Culver's Grain Valley will host a fundraising night for the Santa Bus on Friday, December 12th from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. 10% of all sales and 100% of tips will benefit the Santa Bus, which visits Grain Valley neighborhoods each weekend during the holiday season.

For more information on the Santa Bus and its schedule, visit GV Santa Bus | Facebook. 

Grain Valley High School senior Clara Hunt recently completed her Girl Scouts Gold Award project through a service project for Newhouse KC, a local domestic violence shelter.

Hunt, a life-long lover of Legos, solicited donations and set up two activity tables stocked with Duplos blocks and Legos for children living at the shelter. Hunt said she has always enjoyed the creativity and endless fun of Legos and knew that this would be a welcome activity for children at the home.

Hunt plans to pursue a mechanical engineering degree at Missouri S&T following graduation.

Newhouse KC seeks to break the cycle of violence through housing and a variety of wrap-around services for victims of domestic violence. For more information, visit Newhouse KC. 
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Spooky fun awaits visitors to the Downtown Spooktacular event this Friday, October 24th from 6:30pm - 8:30pm in downtown Grain Valley. 

In addition to trick-or-treating downtown, courtesy of local businesses and organizations, music will be provided by sponsor Party It Up Entertainment. The evening will conclude with a fireworks show over downtown. There is no cost to attend the event, which is open to the public. 

Please note the following street closures:
- East Walnut St. closed at Main (5–8:30 p.m.)
- West Walnut St. from Gregg to Main (4–8:30 p.m.)
- West Front St. from Capelle to Main (4–8:30 p.m.)
- Main St. from Yennie to Front (5–9 p.m.)
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For more information, visit www.gvmoevents.org 

The Mid-Continent Public Library's (MCPL) Food for Fines program returns September 8-14th. To date, Food for Fines has collected more than 195,000 food items for local charities and food pantries.

Bring boxed or canned nonperishable food items to any MCPL location to pay off your overdue fines and help out your local community. Each single food item will count as $1.50 off existing overdue fines or replacement card charges, up to $30. You are also welcome to donate items even if you do not have any library fines.

Suggested Items

• Boxed meals
• Canned soup
• Canned meat, fruit, or vegetables
• Peanut butter
• Cereal
• Pasta
• Sugar free/low sodium/gluten free products

Please be aware:

• No expired items
• No damaged items
• No glass containers
• No plastic or cardboard drink containers
• No open packages
• No non-nutritious items such as candy, chips, etc.
• Ramen noodles (and other multi-pack items) will be accepted at a value of 4 packages = $1.50

In Grain Valley, donations will support Community Services League. 
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Congratulations to Sandi with the Grain Valley Post Office, who retired last week after 30 years of service with the U.S. Postal Service. Sandi began her career in California, with stops in Florida and Springfield, Missouri, before joining the Grain Valley Post Office in 2022.
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Sandi said the most rewarding part of her job has been interacting with customers, and it is the customers she will miss the most. 

As students head back to school, Truman Heartland Community Foundation (THCF) announced that a record-breaking $953,600 in scholarships has been awarded to 334 students from Eastern Jackson County and the surrounding regions have been awarded $953,600 in scholarships for the 2025-26 school year. to help them pursue higher education.  This is a 198% increase over the total awards made just 6 years ago in 2019. Since 1982, THCF has awarded more than $8.4 million through its scholarship program.
 
This record-setting amount was awarded as 497 scholarships from 181 generous fundholders. These scholarships have gone to students throughout Eastern Jackson County and the surrounding regions.
 
This is a 198% increase over the total awards made just 6 years ago in 2019.  The Foundation received 3,049 applications from students throughout the region, with 424 community volunteers investing thousands of hours meticulously reviewing applications to select students who met each scholarship’s unique criteria and requirements. To view a complete list of scholarship awards, visit https://www.thcf.org/students/scholarships/scholarship-recipients. .
 
