Grant County Library Hosts Chamber Coffee

Grant County Library Director Holly Mathis started last week's Grant County Chamber Coffee off with a question posed to those in attendance: "Anybody want to guess how many single diapers are here?" - pointing to a stack of diapers to her left.

Guesses thrown out by those in attendance were 2,008, 3,200 and 4,500.

"The number we had this morning before we received even more diapers was 4,687," Mathis reported. "We received more than 100 more since then. It has been great."

Mathis along with other Grant County Library staff organized a diaper drive as a community service, and the support has been phenomenal.

"Women of Purpose is going to match the number of diapers we have raised," Mathis reported. "And the auxiliary from Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital presented us with a check for $1,000."

This is the first time the library has done an actual drive, but not the first time they have collected diapers.

"This isn't the only time we take diapers," Mathis explained. "This is our first actual diaper drive we have had."

Mathis said she and Children's Librarian Mary Bell discussed it and determined they had been collecting diapers for 15 years - all for the community.

"Our library is a family place library," Mathis said. "Mary Bell and I went to Littleton, New York, to do training to become a family place library. We do all kinds of things for families, especially young families. And this fits right in with the diaper bank."

Mathis said in the past they weren't quite meeting the needs.

"It's been great," she said. "But there were times when we didn't have all of the sizes we need."

Grant County Library does not purchase diapers for the program.

"It's all made up by the community," she said. "We don't buy diapers at the library. The community supplies everything. We even take partial packages. Say a baby grows out of its size - we take the rest of the  package. It doesn't have to be a full box or full bag. We then wrap up sizes in Saran Wrap in packages of 12."

Once the diapers are packaged according to size, Mathis said they put them up on a shelf in the library.

"Families can then come in and get a package of what they need to help them," she said. "It's not a full supply for them, it's just a little extra help in case payday is a few more days away or they ordered some and they don't have them in yet."

Mathis said they have never had anyone take advantage of the program.

"They are always respectful, come in and get what they need and leave," she said. "We don't ask them anything and they don't have to sign anything. It's a good service for the people who need it."

Mathis commented that they had never had "this many" diapers at one time before.

"We were trying to decide where we are going to store them all," she said.

She voiced appreciation to the Women of Purpose organization.

"We thank Women of Purpose for thinking of the drive and for matching it," she said. "That is fabulous! In the past, we have given out what we can and we haven't always had all the sizes people need. Now we will be able to help every baby - every size. That's ultimately who we are helping is the babies for their comfort and health."

Mathis also discussed other program and activities going on at the library.

"We have other things going on at the library and offer programs for all ages at the library all the time," she said. "We have a school supply drive going on right now for USD214. We have a Grow and Share Program in the hall, so if you want some Zucchini grab one on the way out."

For their Grow and Share Program, Mathis said they involve local gardeners.

"We are thinking of some of the community gardeners who are growing and finding out you can get 7,000 zucchini off of one plant, if you have extra things you are growing and your neighbors are starting to shun you because they don't want any more cucumbers - the library is a great way to share with your community that way everyone can have fresh vegetables," she said with a laugh.

Women Of Purpose

Women of Purpose's Becky Zerr said they thought the diaper drive was a great idea.

"We thank the library for letting us do this," Zerr said. "This fits in to our mission. Our mission is to serve the women and children in Grant County. I'm glad the community helped out here."

According to Zerr, Women of Purpose has been involved in several things in the community.

"Probably one of the things we are most known for is Pink Out - they donate part of their proceeds to Women of Purpose and we buy local gas cards," Zerr said. "We have them at the Liberal and Garden City cancer centers, and when people go for a visit they can get a gas card."

The gas cards are for $50 each.

"If people are going out of town they are more than welcome to contact me or anybody in Women of Purpose and we would be glad to provide them with a gas card," Zerr said. "When you are traveling, there are several things going on when you have cancer, so we are glad to be able to help out with a gas card to help get you there. We also do the health fair and we've done a free cancer screening. I think this was the eighth or ninth year. Last year we partnered with Pioneer Electric and Pioneer Communications and did a community health fair. We had the free cancer station out there. We will be doing that again this year it will be in October ."

There will be a few changes for the next health fair.

"Last year we had to preregister and we went with a company that was out of Oklahoma," Zerr said. "It was kind of hit and miss in getting people's results and getting them back on line to get their results. This year Common Spirit will do the blood draws and they will mail you your results. Hopefully that will go smoother."

Zerr said they have around 75 members in Women of Purpose.

"During Grant County Gives is when we have our membership drive and it is $100 to  be in Women of Purpose for the year," Zerr said. "You can be an active member or you can be a non active member. We have a lot of people who want to be a part of it, but they don't want to have to go out and do things - so you've  got your options there."

According to Zerr, 50 percent ($50) of that money for membership goes into an endowed fund at Grant County Community Foundation.

