July 27, 2019

By Jordan Russo-Hicks
Intern for the Tribune

On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, Lee’s Summit Walmart stores surprised “Camp Summit” families at the Harris Park Community Center. The store managers Denise Levesque (SW Market St.) and Interim Manager Bryan Harrelson (Sam Walton Lane) teamed up to donate new items for the kids and community center. The items that were donated were footballs, soccer balls, kickballs, hula hoops, storage bins, Ziploc bags, Clorox wipes, detergent, and more. There’s no telling how much this meant to the kids of Camp Summit. Also, this serves as great news to camp counselors and administrators.

One could only guess the excitement on the children’s faces because in addition to the Camp donations, the local Walmart locations set up a tent and gave the 400 campers doughnuts, bottled water, bubbles, temporary tattoos, stickers, candy, pencils, bouncy balls, whistles, and much more. Not even mentioning, for the parents who had dropped their children off that morning received complimentary doughnuts and coffee to help with their morning commute. Mom and Dad even got blessed by this thoughtful gesture.

Ryan Gibson, Bryan Harrelson, Joe Snook and Denise Levesque

“I usually go to Walmart to grab supplies for our campers, this donation will help greatly with our needs for this year as well as set us up for a great next year,” said Ryan Gibson, the Camp Summit Director. This will prove beneficial to every one last person involved.

Joe Snook, Lee’s Summit Parks and Rec Administrator, stopped by to see all of the excitement as well as John Bisio Director of Community Engagement from Walmart who came up from Bentonville, AR. John said, “It’s an honor to be able to support and show recognition for the great work that Ryan and the Camp Summit staff are doing with the kids. We look forward for more opportunities to spark kindness in the community.”

Much gratification was offered to the local Walmart’s as they have satisfied the needs of many through their outreach.

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