By Chrissy Birkey, KCB Executive Director

A weekly team dinner and bible study on Eucalyptus St. in 2010.

The Eucy crew at the Bellflower Community Christmas Toy Store.

The Eucy crew at a Chivas USA soccer game in 2007.

As I thought about what I wanted my last celebration dinner to look like with KCB, I envisioned rows of tables (like a feast!) with friends of KCB from all walks of life sharing a meal together. I pictured the now grown faces of kids we mentored in the Eucalyptus neighborhood who are thriving and have their own careers, relationships and families. I thought of the faces of some of the very first volunteers of KCB who helped us paint and furnish our first community center on the corner of Alondra and Eucalyptus. I pictured the faces of so many of our neighbors who we met while they were living on the streets and are now housed and giving back to help others. These are the faces that gave me hope in the most challenging seasons of ministry and nonprofit work in the last two decades.

One of the sweetest perks of being able to work at KCB for so long is seeing the life change that took place with these friends I've met through our programs and services over the years. The work of community development is long and slow, but it is so very deep! Sometimes it isn’t quick enough to capture in an annual report or a grant application, but it is real and lasting.

I hope you can join us on Thursday for our Slice of Heaven fundraiser to hear some of these stories and celebrate what’s next for KCB’s deep and resilient community development work in Greater Bellflower.

Get your tickets to the Slice of Heaven fundraiser here before it’s too late!

The Long Game