By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Not everybody is nuts about sports.
There are more than 50 Special Olympic athletes who are members of the Hays Buffaloes, and then there are some other members of the local intellectual and developmentally disabled (IDD) community who prefer something different.
Arc of Central Plains is creating a new activity center in its facility in downtown Hays, 600 Main, thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation and volunteer members of Hays Team Depot.
Brent Kaiser was hired as the Arc Activities Director in late December. He has a bachelor’s degree in sports and recreation management and is working on his master’s degree in sports administration, both at Fort Hays State University. Part of his job description is developing and running the new facility.
“Really what I want to do is provide activities that are going to reach other people who are not necessarily interested in Special Olympics types of activities,” Kaiser said. “Just reach a whole different population as well as some of the ones that are doing some of the activities that we have.” Ages of the current Arc clients range from 15 to nearly 80.
Those activities will include non-sports related events including dances, arts and crafts, and educational programs such as personal safety and first aid. Two game tables have been donated for ping pong and pool and a sound system is already in place which can be used for dance music.
The large empty room in the back of the Arc Thrift Store has its own wheelchair accessible entrance and restrooms. The build-out and finishing of the room was funded by a grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation.
Home Depot volunteers have already painted the floor with a special slip-proof indoor/outdoor paint, “especially important since we’ll have running water in here for painting classes,” noted Arc Executive Director Kathy McAdoo. She is also a new employee, hired in February, and has worked for Arc in Denver.
“The new kitchen cabinets have all been stained by the Team Depot associates at the store and will be brought down and installed along with brand new counter tops and a sink,” she added. Rounding out the kitchen area will be a new refrigerator and a new microwave.
Kaiser is hoping to add food preparation classes to the activities. “We’re looking for people to teach classes they think our people would be interested in, so give me a call,” he urged.
The five Home Depot volunteers and several Arc volunteers started painting at 8 o’clock Friday morning and were to work all day under the direction of Team Depot leader Katie Jones to finish the room’s transformation.
McAdoo laughingly said “paint is our best friend. Our walls need a new coat of paint, so we’ll also do that. The entire room will be easy to clean and durable.”
The Arc activity center is expected to open within a couple of months.
For more information call 785-628-8831 or go to the Arc Facebook page.