Local charity praises Travis Kelce’s contribution amidst Man of the Year nomination
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The people at Operation Breakthrough had their hopes high Thursday night as the NFL was set to announce the winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The Chiefs nominated tight end Travis Kelce this season. The award recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities, as well as excellence on the field.
Kelce’s Eighty-Seven & Running Foundation is best known for its work with Operation Breakthrough, a non-profit at 31st Street and Troost Avenue that provides social services, education and health services for some of the area’s most vulnerable children and families. They also provide teen workforce development.
It’s the latter most people think about when they consider Kelce’s contribution to the non-profit. He founded their Ignition Lab -- a learning hub for real-world skills and mentorship – four years ago, not long after his previous Man of the Year nomination.
But he’s been part of the Operation Breakthough family for much longer than that.
“Kelce has been a part of Operation Breakthrough since his rookie year,” said Operation Breakthrough CEO Mary Esselman.
It started 10 years ago with a single gig reading to kids in the preschool room during a Read Across America event. When Operation Breakthrough wanted to expand, he funded their smart lab, which teaches robotics, coding and digital electronics. He would pop in now and then to see the kids after school.
During the COVID pandemic, he donated $25,000 to make sure families had food.
At one point, as Esselman re it, Kelce pitched the idea for the Ignition Lab after he learned that Operation Breakthrough ends their programs at age 14.
“He was super ionate about high school students,” she said. “That’s when he purchased the muffler shop (that was converted into the Ignition Lab) and helped us with fundraisers.”
The old shop across the street was fixed up and turned into multiple spaces for different types of skills.
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Cyland Bell, a senior at Hogan Prep, has been through several in his four years with the program. The thing he has enjoyed most is welding.
“I’m chasing my dreams,” Bell said. “I’m doing what I want to do.”
He still has a semester of high school left but has already landed a welding job at Honeywell. It begins with a two-year paid training program. Bell said Kelce’s visits have motivated him to keep learning.
“He’s always engaged,” Bell said. “He always wants to know, like, what we’re doing, what’s the next project.”
Esselman rattled through a long list of other ways Kelce has helped. He’s paid for kids to go to camp. He funded Operation Breakthrough’s eSports program. He sent kids to Austin for the Electrify Expo, where they won Best in Show and Best Audio for their modification of Kelce’s 1969 Chevelle. That ‘69 Chevelle will soon be auctioned to the highest bidder in an Operation Breakthrough fundraiser.
“It’s not a one and done, but it’s a relationship that’s evolved over 10 years,” said Esselman. “And even as he’s gotten busier, he continues to keep us in his circle of influence. Through that, our kids get other opportunities that they might not otherwise have.”
But what strikes her most is how kids talk about him and how he talks to them. Bell described the interactions as the way friends would be with each other.
“I’m pretty sure he would say we have a good friendship,” Bell said.
“He takes the time here to actually get to know children and knows their names,” Esselman said. “And when he comes back each year, for example, for his celebrity challenge, he’s able to call the kids by name and check on what they’ve been up to for the past year. To me, that’s commitment, that’s interest, that’s connection.”
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