March 2, 2019

On Feb. 10 the Faiths of Raytown, formerly Raytown Interfaith Alliance, held its 22nd Annual MLK Multicultural Celebration. This event, besides honoring Dr. King, is a fundraiser for two Raytown Charities, raising $1,000 for the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program (REAP) and $1,000 for the Summer Lunch Ministry which feeds school children during the summer break when free school lunches are not available.

Another repeating feature of the program is a Martin Luther King Essay Contest open to all children from third grade through 12th in the Raytown School District (including children in parochial and private schools). The organization awards a $100 first place prize, $50 second place prize and $25 third place prize for each winner at the grade school, middle school and high school levels. This year the winners were:

1st Brandon Cannon 4th grade, Laurel Hills Elementary School
2nd Ava R Hyatt, 5th grade, Laurel Hills Elementary School
3rd Qwa’More Todd, 5th grade, Spring Valley Elementary School

1st Kendall Rinella, 8th grade, Raytown Middle School
2nd Korey Hill, 7th grade, Raytown Middle School
3rd Skyler Lea, 8th grade, Raytown South Middle School

1st Joy Ryan, 10th grade, Raytown High School
2nd Madison Berry, 10th grade, Raytown High School
3rd Kayla Kittrall, 10th grade, Raytown South High School

The program included music provided by the Raytown South Jazz Band, The Raytown District Elementary Chorus and Maurice and Shanice Hayes. Raytown Mayor Michael McDonough presented an official proclamation and the keynote speaker, Brother John Anderson, gave a dynamic presentation from various speeches of Dr. King. The attendance was the largest ever at over 300 people.

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