansas City Star, and, the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.
The 2017 Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Dinner will be hosted at the new Islamic Center of Johnson County, located at 9005 West 151st Street, Overland Park, KS 66221. The Islamic Center of Johnson County serves the spiritual, religious and communal needs of Muslims in the cities of Overland Park, Leawood and Olathe through this new, permanent center and also serves the larger Kansas City Metro community through outreach, charity work and civic engagement.
Heartland ADL is also pleased to announce that the 2017 dinner marks the beginning of a partnership with Episcopal Community Services, 501c3 nonprofit, as caterer for the dinner. Episcopal Community Services has been serving the Greater Kansas City area since 1989 and operates the Kansas City Community Kitchen, a novel approach which blends various food-related programs, including training for culinary careers, food pantries, and community garden projects. ECS is nationally known for restaurant-style food service, which provides dignity, as well as food. In recognition of this new partnership, Episcopal Community Services has been selected as the recipient of donations from this year’s dinner.