Kansas City Les Dames welcomed Grand Dame Lidia Bastianich back to Kansas City for another sold-out
event at her namesake restaurant in the historic Freight House in the Crossroads Arts District
that raised almost $5,000 for scholarships and other chapter projects.

More than 70 guests turned out on a cold and snowy March evening for the three-course dinner and an intimate discussion about Bastianich’s work as a chef, author and television personality—as well as her
reflections on having been a refugee, an experience thrown into relief by the current flight of so
many Ukranians from war in that country. To say it was a special evening is an understatement.

Kansas City Dames also recently launched a program that creates a different kind of wealth:
relationships. The program identifies mentors within the chapter’s experienced membership,
pairs those women with new members (mentees) and creates opportunities for them to meet
and learn from each other while furthering LDEI’s goals of diversity, equity and inclusion. The
initiative was launched by Dame Karen Adler in 2020, and gatherings now usually include about
eight members each—although a social hour at Dame Jane Zieha’s blue bird bistro drew 20
participants in April. Small-group get-togethers are expected to continue each month under the
oversight of Dame Sophia Hudson.