LD 2020: Feeding the Front Lines

Joe Oyler, Managing Director, Leadership Programs

Though most of us are working from home, adhering to Dallas County’s shelter-in-place order, the Leadership Dallas (LD) Class of 2020 continues to make a positive impact in the community.

Thank you, Children’s Medical Center First Responders.

In an initiative led by Lane Conner, a local small business owner and current class member, the LD 2020 class is doing its part to feed those fighting on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. LD 2020 has named this initiative “Feed the Front Lines.”

Feed the Front Lines visited Children’s Medical Center April 7. Dawn Kahle, LD ’20 and Senior Director of Communications for Children’s Health, is pictured right.

“One of the greatest things about Leadership Dallas is the people in the group,” said Conner. “When the call went out for donations, the outpouring from our class, as well as other Leadership Dallas classes, was overwhelming. Our first responders are risking their lives to ensure the safety of everyone. If a ‘thank you’ given in the form of a chicken biscuit elicits a smile and a feeling of normalcy – mission accomplished.”

As of April 6, the class has raised more than $3,300 to provide breakfast for a day to emergency room, trauma, and first response offices at major hospitals throughout Dallas County. Working with a local Chick-Fil-A, breakfast biscuits will be provided to personnel at UT Southwestern, Children’s Medical, Parkland Hospital, Methodist Dallas, and Baylor University Medical.

LD 2020 is also providing breakfast biscuits to staff and volunteers at CitySquare, a Dallas-based nonprofit that offers social services to the community. In October 2019, LD 2020 partnered with CitySquare for its class project to reimagine, revitalize, and renovate CitySquare’s food pantry.