KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Community spirit is alive and well in Kansas City, as a range of local businesses join local sponsor Madden-McFarland Furniture & Design Boutique in supporting this year’s Design for a Difference contest beneficiary, Operation Breakthrough. The organization, founded in 1971 by Sister Corita Bussanmas and Sister Berta Sailer, is the largest single-site early education and social services facility in Missouri, serving 400 children from very low-income families in the urban core. Operation Breakthrough’s mission is to help children develop to their full potential by providing them a safe, loving and educational environment.
The national interior design contest, sponsored by the International Design Guild (IDG), named local designer Stephanie Stroud the contest winner. Stroud’s entry was chosen for its design appeal and ability to have a powerful and positive impact on the winning charity. Stroud and Madden-McFarland received $25,000 in goods and services to execute the design for Operation Breakthrough. The makeover, commenced November 3, has a reveal date of November 10. National celebrity designer and spokesperson for Design for a Difference, Mark Brunetz, will be on hand for the reveal and available for an interview. Additional national support came from flagship sponsor Shaw Industries and from Dabbieri Collection.
Stroud and associates will create a whimsical, park-like space with a library feature for both the children and their teachers to use. She has also redesigned two storage rooms - one for seasonal items that are given to the children, such as school supplies, Halloween costumes and winter coats. The other is a “Home Goods Store” where the children’s families can get donated clothing and household items free of charge. The final space is a workroom where parents can get internet access to look for jobs, visit with each other and meet with social workers.
Stroud comments on winning, “I could not be happier to have won such an exciting contest and to be giving this makeover to Operation Breakthrough. Not only is the space in much need of an overhaul, but the women and children who will be using this space are so deserving. Kansas City is a close knit community and the response that we have received from both volunteers and suppliers is something to be proud of.”
"We are beyond thrilled that local designer, Stephanie Stroud, was chosen as the national winner of IDG’s Design for a Difference contest,” said Patrick Madden, Madden-McFarland Furniture & Design Boutique. “Operation Breakthrough provides essential services to hundreds of families in our community and we look forward to creating a magnificent space for the children and their families to enjoy.”
Stepping up to join Madden-McFarland in fulfilling the makeover are local businesses: Wood Wallcovering (installation of custom wall covering), Sherwin-Williams (paint for all areas), Reilly Painting, Inc. (painting for all areas) Digital-Niche (printing of children’s artwork), Hook Gallery (framing of the children’s artwork), American Floor Covering Institute (labor and installation of all floor covering materials), National Wallcoverings (custom mural and dry erase wall coverings), Wilson Lighting, Global, office furnishing supplier, Kerry Stucky (decorative painting) and Jonas Miles of Miles Building and Restoration Inc.
Design for a Difference is an interior design contest sponsored by International Design Guild, a co-op of home décor showrooms specializing in high-end floor coverings. The contest provides interior designers an opportunity to express their talents for the good of those in need within their communities. As national contest spokesperson, Mark Brunetz explains, “All too often charity spaces suffer from neglect because the majority of monies they raise are put towards providing services to their causes, leaving little for aesthetics that can have a powerful impact on the human spirit.” In addition to the national grand prize, IDG awards four regional prizes of $2,000 each to jump-start the winning designer’s charity makeover.
About Madden-McFarland: Madden-McFarland Furniture & Design Boutique is a multi-generation family business providing high quality furniture, home décor and interior design services for discerning residential customers and image-conscious commercial enterprises. Located on the southwest corner of 135th & State Line, the boutique features furniture, lighting, textiles, floor covering and window treatments from the most respected industry names. In addition, the boutique houses a gallery of fine art representing diverse artists, genres and mediums. The firm is Kansas City areas longest continuously operated interior design firm and its only member of the International Design Guild. More information is available at maddenmcfarland.com.
About Operation Breakthrough: Operation Breakthrough is a nationally accredited, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1971 by Sister Corita Bussanmas and Sister Berta Sailer in response to requests for quality child care for children of the working poor. The program began with the nuns taking a few infants and toddlers into their living room and has expanded over five decades to its current enrollment of 400 children, ages 6 weeks to 13 years. One in four children is homeless or in foster care. Since 1981, Operation Breakthrough has been housed in an old JC Penney store at 31st and Troost in Kansas City. Over the years, it has added a broad range of social services to meet the needs of the children and their families, including on-site health and dental care, behavioral health programming, speech and occupational therapy, parenting classes, a food pantry and much more. In 2006, Operation Breakthrough completed an expansion and renovation project that doubled the size of the facility, but left the lower level of the old Penney’s building, where the Design for a Difference project is located, largely un-renovated. More information is available at Operationbreakthrough.org.
