The Table of Faiths event is our annual fundraiser to support our programs and partnerships designed to educate and break cultural barriers among all religious traditions. It is only through your donations that we are able to develop and provide resources, networking, and programs to increase appreciation for cultural and religious diversity.
The evening includes time to visit Faith Booths and network– last year we had 26 different faiths and traditions represented and over 350 attendees. It is a time to learn, make new friends and deepen our connections while strengthening the bonds of mutual trust and cooperation within our community. There is a dinner, a short program, and a time to acknowledge a local company and an individual for their interfaith contributions to the community with the Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award and the Table of Faiths Award
Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award – Mindy and Melinda Corporon
Mindy Corporon
Each year we give two awards to acknowledge members of our community working for interfaith cooperation and understanding. An individual is awarded The Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award, named in honor of the late Director of Spirituality in Health of Shawnee Mission Medical Center, who was a major contributor to the interfaith community. This year’s recipients for the Steve Jeffers Award are Mindy and Melinda Corporon.
An entrepreneur and former CEO of a successful wealth management firm, Mindy began her career as an executive assistant. She was a single mother, dealing with divorce and also experienced a life-threatening illness. After reaching the pinnacle of her professional career and in the middle of raising two talented boys, tragedy struck. Mindy’s father and oldest son were murdered by a white-supremacist intent on killing Jews.
There was no way she would ever be the same. The community rallied around her. Numerous religions held support vigils and she was asked to speak at a Mosque by a family holding services for their young son killed in a separate act of religious violence.
She took action. Mindy started the Faith Always Wins Foundation and a community-wide event, SevenDays® Make a Ripple, Change the World. She formed high school programming for productive interfaith dialogue and now helps companies create healthy workplace environments so healing can occur after life’s tragedies.
Melinda A. Corporon
While a resident of Overland Park today, Melinda Gordy Corporon was born and raised in Oklahoma – and continues to be a passionate Sooner to this day! Regardless of where she resides, Melinda is a true people person reflected by her welcoming smile and gentle manner. From her high school days in the small town of Ponca City through her years as a physician’s wife and mother of three, Melinda has always been engaged with others helping them along life’s winding road. Devoted to her husband, Dr. Bill Corporon, Melinda unselfishly left college to put him through medical school. She worked by Bill’s side managing his medical until his retirement in 2003.
During those intervening years, Melinda became mother to Will, Mindy and Tony. Melinda dedicated herself to being involved in her children’s activities as well as her community, regardless of where the family lived. She was a Boy Scout Den Mother, director of a high school leadership program and served on the board of Stephens County (Oklahoma) Red Cross. She created a cheerleading parent organization and served as president of the band parents’ organization. Active in church, Melinda directed the youth and adult choirs while in Oklahoma. She continues her passion for music today as a member of the adult choir at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
In addition to her involvement as a parent, Melinda has been engaged in various leadership programs, as well. She is a graduate of Leadership Duncan (Oklahoma) and was a community leader for Oklahoma Certified Cities. The Duncan Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce honored Melinda as its Woman of the Year. Melinda and Bill shared a common love for community theatre. Together they created two groups in Oklahoma that continue to this day. The twosome would often performer together as well as taking on producing and directing roles. In 2002, Melinda and Bill were recognized for their theatrical efforts with the Oklahoma Governor’s Award for Community Service in the Arts.
Melinda’s life took a dramatic turn in April 2014 when Bill, her beloved husband of 49 years, was gunned down along with their 14-year-old grandson Reat Underwood, by a white supremacist outside of a Jewish facility. Terri LaManno was also shot and killed that day. While her life was tragically altered, Melinda – together with her daughter and Reat’s mother Mindy Corporon – created the Faith Always Wins Foundation and its seminal event, SevenDays®. The annual celebration has been a fitting and rewarding reminder that the lives lost shall be remembered with activities of kindness and interfaith celebration. In addition to her efforts with SevenDays®, Melinda finds great joy sharing in the lives of her 10 grandchildren, enjoying the company of family and friends and playing bridge.
Table of Faiths Award – Jewish Vocational Services
Our second award, The Table of Faiths award, is given to an organization that exhibits interfaith values in the community. This year’s recipient is Jewish Vocational Services, which is committed to engaging, encouraging and empowering people to achieve social, cultural and economic integration.
JVS was established in 1949 to assist Holocaust survivors, refugees and those returning from WWII, enabling them to build better lives in the United States.Today, our programs meet the needs of all who face barriers to employment. Whether it is coaching a client on how to request a disability accommodation from their employer or helping a newly-arrived refugee enroll their children in school, JVS works to empower people to address challenges to their self-sufficiency.
They assist individuals and families in achieving self-reliance by providing support, personal development, employment and training services. JVS promotes independence by encouraging clients to participate in decisions and activities affecting their lives and JVS eases in the transition to the United States for refugees and their families.
JVS believes in adherence to outcomes to meet the needs of individuals to help them achieve self-reliance. We value cultural competence and ethnic diversity and are committed to our mission through our board and volunteers and the development of all of our staff. JVS believes in creating strong collaborations with organizations and funding sources to better serve the needs of Kansas City. And, above all, JVS makes clients, staff and visitors from all walks of life feel welcome.
JVS promotes independence by encouraging clients to participate in decisions and activities affecting their lives and JVS eases in the transition to the United States for refugees and their families. They value cultural competence and ethnic diversity and believe in creating strong collaborations with organizations and funding sources to better serve the needs of Kansas City. And, above all, JVS makes clients, staff and visitors from all walks of life feel welcome.
The Table of Faiths event is our invitation to look within our own faith beliefs and spiritual practices to see how the emerging wisdom gives rise to our individual and collective commitments to the future we are creating together for all life. We look forward to seeing everyone!