2026 Big Dreams - Bright Futures Annual Event

Whether or not you were in attendance, the emcee had a message for you at Operation Breakthrough’s 28th-annual “Big Dreams, Bright Futures” event Thursday night.

“Your support, your time - ” said OB Alum Chandi Marsh, “it truly has the power to shape a child’s life.”

Chandi, a business owner and Dean’s List student in UMKC’s College of Science and Engineering, said when she was a little girl at Operation Breakthrough “I didn’t even realize my circumstances weren’t always ideal—because I was having so much fun, learning so much, and feeling so cared for.”

The sold-out crowd got to meet some of OB’s current students as well. Teens visited all the tables to hand out gifts they designed and made in The Ignition Lab, and 4th-graders from our new elementary school, Breakthrough Academy, presented a poem they wrote called, “I Get Back Up.”

Once again, our teen filmmakers showed their skills by premiering a new video,
"OB: Standing in the Gap" You're invited to watch by clicking on the video title. 

Thanks to many auction donors, sponsors, volunteers and the 900+ guests, the event raised more than $1.1 million for our 782 enrolled students.  

“Operation Breakthrough didn’t just provide care,” Chandi said. “It gave me confidence. … And it reminds me just how powerful it is when a community shows up for a child. I’m standing here as proof of that. Thank you!”