Community Assistance Council Executive Director Carol Bird Owsley was surprised Thursday night, September 29, with a recognition from the City of Kansas City declaring Friday, September 30, as Carol Bird Owsley Day. The declaration was presented by City Councilmen Scott Taylor and Kevin McManus at the Community Assistance Council 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Hillcrest Golf and Country Club, 8200 Hillcrest Rd.
Owsley has been involved with CAC for 33 years, “even before the birth of her youngest daughter,” she said in a speech to a crowded room of supporters. She will be retiring at the end of October. She thanked her husband and family who supported her devotion to the cause, at times peeling potatoes in the back of a van.
Owsley did not know what she might do on Carol Bird Owsley Day. But Councilman Taylor suggested that everyone should emulate Owsley by performing an act of kindness toward another.
CAC started when two churches in the Hickman Mills area came together to provide a needy family with a Thanksgiving meal, according to Owsley. Since then, it has become the only food pantry for the area, including a gluten-free, allergen free food pantry, the only one of its kind in the state of Missouri. It also provides Meals on Wheels, a clothes closet, and utility assistance for the needy.