By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A new program, Neighbor Link through First Call for Help in Hays, will deliver food boxes, hygiene items and diapers to people who are homebound, disabled or lack transportation.
"I have been wanting to make it available for delivery for a while now," Macey Pfeifer, First Call for Help executive director, said.
"We have a lot of people who walk to us, a lot of people who are disabled or elderly, where other people come and get their stuff for them. I thought it would be a nice program to offer to those in Ellis County," Pfeifer said.
First Call for Help recently was able to purchase a van thanks to donations from the Robert and Patricia Schmidt Foundation, an anonymous donor through the Heartland Community Foundation and Lewis Toyota.
The van is also used for food bank pickups, Meals on Wheels deliveries and other daily agency needs.
If you are not already a First Call for Help client, you need to sign up to receive deliveries.
You need to place your order with First Call for Help at 785-623-2800 by Friday, March 13, to receive delivery this month.
After this month, orders will be due by the first Friday of the month.
The deliveries will be made in Hays on the third Monday of the month and in Victoria and Ellis on the third Tuesday of the month. All deliveries will be made between 1:30 and 4 p.m.
There is no fee for the service. First Call for Help staff will make the deliveries.
"Public transportation in general is a hard topic for Hays," Pfeifer said. "Not everyone has $3 to get to a place and another $3 to get back. That cost really adds up.
"For people who are disabled and homebound, this will enable them to have the essentials everyone gets to have without the struggle, without having to beg someone to get it for you," she said.
First Call for Help has a van fundraising campaign going on now through April 30. Funds raised will be used for fuel, insurance and maintenance.
Anyone who donates between $50 and $249 toward the campaign will be entered once into a drawing for an Apple Watch and a three-in-one charging station. Anyone who donates $250 or more will receive three entries into the drawing.
You can donate to the campaign online or send checks to First Call for Help, 607 E. 13th St., Hays, KS 67601, with "van" in the memo line.
"We're excited to serve the community in a new way," Pfeifer said.