About a week before Christmas, Mary Esselman got a call from Taylor Swift’s team. The singer wanted to donate a quarter of a million dollars to the Kansas City organization Esselman manages, Operation Breakthrough.

“Our kids were pretty excited,” the CEO says. “We  asked them if they wanted to do a little thank you, and you could see we had a lot of enthusiastic participants.”

The kids of Operation Breakthrough — a nonprofit that provides programs and quality child care for children of the working poor — created a one-minute video thanking the superstar for her $250,000 donation.

“Thank you, Taylor,” one girl says while holding a hand heart to start the video.

Swift’s donation will support three programs: workforce development and entrepreneurship labs, before and after school childcare, and early learning initiatives.

“We have 432 students, birth to 5 year olds who are there every day for early care and education,” Esselman says about the early learners program. “Our goal is to make sure every child enters school ready.”

It was the end of a decade

Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce has been an advocate and financial supporter of Operation Breakthrough for the past 10 years. His first visit to the campus came shortly after Esselman took the reins as CEO.

“ He came for Read Across America Day,” she says. “He was reading to some of the preschool classrooms … and he just kept coming back.”

In a YouTube video posted by the Kansas City Star, the tight end sports his Chiefs’ jersey and a red-and-white stovepipe hat while reading Dr. Seuss’ “Cat in the Hat.”

Since the March 2015 event, Kelce has perennially assisted the organization. Every year, he sponsors the “87 and Running” robotics team. In 2020, he purchased a muffler shop for the  high school workforce development and entrepreneurship program. And most recently, he drove a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle to his Dec. 8 game at Arrowhead Stadium that the students converted into an all-electric vehicle.

“He’s just a down-to-earth guy,” Esselman says. “ He would come over the years without media just to say hi to the kids after school. A couple times he did little pizza parties. He’s been someone that the kids see almost as a regular person, and he remembers their names.”

Although Swift hasn’t made a visit to Operation Breakthrough — like she did last week to Children’s Mercy Hospital — there will still be plenty of opportunities as she spends more time in Kansas City.

“ Maybe one of these times she’ll pop along with Travis,” Esselman says, “but we couldn’t be more grateful that she selected us for such a special gift.”