Rachael Cassiday Watkins, THCF Director of Scholarships, expressed her gratitude for the commitment of THCF board of directors and advisory board members and the dedicated community volunteers who played a critical role in the rigorous review process. "Every year, members of the THCF board of directors, advisory boards, and dedicated community volunteers join forces to review and evaluate huge numbers of scholarship applications," Cassiday Watkins stated. "Without the invaluable support of our volunteers, it would be impossible to accomplish such a task. They are the cornerstone of our program, offering the essential support needed to make these critical decisions."
 
THCF hosted an ice cream social on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at 7:00 PM at the Adam’s Point Conference Center in Blue Springs, MO. The event helps bring scholarship fundholders and their student awardees together to celebrate the generosity of the donors and the students’ accomplishments. Over 150 people were in attendance.

​For more information about the Truman Heartland Community Foundation and its scholarship program, please visit https://www.thcf.org/students/scholarships www.thcf.org/scholarships or call (816) 836-8189.

A familiar and welcomed crew of visitors pulled up to Matthews Elementary Wednesday morning. Volunteers from Valley Community Church arrived at their first stop of the day with a trailer filled with school supplies for each of the district's kindergarten classrooms. Around 350 students throughout the district's four elementary schools are supplied through this drive.

Pastor Jason Williams with Valley Community Church said the church has embraced the mission as a way to support local families and the teachers who serve them. 

"This is one way that we can tangibly help many families in the community and do something for each family that really impacts them. School supplies are getting more and more expensive every single year. We'd love to be able to do it for every grade, but we just see it as our mission to be able to make a difference in the lives of those families who are sending their kids off to school for the first time," Williams said.

The inaugural Missouri Civics Bee was held Wednesday, August 6th at the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, and three local winners of the local competition held in Grain Valley were among the finalists competing yesterday. 

Middle schoolers put their civic knowledge to the test after winning local competitions hosted by the Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce, Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce and Harrisonville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Three local students, Ruslana T. from Ray Pec East Middle School, Loula B. from Grain Valley North Middle School, and Anthony W. from Grain Valley North Middle School, were the top three winners in the local competition hosted by the Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce on May 1st among those competing on Wednesday in Columbia. Anthony W. of Grain Valley North Middle School was among five finalists in the state competition.

The 2025 Missouri Civics Bee Champion, Konnor C., was presented with a trophy and a cash prize of $1,000. Konnor will represent Missouri at the National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C.

The National Civics Bee is an initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's The Civic Trust. The application window for the 2026 competition will open in September. For more information, visit Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce - National Civics Bee. 

The Grain Valley Marching Eagles will once again host a car wash fundraiser at two convenient locations this Saturday, August 2nd. The car wash will be held from 9:00am - 3:00pm at Milestone Academy, 1401 S Buckner Tarsney Rd., and the D&T Car Wash at 1320 SW Eagles Parkway. 

​Donations will be accepted to support the Grain Valley Marching Eagles program.

Grain Valley's Dennis Ellsworth will be among four honorees inducted into the 2025 Missouri Newspaper Hall of Fame.

Inductees for 2025 are the late Kevin Jones, past MPA (Missouri Press Association) president and chief operating officer of the St. Louis American; Dennis Ellsworth, former MPA board member and executive editor of the St. Joseph News-Press; Barbara Ann Horton, staff writer for the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff; and Jerrilynn Voss, former owner and editor of The Unterrified Democrat in Linn.

With more than 40 years working for newspapers, Dennis Ellsworth’s career is a testament to not only his dedication to journalism but also a commitment to community and as a leader in the industry. A native of eastern Kansas, he earned his journalism degree from the University of Kansas and had early work experiences with newspapers in Parsons, Osawatomie and Lawrence and with The Associated Press in Topeka.

Before joining the St. Joseph News-Press as executive editor in 2000, Ellsworth spent 21 years working as an editor and assistant editor — first at the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat, then for eight years at the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle-Beacon and 11 years at the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times. At the News-Press, Ellsworth oversaw 45 employees and was instrumental in the company’s evolution into a converged media operation, as it integrated television stations with the newspaper in 2012.

