By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
ELLIS — As the Ellis City Council works to prepare its 2020 budget, five organizations presented budget requests at Monday’s city council meeting, totaling over $55,000.
Cheryl Kinderknecht presented first for the Ellis Alliance while their new executive director was unavailable.
“The main reason we need the funding is to take care of our building and our equipment,” she said.
The request from the alliance totaled $12,500.
Another $12,000 per year is collected through memberships fees from three business groups in the area, with another $2,650 from the Walter P. Chrysler museum for management services.
Pauleen Edmonds, president of the Ellis Community Foundation, presented next and shared with the council their request totaling $10,000.
“It’s the same as we requested in past years,” she said. “We are very proud of the projects we worked on. Everything we have done so far has made Ellis a better place to live.”
Maintaining the Ellis food pantry is among the top priorities with their budget request.
The pantry is open once a month to provide food to those in need.
The foundation also operates a backpack donation program and a children’s food program that operates over the summer months.
“Basically, we really want to make sure that program continues as one of our ongoing projects,” Edmonds said.
“A lot of the money we will get from you actually goes for the food pantry,” Edmonds said, noting the request only covers about half of the cost to operate the pantry. Donations cover the remainder of the cost.
“That is one program that we have a lot of donations from people out in the public because they feel it is such an important program,” she said.
Food for the program comes from the Kansas Food Bank and is purchased by the foundation.
While they also accept canned food donations, it is only a small part of what is given out during the open pantry.
During the presentation, Chad Pritchett presented the request for the Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home and Museum totaling $15,000.
While the request was the same as last year, the museum sought financial help from the city earlier this year.
Since 2016, the organization has not been able to cover expenses, Pritchett said, and has been forced to dip into savings.
“Right now, we have about four years worth of savings,” he said.
He noted the organization brings tourism into Ellis that is vital for the community and many visitors have shared their dismay the museum is not completely sponsored by Chrysler.
The Ellis Public Library also presented a budget request to the council that matched the amount of funds received last year totaling $16,500.
A portion of that total is earmarked for capital improvements.
“The average that you guys have been doing for us has been paying off in the long run,” said Steve Arthur, director. “This is the first time in 13 years that I have been here that I don’t have to worry about the library so much anymore.”
“The reason that we always ask for the kick in capital improvement is that when I finally leave I want to leave that place better than I found it,” he said.
He said the library is active right now and, in general, the programming the facility offers has drawn people back into the library.
The last organization to present at the meeting was Options. They are requesting $1,200 to continue to provide services in Ellis.
“We are a nonprofit, and we serve 18 counties in Kansas,” said Jennifer Hecker executive director. “Our mission is to provide help, hope and communion for victims and survivors of violence and abuse.”
The organization provides 13 core services, including 24-hour crisis intervention, she said.
The request this year will help offset the cost of the increase in demand for services.
“In this last year, services for domestic violence have increased 22 percent and the demand for our sexual assault victims cases increased an astounding 99 percent in a single year,” Hecker said.