The People of Southwest Kansas

---

Garden City, Kansas sits at a uniquely significant geographic crossroads in the United States—where major transportation routes connect the Pacific to the Atlantic and Mexico to Canada. This positioning has made our region a critical corridor not only for commerce and agriculture, 

but unfortunately, also for human trafficking. Equally concerning is our local crisis center and shelter solely managing seven surrounding counties. It is precisely because of this that we feel called to act.

At the same time, our community is something truly special. Garden City has been nationally recognized as one of America’s great melting pots, even featured

at the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration in New York City as our culture represents many immigrants and refugees from around the world. Our population represents a rich blend of cultures, backgrounds, and stories—many of whom are employed in the agricultural, farming, and ranching industries that quite literally help feed the American table. This is the heartland—resilient, diverse, and essential. Our small city hosts a population of about 25,000 however, on the weekends brings in up to 75,000 for shopping, events and errands.

In southwest Kansas, our heritage is a story of Native American origin and beauty, the struggle of early American/US expansion and continued incorporation

 of the current immigration and refugee population. 

Always in the top 2 or 3 for national beef production, one out of every five steaks in America is tied to Kansas cattle production. Kansas accounts for 20-23% of the U.S. fed cattle production and exports $1.6 billion annually. Southwest Kansas doesn't just feed America; it feeds the world.

We are building this event not just as a fundraiser, but as a platform for awareness, advocacy, and hope. Our goal is to bring state and national attention to issues that disproportionately affect rural and central U.S. communities, while also providing tangible support to local and regional organizations working on the front lines.