They say it takes a spark to start a fire, and Lani O’Dell has been the catalyst for several big improvements in Excelsior Springs. An excellent photographer, she spent several years as an event photographer for music venues and has captured acts such as Tom Petty, Widespread Panic, Allman Brothers, Government Mule, Blues Traveler, and Billy Currington. O’Dell says she’s motivated by the good people in our community and likes to try and help organize and give them an outlet. She says her efforts to make more of an impact in the community all started with trash. O’Dell, who lives on Salem Road, was disgusted with all of the litter and trash lining the shoulders of the road. She spent a day or two picking up trash along the highway and shared what she was doing on social media. Other folks noticed her efforts and began sending her messages showing her how much trash they’d picked up, starting a sort of mini-movement. O’Dell says one woman and her daughter were so motivated that they picked up trash along a 20 mile stretch of road. “They sent me pictures and it was like, garbage bag after garbage bag after garbage bag. And I was like, wow, I inspired that?” she recalled.
She quickly realized that many people would like to help, they’re just not always sure of how to get started. When O’Dell learned that there were kids at Excelsior Springs School District who had lunch accounts that were frozen, because they didn’t have money to pay their overdue bills, she quickly organized some friends to pitch in to help cover the costs. “I was just kind of asking people, ‘hey, do you want to throw in like $20 bucks?’ And some people would be, ‘here’s $200!’ And, it went from $20 to $1200 really fast, I was blown away.” O’Dell says she feels like people want to help but they don’t necessarily want to be a part of some big organization or group. “People are busy, they work every day… they can’t even fathom going and volunteering on a Saturday because maybe that’s their one day off. So if their contribution is saying ‘here’s $100,’ I think that’s awesome,” she smiled.
O’Dell who is an outdoor enthusiast also has a soft spot for animals. She approached the Parks and Recreation Department with the idea of creating a dog park, but was “kind of given the brush off,” she said. So she went to work. O’Dell organized a fundraiser and awareness campaign dubbed “Bark-A-Palooza” to gauge interest and raise money for the dog park. “I think we had over 1,000 people who showed up,” O’Dell recalled. After seeing the enthusiasm and willingness of individuals like O’Dell the Parks and Recreation Department moved forward and constructed Century Bark. “I didn’t know what I was doing when I started out, I just felt like it was a good idea and something people wanted,” said O’Dell.
On her recent trip to Florida Lani was able to capture lots of great nature photos and videos, including this video of a herd of manatees resting in the warm spring waters (submitted video and photos).
More recently, Lani co-founded Muffin Top Bakery in our downtown with her cousin’s wife, Emily Thomas, to help fill the demand for baked goods and treats. But after “spending a couple of years indoors,” O’Dell has stepped away from Muffin Top and is focusing on her photography and reconnecting with the outdoors. Her first trip was back to one of her favorite destinations, “spending time with the manatees” down in Florida. “Life is short, spend it doing the things you love, that’s why I like to go camping every chance I get because you just you never know what might happen,” she said. O’Dell says if you see a need step up and do something about it, don’t wait for someone else to do it. “Stay positive and be a part of the change you want to see happen,” she said, “don’t just talk about it, do it, and if it’s good, other people will follow.”
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Beautiful Lani. Dad is smiling in the sky. Hope you are good. God bless!
I’ve known Lani and her folks for many years. She is such a blessing to have as our local hero. She is so talented in many ways and such a sweet personality. Excelsior Springs is SO LUCKY to have people like her in its community.