Campaign kicks off to raise money for a statue of Topeka humanitarian Grant Cushinberry

Tim Hrenchir, Topeka Capital-Journal
·4 min read
Efforts are underway to raise money to put up a statue in downtown Topeka honoring the late Grant Cushinberry, shown here.
Efforts are underway to raise money to put up a statue in downtown Topeka honoring the late Grant Cushinberry, shown here.

Members of the late Grant Cushinberry's family announced late Thursday that they were raising money to pay to have a statue put up in downtown Topeka to honor the Topeka man who dedicated his life to helping others.

Cushinberry's nephew, Dale Cushinberry, made the announcement at a ceremony in which Grant Cushinberry, who died at age 86 in 2008, became one of four men inducted into the Topeka Business Hall of Fame.

"Statues cost in the neighborhood of $50,000, so we're in fundraising mode," Dale Cushinberry said.

He was accompanied at Thursday's announcement by one of Grant Cushinberry's sons, Garry Cushinberry. Anyone who has questions or is interested in donating may call Garry Cushinberry at CoreFirst Bank & Trust at 785-267-8409.

Who was Grant Cushinberry?

Grant Cushinberry was the driving force behind God's Little Half Acre, a central Topeka garden and donations clearinghouse that served the needy for nearly 30 years until it closed in January 2000.

"Cushinberry gave away everything from fresh rhubarb and donated coleslaw to live chickens and ducks from God's Little Half Acre," The Capital-Journal said in an editorial published soon after his death. "He also offered free clothing, furniture and other items for people of all ages, from toys to crutches and wheelchairs."

In addition, Cushinberry brightened the lives of thousands of Topekans through acts of kindness that included providing free watermelon for children at various local schools and working with sponsors who paid admission fees so he could take underprivileged youngsters to fairs, circuses, movies and ballgames.

Cushinberry worked for Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center and ran his own trash-hauling business.

When Cushinberry saw people eating from garbage cans along his trash route, he became impassioned about the Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which had been founded in 1968 by Pauline Johnson and Addie Spicher. He solicited food for the event and helped organize it for nearly three decades.

More: 'What true philanthropy is': Topekan Grant Cushinberry remembered as 100th birthday nears

Here's who else was honored Thursday

Also inducted into the Topeka Business Hall of Fame during Thursday's ceremony were three local business leaders.

Junior Achievement of Kansas recognizes a number of local businessmen and women each year by selecting them for that Hall of Fame.

Despite 4.5 inches of snow having fallen late Wednesday and Thursday in Topeka, 400 people attended that evening's event, said Ashley Charest, president of Junior Achievement of Kansas.

In addition to Cushinberry, those honored were as follows:

  • Matt Strathman, the sole owner since 2006 of the Topeka beverage company Strathman Sales, with which he has been involved fulltime since 1983.

  • Marvin Spees, owner since 1985 of Topeka's Capital City Oil, a petroleum distribution company that serves commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers. Spees has been involved fulltime with that company since 1983.

  • Vince Frye, who was president and CEO from 2012 to 2020 of Downtown Topeka. Inc.; a partner from 1997 to 2012 in the Topeka advertising agency of FryeAllen, Inc.; general sales manager at WIBW-TV, where he worked from 1973 until 1997; and previously an advertising account executive at KTSB-TV, now KSNT-TV.

Who else has statues in downtown Topeka?

Garry Cushinberry, left, listened Thursday evening as Dale Cushinberry announced efforts were underway to raise money to put up a statue of the late Grant Cushinberry in downtown Topeka.
Garry Cushinberry, left, listened Thursday evening as Dale Cushinberry announced efforts were underway to raise money to put up a statue of the late Grant Cushinberry in downtown Topeka.

Grant Cushinberry finished with 269 votes behind Arthur Capper, Charles Curtis, Cyrus K. Holliday, Ichabod Washburn and Karl Menninger when the Downtown Topeka Foundation in 2014 took a poll asking residents which historic people with Topeka ties should be the subjects of statues put up in the downtown area.

Statues of Capper, Curtis, Holliday and Washburn now stand downtown.

Cushinberry would become the second Black person honored with a downtown statue.

A statue of Topekan McKinley Burnett, who was a pivotal figure in the Brown v. Board of Education that brought an end to racial segregation in public schools in the U.S., stands near the southwest corner of 8th and S. Kansas Avenue.

Downtown Topeka is also the site of statues honoring prominent local residents Harry Colmery and Samuel Crumbine.

The Kansas Statehouse grounds features additional sculptures of Abraham Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower and a pioneer woman protecting her children.

A campaign, which was initiated last April and remains in progress, seeks to raise money to put up a statue near downtown Topeka's Evergy Plaza of Teresa Cuevas, the driving force behind Mariachi Estrella de Topeka, one of the first all-female mariachi bands in the U.S.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Campaign seeks downtown Topeka statue humanitarian Grant Cushinberry