About this Event
2026 Solidarity Breakfast: Breakfast of Champions
Join us for our 2026 Solidarity Breakfast: Breakfast of Champions on April 11th at 9:00 AM at the Bishop Hogan Center.
This special morning brings our community together for a shared breakfast, meaningful prayer, and inspiring reflection. It’s a time to pause, connect, and be encouraged alongside fellow supporters, leaders, and friends who believe in the power of faith, unity, and service.
Your registration and generous donations help make this gathering possible and directly support our mission throughout the year. Whether you attend in person or choose to give in support, your participation helps strengthen our community and the work we do together.
Come be refreshed, uplifted, and reminded that we are all champions when we lead with faith, compassion, and purpose.
We look forward to sharing this meaningful morning with you.
At L’Arche Heartland we share life with seventeen adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities in our five homes and daytime activity with thirty adults in our day services. We strive to create a community of welcome, caring and inclusion as we witness to the greater Kansas City area that all persons, regardless of ability, have value and gifts to share with others in the greater community. Support raised through our Solidarity Brunch will directly support L'Arche Heartland's growing community. As we continue to expand and welcome new core members, these contributions will provide the resources needed to create inclusive spaces and foster meaningful connections among people of all abilities. This event will play a key role in helping Heartland grow and thrive, ensuring everyone has a place where they are welcomed and celebrated.
Sponsorship Opportunities
CHAMPION: $5,000: Large Logo on event program and signage, Logo on Website, Social Media, and Annual Report. Verbal recognition as a Champion of Heartland.
HERO: $2,500: Medium Logo on event program and signage. Logo on Website, Social Media, and Annual Report. Verbal recognition as a Heartland Hero
ADVOCATE: $1,000: Small logo on event program and signage. Name on Website, Social Media. Verbal recognition as a Heartland Advocate.
Keynote Speaker
Born in St. Louis, Fr. Cullen entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Denver in 1975, pronouncing first vows in 1977. He completed his studies at Saint Louis University and at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, where he earned a Master of Divinity in 1986. He was ordained a priest the same year.
Father Cullen’s years of Jesuit ministry have involved service in the United States, Belize, Africa, Canada and Thailand. During tertianship in Australia, a time of Jesuit reflection and prayer over the founding documents of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Cullen discerned a call to serve in the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Africa. He was assistant country director for JRS-Eastern Africa in Uganda from 1995 to 1997 and would later serve as the Country Director for JRS-Thailand from 2021 to 2022. He has also been involved with L’Arche, a Catholic organization serving adults with intellectual disabilities, in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada, as well as in St. Louis.
Recent years have led Fr. Cullen to pastoral ministry at St. Matthew the Apostle Church in St. Louis, from 2018 to 2021, and to retreat ministry. In 2022 and 2023, he was a retreat and spiritual director at Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House in Sedalia, Colorado. He now assists program development at the Marillac Center, the retreat and spirituality center of the Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth, Kansas. In addition to retreats and days of prayer, he also offers spiritual direction.
Why This Event Matters
The funds raised during our Solidarity Breakfast will directly support:
- The daily care and needs of Core Members at Heartland homes and our Day Program
- Ensuring our Core members have the spiritual, emotional, and physical supports they need to live their desired lives
- Expanding our Day Program so that more people of all abilities can find connection and purpose at Heartland
Help us continue to expand the world around them because belonging is something we all deserve!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Bishop Hogan Center, 416 West 12th Street, Kansas City, United States
USD 0.00