"What the means is we are growing that fund," Zerr said. "That money will always be there. We can't touch the principal on that. We only get to use the interest that it generates every year. If we make $3,000 in interest we get to use that money to do a lot of our grants. The other $50 goes in to our demand fund we use for grants, too. We try to be as involved as we can, if we know there is a project with women and children."

Women of Purpose do help some men.

"The free cancer screening and blood draw is for men also," Zerr said. "The reason we can do that is, that money comes from Pink Out. Pink Out allows us to use money to do service for the whole community, and not just women and children."

Other projects Women of Purpose have assisted are the wheelchair carousal and the civic center.

"We gave money to the civic center last year when we were doing the free cancer screening," Zerr said. "We used every curtain and frame they had for that, so we donated the  money this year so they could buy the iron and could build more frames. We do the free car seats and free car seat checkups along with the extension office that is coming up in September."

Grant County Chamber Director Marieta Hauser voiced appreciation for what Women of Purpose and Grant County Library does.

"We appreciate everything Women of Purpose does," Hauser said. "What a great partnership this is with the diaper drive. It is gratifying to see the community who is willing to give and having a match makes it so much better. Thank you both for what you do for the community - we appreciate all that you do."

In other business, Hauser and others announced:

μUlysses Rotary annual golf tournament (took place) Saturday, August 2. Registration was at 8:30 a.m., and a shotgun starts at 9 a.m. Registration was $200 per team. Men's, women's and mixed teams were welcome. Lunch was provided. For more information on the annual event, contact Kevin Warner or Bentwood Golf Course. All proceeds from that golf tournament fund scholarships for Ulysses High School students and graduates.

μLadies Golf Association will host their Guys and Dolls golf tournament Saturday, August 9 at Bentwood Golf Course. The event is limited to 36 teams, and there is a waiting list. It is $100 per couple to play.

μDream First Bank is hosting the third annual Rise Up For Families golf tournament September 13. There will be a shotgun start at 9 a.m. It's a four-person scramble. Cost is $100 per person. A burger and brat  lunch is included in the registration fee. Those participating will receive two drink tickets with their registration and two mulligans are included.  There is a hole in one chance to win $10,000 sponsored by Western Shelter Insurance.

μGrant County Home Products Dinner is going to have their first major organizational meeting soon.

"I can't give you the date yet, but sweet corn day is coming up around the corner," Hauser said. "It depends on Mother Nature so we are keeping an eye on it. We will have a work day hopefully at the civic center"

Hauser noted volunteers will be needed to assist with picking the corn, shucking the corn, cleaning the corn, and cutting the corn from the cob.

"Then the committee will get it cooked and in the freezer for the dinner, which is September 16 this year," she said. "It takes the whole community honestly (to pull this event off).

This year's theme is "Honoring Our Past And Embracing Our Future. Tickets will be $12.

"Very reasonable for a massive plate of food grown right here in Grant County - certainly an event to be proud of ," Hauser said. "We hope everybody will plan to join us and we appreciate all of the help that goes in to it."

μCore Community is needing somebody to fill the position of child care provider a couple of hours per week. The position is for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., (out by 8 p.m. for sure), on Mondays. And then every other week during a zoom call.

Core Community is still in full fundraising mode. They are still going through with their match fundraiser. They have three donors who have donated $1,000, so now through Labor Day they need person that signed up to be a $100 a month monthly donor - gets matched the first three months

They are also hosting their big fundraising event September 20 at Kepley Middle School Auditorium. This year they are bringing Tim Lovelace in. All proceeds will go to fund their Core Community budget.

Women of Purpose provides funding for the Core Community curriculum.

μScout Master Craig Hampton announced they will have their  recruitment night March 26 for all three programs. The local Scouts have three very separate programs for Scouts: Cub Scouts for kindergarten through fifth grade, a boy troop for 11 years olds (or sixth grade) through age 18, and their new girl troop. Women of Purpose are helping them to get their new program up and running.

Hampton expressed appreciation for the community's support. The local organization serves around 40 kids at this time.

μKiwanis meets the first and third Wednesdays at the library. Bring your own lunch. Kiwanis helps with the youth and the Scouts. Scouts partner with the Kiwanis for the flag project. They are youth focused.

They are partnered with the schools to do a program (bug awards) to help kids improve their grades.  There are awards for kids with As and Bs, but not always for those who show improvement. This program will help with any kids who show improvement.

μCity Administrator Luke Grimes announced the second community block party will be in two weeks. There will be food, music and lots of fun.

μGrant County Chamber will host a wine walk tour. Those participating will purchase a passport to get their name in a drawing.

μSeptember 19, Grant County Extension will host a  car seat check event, where individuals can get a car seat and have certified tech check to make sure it is installed properly.

μWatch for a future event where three recording artists from Nashville will be at Bear Creek in Ulysses. One will be Austin "Kyle" Anderson.

There will not be a coffee next week.