Meanwhile, he took opportunities to mentor the next generation of journalists, helping to guide them while sharing his knowledge and passion for journalism. Ellsworth said this one of the most rewarding aspects of his career - hiring and mentoring the next generation of journalists.

In addition to several years served on the MPA Board of Directors, he was chairman of the Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors and twice president of the Northwest Missouri Press Association. Earlier in his career he was a Knight Ridder Fellow in the Visiting Journalists Program at Duke University.

Even after retiring, Ellsworth remained committed to public service, volunteering as the first executive director of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition. His five years in the role allowed him to promote government transparency and freedom of information to Missourians in every part of the state. He also reinvigorated the Sunshine Heroes recognition program, working to acknowledge those individuals and groups who support the Missouri Sunshine Law and its role in keeping the state’s residents informed.

A true believer in local reporting, Ellsworth continues to advocate for the power of the newspaper to inform and entertain. This extends to the papers of eastern Jackson County, where he currently lives, and to the Miami County Republic, which covers his hometown of Osawatomie and still benefits from tips and story ideas as he comes across them.

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15 Culver’s restaurants across the Kansas City metro, including the Grain Valley location, are teaming up with Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City for a weeklong fundraising campaign to help grant dreams to critically and chronically ill children.

With a goal of raising $25,000, local Culver's restaurants are participating in a fundraising campaign from Monday, July 7 – Saturday, July 12, 2025. A special 10% Day of Giving is planned for Saturday, July 12 from 10:00am - 10:00pm. Dream Factory volunteers will be on-site from 11:00am - 1:00pm and 5:00pm - 7:00pm.

Dream Factory KC is a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit that grants life-changing dreams to children facing serious illnesses. Culver’s guests can support the cause by rounding up their purchase, donating $5 to “Fund-A-Dream,” or dining out on July 12 when 10% of all sales go to Dream Factory. 
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By Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News


Molly Jones, who will be a junior pitcher the Eagles staff this season at Grain Valley High School, is a fierce competitor, who also has a softer side, that many Eagles fans rarely have the opportunity to see.

Jones' gentle side is on display Monday evenings at Hidden Valley Park in Blue Springs, where she serves as a buddy for players aged 5 and up who play in the Exceptionals League.

The league is for players who deal with physical, mental or emotional disabilities. The buddies give moms, dads and other caregivers the chance to sit in the bleachers where they can cheer for their loved ones will members of area softball teams help the players hit and run the bases.

“My brother, Ryan, who is 21 years old, has Prader-Willi syndrome (a rare genetic disorder characterized by several developmental and physical abnormalities) and he's been a player in the Exceptionals League for as long as I can remember.

“And the joy on his face when our softball team volunteers at his Exceptional League games tells me how much fun he and his teammates are having,” Jones said.

“We help the players bat and run around the bases, and we're having as much fun as the Exceptionals players. We get as much out our experience as buddies that the players get while playing.

“I got involved because of my brother, but I wish everyone could experience the joy and fun we have during their games.”

The Exceptionals League is free. Every player on every team gets to bat each inning in the two-inning games where no runs or totaled and no scores are kept.

“If you play in the Exceptionals League,” Jones added, “you're a winner. It's all about having fun.”

That's one big reason Grain Valley softball coach Flip Courter got his team involved.

“It's all about fun – and I'm talking about the players and their buddies – they have so much fun,” Courter said. “There are a lot of hugs and smiles during the game.

“I asked our players if they were interested, and we had 12 come out to serve as buddies and I brought my two kids, Casen and Caffrey, and they really enjoyed it too.”

Madison Rust, an all-state player for the Eagles, said it's hard to come up with the words to describe the joy she feels buddying up with a player.

“We all know Molly and Ryan and we can't wait to get out to volunteer at Ryan's Exceptionals League game,” Rust said.

“It's a cool experience. It's a way to serve our community. We get to buddy up with the players while their parents and family members get to watch from the stands.

​“And we have as much fun as the players. It's a game I look forward to every season.”