By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays Area Children’s Center is raising money to provide car seats and portable play pens for low-income families.

HACC community relations coordinator Beverly Cheuvront said the car seats and play pens cost about $60 each, and the center hopes to raise about $1,000 through its Keep Babies Safe campaign.

“That doesn’t seem like a lot of money to pay for something,” Cheuvront said, “but if you are earning a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, that takes a big bite out of your salary. For the low-income families that we are helping, this makes a huge difference.”

In the early days of the campaign, just $10 had been raised. (After publication, that amount had jumped to $100, but was still well short of the goal.

Although the campaign goes through Father’s Day, Cheuvront encouraged donors to take advantage of this weekend to donate in honor of mothers, grandmothers or graduates in their lives. The HACC will send either paper or e-cards as acknowledgements.

“It is a really neat way to give a gift that has a little more meaning than traditional gifts,” she said.

HACC has a home-visiting program for young children. It serves families in Rush and Ellis counties.

“One of the issues low-wage families have is they spend the bulk of their income on necessities—food, shelter, clothing, health care—and there is no money left over for the kinds of safety equipment that are really essential for young children,” Cheuvront said.

Buying used car seats and play pens are not recommended, because they could have been damaged during prior use and children’s accessories are also subject to recalls.

To donate online, click here. Checks can be sent to the HACC at 94 Lewis Drive, Hays, KS 67601.

Find out more about HACC’s programs by clicking here.