By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The Heartland Community Foundation (HCF) has $300,000 in grant money to award thanks to the generosity of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in Logan.  HCF Executive Director Sandy Jacobs wants it all gone.

“We’ve been very, very lucky over the past couple of years with the contributions from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation Community Grant Fund to the Heartland Community Foundation and the three counties we serve–Ellis, Rooks and Trego,” said Jacobs.

“In previous years, we’ve had $50,000 in each of those counties to be able to put into grants for all kinds of needs in the communities, whether it’s beautification, education, healthcare, whatever the need might be.

“This year, we have the opportunity for another $50,000.  So this grant period–March 15 through May 15–we’re actually awarding $100,000 in Ellis, $100,000 in Rooks, and $100,000 in Trego counties.”

The deadline is tight–midnight Sunday, May 15, but it is all done online. Applications are available at www.heartlandcommunityfoundation.org.

Ten applications have already been submitted; 14 more are in the draft phase.  Jacobs said HCF expected another dozen or so, and is encouraging residents in the three counties to still apply.

She isn’t sure why there have been fewer applications this cycle.  “I don’t know whether people think their projects aren’t interesting, they’re waiting until the last minute, or maybe they haven’t applied before,” she pondered. But with recent reminders, the pace has picked up.

“I’ve had a number of people tell me this week that have made the determination that they’re going to do it now and have done it in one day.”

With the Hansen gift doubled from previous years, it allows HCF the ability to greater influence community needs and award grants relating to the following areas for communities within the Hansen Foundation network:

• Arts
• Community Beautification
• Education
• Environmental Programs or Projects
• Health & Human Service Needs
• Inter-generational Programs or Projects

According to Jacobs, the Hansen Community Grant Fund serves 26 counties in western Kansas.

“The commitment of Dane G. Hansen himself to rural America was just outstanding,” Jacobs said.

“They are about quality-of-life issues, making sure the needs of these small rural America are met in whatever way possible. Their generosity is almost beyond belief.

“We thank them every day for thinking of rural America the way they do,” she added.

For more information or help with filling out a grant application, call Sandy Jacobs at (785) 621-4090.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Starting Sat., May 14, the Hays Lions Club will provide free vision screening for children and adults on the second Saturday of each month.

The club has teamed up with the ARC Thrift Store, 600 Main, which is handicapped-accessible and has ample parking. Vision screening will be available from 9 a.m. to noon.

Vision disability is the single most prevalent disabling condition among children. Most times, children don’t know they can’t see well because that is the way they have seen since birth.

“By early detection of vision disorders and treatment of them, challenges to good vision are 95 percent correctable,” said Jim Huenergarde, Hays Lions Club vision screener.

A little more than a year ago, the Hays Lions Club, together with Hays First Care Clinic, purchased the portable $7,800 Spot Vision Screener made by Welch Allyn.

The screening is quick and non-invasive, accurate and reliable. It can detect nearsightedness, farsightedness, amblyopia (lazy eye), astigmatism (blurred vision), strabismus (crossed eyed), unequal refractive power, and unequal pupil size.

The device can detect vision issues on patients from six months of age through adults.

“This is a screening and is not a diagnosis,” Huenergarde emphasized.  “If irregularities are found, the patient or parent is given the results so that they can contact their vision specialist.”

The Lions also provide vision screening for day care facilities, pre-schools, public and private schools, Head Start programs, and works with the First Care Clinic.

For more information and to schedule an appointment, contact Jim Huenergarde at (785) 650-7338.

ELLSWORTH COUNTY – A Hays teen was injured in an accident just before 12:15p.m. on Thursday in Ellsworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Ford Escape driven by Owen Patrick Toepfer, 18, was westbound on Interstate 70 two miles east of the Kansas 18 Junction.

An object in the vehicle distracted the driver.

The Ford rear-ended the trailer of a westbound 2002 Chevy pickup driven by Jeffrey T. Underwood, 23, Faulkner, AR. that was in the right lane traveling at 45 miles-per-hour and gaining speed with four-way flashers on.

Toepfer was transported to the hospital in Salina.

Underwood and a passenger were not injured.

All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHPLocal

FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Fort Hays State University’s faculty Dr. Wally Guyot, professor of management, and Dr. Robert Meier, professor of informatics received the best paper award at the eighth annual business conference at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

The paper is titled “Impulse Control and Internet Addiction Disorder among Business Professionals.”

Dr. Reginald Bell of Prairie View A&M University also contributed to the research paper.

RUSSELL COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident just before 11 a.m. on Thursday in Russell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Kenworth semi driven by Stephen A. Nisbett, 35, Amarillo, TX., was westbound on Interstate 70 just west of the Ellsworth County line.

A dog in the truck bit the driver on the hand. This caused the truck to leave the roadway. The driver over-corrected and the vehicle rolled.

Nisbett and a passenger Kimberly M. Nisbett, 30, Danielson, CT., were transported to Russell Regional Medical Center. She was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the KHP.

The dog has not been located, according to the KHP.