Children's Center closer to goal

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Nevada Daily Mail

The proposed goal of the price needed to build a facility for a new Children's Center in Nevada is getting nearer to is fundraising goal which started out at $150,000 and then became a more realistic figure of $250,000, according to Children's Center Executive Director Kathi Olson.

According to Olson, the original figure was based on the cost of a similar center built in Bates county a few years ago. Construction costs, as they are wont to do, have risen and the cost of the project had to be adjusted to reflect the rising cost for an adequate facility that will serve the current and future needs of the children of Vernon, Cedar, Barton and Dade counties. The current center is located just off the Nevada Square and is a rented space that just isn't serving its purpose as well as it used to.

The fundraising effort for a new facility got its beginning with a kick off event at the current center in March of 2012 with some good donations. Every effort has been made to secure grants and obtain other sources of funding, but it's the community involvement that has really made a difference, according to Olson, and donations have been coming in from all four counties for the past several months.

In August of 2013, Curtis and Sons Realty of Nevada donated a parcel of land on North Mac Boulevard on the east side of Nevada to be used for the Center's physical location. Curtis estimated the value of the property at $60,000. Just recently, the First National Bank of Nevada made a donation of $3,500 to the project and the L.F. Richardson Foundation made a generous grant of $30,000. Now the center has announced that a local donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has matched that $30,000 figure.

According to Olson, the originally anticipated amount has been reached and then some, and that puts the group within $50,000 to $75,000 of reaching their new goal. "It's a very exciting time," said Olson. We're getting to the point where we are going to have to be discussing actual square footage and getting blueprints and plans drawn up and speaking with contractors.

Olson said the group needs to "get set" because they are getting to the "exciting stage" of the process where things like ground breaking dates, design specifications and other details will emerge and the new center will become a reality. Olson said it couldn't have been done without the "fantastic support" of the local board of directors and the community and she looks forward to continuing that great relationship.

To that end, the Children's Center has announced that they will hold their first official fundraising event on Jan. 11 at the Nevada Elks Lodge. Olson said the group gets operations funding from a variety of sources but they are sometimes restrictive and often change from year to year, so they hope to make the fundraiser an annual event to help defray operational expenses and improve services to the "kiddoes" of the 28th Judicial Circuit, said Olson.

This year's event will begin with a social hour held in the Elks Lodge bingo hall on Centennial Boulevard in Nevada. Advance tickets are $25 per person or $30 at the door. The price of admission includes food and beverages and "some fun money" for live mouse races, trivia and drawings for prizes, according to local board member, Jeani Longstreth. After the social hour and meal, the fun will begin and there will be an open bar and live auction for several Kansas City Chiefs items, some gift baskets, quilts and other items. Longstreth said "it will be a full evening." For more information or to get tickets to the event call 417-549-0900.

The Children's Center has locations in Joplin, Butler, Pierce City and Nevada. Their mission is: "caring professionals working together to provide a friendly setting for the investigation of child abuse and begin the healing process." Well over 1,100 children have been helped in the Center's four locations since it began in 2004. The center in Nevada had served more than 100 children through November of this year and it provides a safe, "child friendly" setting for forensic interviewing, forensic medical examinations and child advocacy services for children. The center is utilized by agencies like the Division of Family services and local law enforcement agencies. There is no cost associated with the service for either the child, their family or the agencies involved.

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