A fundraiser rolling into Prairie Star Middle School in Leawood, Kansas this Saturday will feature more than 40 vendors, food trucks, snow cones and a silent auction stocked with items from the Kansas City Chiefs, Royals, Current and Mavericks — all in service of a mission that began with a 15-year-old Girl Scout and a tragedy more than 700 miles away. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., costs just one dollar to enter, and is free for children six and under.
The fundraiser is the latest chapter for Sammie Magee, who founded Sammie's Toy Drive in 2022 after the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, according to KSHB 41 News. Magee was a Cadette Girl Scout at the time, and she was moved by the death of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, a Junior Girl Scout killed in the May 24, 2022 attack, per Give SevenDays. The Uvalde shooting killed 21 people — 19 elementary students and two teachers — and injured 17 others, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, whose federal review criticized the 77-minute law enforcement response before officers breached the classroom.
What started as a single toy collection has become an ongoing relationship with Uvalde. Since its founding, Sammie's Toy Drive has supported community events and a Christmas Angel Tree, Give SevenDays notes. Magee has continued bringing resources to that community and others hit by tragedy, and in Uvalde she observed children affected both physically and mentally by the shooting, per the same account.
From Uvalde to Kansas City and Beyond
Magee's model has since traveled. In February 2024, Sammie's Toy Drive expanded locally by creating and delivering toy gift bags for child survivors of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade mass shooting, according to Give SevenDays. And in July, she broadened the drive's mission again, collecting funds through Amazon and planning a toy wish list for children displaced by historic flooding in south-central Missouri, as reported by KSL TV.
Now Magee is using this weekend's fundraiser to help bring a Kansas City-area community event next summer, one designed to support children and families impacted by gun violence, per the KSHB report. All proceeds from Saturday's fundraiser will go directly toward that event in Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri. Magee plans to model it after her Uvalde gatherings, with community-building activities, resources, face painting and children's healing activities, along with raffles built into Saturday's fundraiser itself. Her goal, as described in the KSHB report, is for children affected by gun violence to feel loved, cared for, and surrounded by their community.
A Regional Backdrop of Gun Violence
Magee's expansion into Kansas City comes as the region continues to grapple with firearm violence. Kansas City, Missouri recorded 66 homicides through June 24, 2026 — a decline from 84 at the same point in 2025 — with handguns used in 56 of this year's cases, according to The Beacon. Firearm-related deaths across Missouri and Kansas combined exceeded 1,800 people in 2024, placing Kansas City's gun homicide rate among the highest of major American cities, the outlet reported. Kansas City police reported 125 homicides to date in 2025, compared with 135 during the same period in 2024, according to department meeting minutes.
Domestic violence shootings represented one in every three homicides in Kansas City during 2025, up sharply from one in 12 in 2024, according to police data reported by KCUR and cited in Hoodline's coverage of a local shelter's rising costs. That trend has coincided with new institutional investments in trauma recovery: on August 1, the AdHoc Group Against Crime opened its Center for Healing and Justice at 2881 E. 31st St. in Kansas City, a hub offering trauma-informed counseling and legal navigation, as Hoodline reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes firearm injuries as an important public-health problem that contributes substantially to premature death and disability among children. Missouri's Crime Victims' Compensation Program can provide financial assistance after violent crimes causing physical harm, with eligible costs including medical expenses, counseling and lost wages, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety. In Kansas, the Crime Victims Compensation Board provides financial assistance for reasonable medical care, mental-health counseling and other services, according to the Kansas Attorney General's Office.
Grassroots efforts like Magee's are emerging alongside those formal service networks rather than replacing them, offering relational comfort even as families also seek medical and legal recovery resources. Magee was named a 2025 SevenDays Ripple of Kindness Award winner for her work supporting trauma-impacted children, according to the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. Saturday's dollar-entry fundraiser at Prairie Star Middle School is her latest step toward carrying that recognition into a lasting Kansas City tradition.
