Small business pays off local schools lunch debt with help of Donna Kelce
By Peyton Headlee
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OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (KMBC) — The love that Annie Stowe has for Kansas City is reflected in her store, Annie’s Barn. Products with funny sayings and iconic photos are her niche.
“We just got these in today, and they’ll be gone by tomorrow morning,” Stowe said. “I love this city.”
Her products are a hit, especially during Chiefs season. So much so that Donna Kelce reached out to put in an order.
“She wanted this mug. She thought this was hysterical,” Stowe said. “She ordered 20-some of them to give out as gifts.”
The mug reads, “It’s Mama Kelce’s world and we’re all just living in it.”
After a few messages back and forth, Stowe shot her shot.
“I got brave enough to just write and say, Hey, would you want to collaborate on doing your cookie recipe on a mug and we’ll donate $5 from every mug sold to pay off school lunches? She wrote back right away and said yes,” Stowe said.
In two weeks, Stowe sold enough mugs to put nearly 2,000 dollars toward paying off lunch debt at local schools. She calls it “Out of the Red Friday,” and it’s not the first time she’s done it.
She did a similar thing around this time last year – raising more than $4,000 to pay off school lunch debt by selling Chiefs-themed yard signs.
“That was a super cool experience because it was the first time we tried anything like that,” she said. “I was overwhelmed with last year with the response. It was a very cool and really neat experience to go out to Olathe and give them their check.”
This year, she’ll bring checks to Pawnee Elementary and two schools in Olathe.
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