Kennedy’s Custom Jewelers - Trisha Kennedy
A Rare Gem
I’m always impressed with kindhearted individuals who find a way to do as much good as they possibly can with the time and opportunities they have. They take their passion for helping others and turn it into action, creating true change for their communities and beyond. The Blue Springs 2018 Outstanding Citizen of the Year and current Rotary Club president, Trisha Kennedy, is certainly one of these individuals. Trisha is a Blue Springs native who co-owns Kennedy’s Custom Jewelers with her father, Jim Kennedy. Their business has focused on philanthropy since opening in 1983, currently giving over $30,000 a year in merchandise donations, sponsorships, and scholarships in honor of her mother, Becky Kennedy. “We are only given one life to live, and I want to make mine count,” she says. “This community has given so much to us and our family business, it only seems right that we do as much as we can to support and take care of it.”
As the president of the local chapter of the Rotary Club, an international service organization, Trisha has helped with a number of local projects. She helped coordinate three grants for needs in our community: providing a sensory wall at Rainbow Center, tool kits for trauma sensitivity in the Blue Springs School District, and new desks and shelving at Community Service League. She also co-chaired this year’s annual gala for Rainbow Center, breaking the record for most attendees (530) and raising over $218,000. On the day I met her for her portrait, she was hosting an event to collect new shoes for a program the Rotary Club supports called Shoes for Orphan Souls, which provides new shoes to children in need throughout the world. Locally, the Rotary Club gives back to local organizations such as Community Service League, Rainbow Center, Hope House, JobOne, RADD, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, YMCA, Boy Scouts, Grain Valley Assistance Council, and more.
In addition to her work with Rotary Club, Trisha is involved with Reach Out Missionary Baptist Church and is currently on the Board of Directors for both the Rainbow Center and Blue Springs Education Foundation. In the past, she has also been involved with the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce (Board of Directors), Buy Blue Springs task force (President), Downtown Alive! (Board Liaison).
Trisha has a passion for her work both throughout the community and in the store. “I am so fortunate that I get to do what I love every day in a community that I love,” she says. “With every project I have worked on in the community, to see the joy and appreciation on the faces of the recipients is worth more than any monetary thing. The same can also be side of our customers in the store - when the customer gets the finished piece and they hug me, my heart just melts.” As co-owner of the business, she oversees the business operations, buying inventory, marketing and event planning, community outreach, appraising, designing, and staffing. “In the store, I get to be a part of people's favorite moments, and outside the store I get to serve and make a difference in the community. It is truly the best of both worlds. Also, I get to work with my father and brother which is a true joy to get to spend every day with some of the people I love most.”
When asked what makes Blue Springs is a great community, she says: “The people. This community has so much heart. People care about one another, and are so supportive. You see it in the teachers and how the care for their students, you see it with our fire department and police department and how they go above and beyond in serving our community, you see it in the business community and how each business leader takes care of their peers, and you see it in your neighbors and how they look out for one another. I would not want to live anywhere else.”
Who do you feel has a positive impact on our community in Blue Springs? Nominate an individual or organization to be featured on Local Focus by contacting jaime@anthem-photo.com.