Michael Bushnell
Reporter

 It was standing room only at the Kansas City PAL (Police Athletic League) facility at 18th and White Avenues on Thursday night for the 11th Annual PAL Holiday Party. The free community event is hosted annually PAL families and the community began lining up outside the center for the 5pm start as PAL staffers and volunteers were putting the finishing touches on all of the gift-filled tables inside.

Retired KCPD Sergeant and now Executive Director of the PAL Center Skip Cox said this year alone the center has seen a 25% increase in families that participate in the PAL programs and events, noting that anticipated attendance at Thursday’s event was around 750 to 1,000 families. “It means we’re reaching more and more families in the community,” Cox said. “It also means there’s that much more of a need,” he added.

Cox continued, “We know that this is a big time for our families and most of the time they may not have the opportunity to have a Christmas in their house, so to be able to do that under this big roof, that’s what it’s all about.”

For more information on the PAL Center and its program offerings, visit: https://www.kcpal.org/.