KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – An organization working to improve the lives of children and families in the heart of Kansas City announced it had received an early holiday present from Taylor Swift.
In a social media post, Operation Breakthrough thanked the pop star for “making our holiday season shine even brighter” with a $250,000 donation.
Operation Breakthrough’s mission is centered on helping children and families who live in central Kansas City. Its main center provides health and educational resources, before-and-after school care, emergency care and more.
“More than 700 urban Kansas City children come to Operation Breakthrough each weekday for nutritious food, lively learning, health and dental care, therapy and TLC, while their parents work or attend school,” its website states.
The donation from Swift wasn’t Operation Breakthrough’s first brush with celebrity or the NFL.
Swift’s boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, partnered with Operation Breakthrough through his own nonprofit, 87 and Running. After purchasing an old, on-site muffler shop, Kelce helped fundraise to turn it into the now-operational “Ignition Lab.”
The Ignition Lab supports high school-aged students in gaining the skills they need to enter the workforce or college. Careers in coding, construction, culinary arts, digital media and more are just some of the options available.
Just over a week before her donation to Operation Breakthrough, Swift visited with kids receiving treatment at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
She has previously donated to Harvesters and the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a victim of the shooting that happened on Feb. 14, 2024, just after the Kansas City Chiefs parade celebrating their Super Bowl win outside Union Station.
Operation Breakthrough said the donation “means the world to our children and families.”
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