By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Restaurant delivery in Hays might never be the same after last week’s launch of Hays 2 Go, bringing new delivery options from local restaurants that do not offer delivery service in-house.

Currently, the service delivers orders from Cancun Mexican Grill, On the Rocks and JD’s Country Style Chicken, with plans to expand to other restaurants soon.

“Our goal is to have at least 10 to 15 restaurants in Hays,” said Kelly DePiesse, co-owner.

They primarily serve sit-down restaurants, but will also deliver from fast food restaurants if an agreement can be reached with the restaurant.

Chain restaurants are little more complicated, DePiesse said, noting there are usually a lot more people in the operation who need to give the service a go-ahead.

“If it’s a chain restaurant, we’ll touch base with their general manager and they’ll have to take it from there and get the OK to operate,” he said.

Typically, the issue with chain restaurants is the way cash flow is dictated by a corporate system.

“That’s why we like local restaurants first. It’s a lot easier to set up because a lot of time you can talk directly to the owner,” DePiesse said. “What’s really attractive about Hays is the college, and there’s not a lot of delivery other than your typical pizza and tacos and such.”

Hays expansion and new developments were also a factor for the service deciding to come to Hays.

How to use the service

For regular delivery, customers using the service will be old hat.

To order, customers can visit the company’s website and place orders from participating restaurants, including modifications specified by the customer.

Customers are first required to create and account with the service, they can then select the restaurant of their choice and complete payment with cash or card through Hays2Go.

Once an order is placed, drivers from Hays2Go receive the order, along with the restaurant of choice. The drivers arrive at the restaurant to pick up the order, check the order for accuracy and deliver to the customer.

The site also provides real-time order tracking, available on the website, through email or text messages.

“They’re not just putting an order in and hoping that their food shows up, they are actually updated live,” DePiesse said.

While a feature of the service that is likely to generate interest is the ability to order from multiple locations on one order, the company warns a delivery fee is charged for each restaurant, and will add 15 to 30 minutes to the delivery time.

DePiesse said the service is particularly attractive during lunch hours where a lunch break limits the time someone could travel to get lunch. With the service, a specified time can be set for the delivery to arrive.

“So at the time they are ready for their lunch break, their food is arriving and they can actually enjoy their lunch break,” he said.

The rub

Currently, the service is only available to customers within – or slightly outside – the Hays city limits.

“I don’t want to get in a situation where a driver would have 10 to 15 minutes drive time to a location, and we would have other orders coming in so those orders are getting backlogged,” DePiesse said.

The quality of food being delivered on a long trip is also a limiting factor as to the delivery radius.

“Once it leaves a restaurant, we want to get it to you as quick as possible because we want to make sure the food is warm and fresh,” he said.

But as the service settles into the Hays area, those limits will be re-examined, DiPiesse said.

And as expected the service adds to the final total of the bill, with a $3.95 delivery charge added to each order. That charge is used to pay drivers and keep the service running.

“We try to keep it at a mid-range where it is worth our drivers’ time and our restaurants’ time and also that it is not too high that a customer would not want to pay,” DePiesse.

Items available for delivery are also limited to items offered at participating restaurants.

Behind the scenes

Hays2Go is part of a larger service that operates in cities across the country under the umbrella My Town 2 Go, but DePiesse said local marketing is developed for each town and the service is run by a local operator.

With the service just launching in Hays, marketing materials are still in the works, he said, but soon drivers for the service will likely sport car magnets that will identify them on the road.

“It’s good for them and good for us,” DePiesse said.

And while a group of drivers has been hired, he said applications are always being accepted.

In a typical delivery operation, drivers wait at the restaurant for delivery orders, doing other work in the restaurant, but drivers for Hays2Go, get paid by the delivery and are not required to be at a specific location in between orders.

“They are basically free to do as they please during the day, they need to be able to respond promptly to the order, get to the restaurant and get it delivered,” DePiesse said.

The drivers will select times they are available to be called for deliveries and then dispatched per order, making the service attractive as a job for people looking to supplement their income, he said.

To order from the service, or to find out more about Hays 2 Go, click here or visit their facebook page here.

Submitted

Jana’s Campaign’s impact on Kansas is about to be even greater.  Through major grants from the Kansas Health Foundation and the Heartland Community Foundation, Jana’s Campaign will provide comprehensive teen dating violence prevention programming in middle and high schools throughout Kansas in 2016 and 2017.  Funding from the grants total more than $47,000.

Kansas Health Foundation awarded Jana’s Campaign with a $25,000 Recognition Grant to work in secondary schools statewide, while three Dane G. Hansen Community Grants from the Heartland Community Foundation grants totaling $22,500 will fund work specifically in Ellis, Rooks and Trego counties.  These comprehensive programs will include curricular and co-curricular programming for students as well as trainings for teachers, administrators, school staff and more.

These grants will increase the scope and scale of prevention work that the Hays-based nonprofit organization has been doing in Kansas middle and high schools for the past three years. Since 2013, Jana’s Campaign has worked with more than 230 middle and high schools in Kansas and surrounding states.

“Because one in four adolescents experience some form of dating abuse- physical, emotional, sexual or stalking- this is an issue that must be prevented before it starts” says Jana’s Campaign Executive Director Kelley Parker.  “We are so grateful for the continued support of the Kansas Health Foundation and the Heartland Community Foundation.  These two great community partners understand that gender and relationship violence is a public health issue that affects our communities every day.  We are proud to partner with them to do this important work.”

Jana’s Campaign is a national education and prevention organization with a national headquarters in Hays, KS and a branch office in Colorado Springs, CO. Their mission is to provide quality educational programming that prevents gender and relationship violence. Jana’s Campaign was created in honor of Jana Mackey, who lost her life to domestic violence in 2008.

Mackey, a Hays High School graduate, was a law student at the University of Kansas and had spent years herself volunteering and helping victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Kansas. To learn more about Jana’s Campaign, please visit janascampaign.org.

HAYS – Hays Public Safety Chiefs say the relatively quiet Independence Day holiday was due to the common sense use of fireworks by the citizens of Hays.

In a press release Wednesday, Hays Fire Chief Gary Brown said during the three days fireworks were allowed, his department responded to just one call related to the use of fireworks and that was a fire in outside vegetation.

During this same time period, according to Police Chief Don Scheibler, the Hays Police Department had approximately 40 cases involving fireworks. Six of the calls were for fireworks being shot off in the street and the remaining calls were for fireworks being shot off after the 11 p.m. curfew.

Both officials said they wanted to thank the people of Hays for their care and responsible use of fireworks.

They also said they wanted wish to thank the Wild West Fest Committee for the safe and well-organized Fourth of July public fireworks display.

“This includes the fireworks ‘shoot team’ and the police officers, firefighters, paramedics and WWF volunteers who made sure the fireworks display was safe,” the chiefs said.

Today Sunny, with a high near 95. East wind 9 to 13 mph becoming west northwest in the morning.

Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Northeast wind 8 to 13 mph.

FridayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. East southeast wind 8 to 13 mph.

Friday NightA 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. East southeast wind 6 to 11 mph.

SaturdayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Southeast wind 8 to 11 mph.

Saturday NightA 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.

SundayA 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94.

ELLIS COUNTY- A semi driver was injured in an accident just before 9p.m. on Wednesday in Ellis County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Kenworth semi driven by Ernest Eugene Stryker, Grover, CO., was eastbound on Interstate 70 at Commerce Parkway.

The vehicle went into the median, crossed the lane, struck the guardrail, went into the north ditch and struck the embankment.

Stryker was transported to Hays Medical Center. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.