ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
This Saturday, Liberal’s Grace Place Pregnancy Care Center is giving running enthusiasts a chance to help raise money to help with the center’s operating costs.
The center is hosting its annual Run Baby Run event this weekend, with registration time scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday and race time at 9 a.m., both at the center at 311 N. Grant Ave.
Participants can choose from the one-mile walk, the 5K run and the 10K run, and Grace Place Director Letty Hernandez said she is excited for Saturday.
“We’re hoping we get a lot of people to come out and enjoy a nice day, some exercise and ultimately help fund Grace Place so we can continue to serve the women and families who are in need of our services,” she said.
Registration costs are $20 for the one-mile walk, $42 for the 5K run and $55 for the 10K run.
“They’ll receive a nice shirt that has our name and says ‘Walk For Life. Life Is A Beautiful Gift,’” Hernandez said. “We would just need their shirt sizes and their information so we can register them. We have plenty of shirts. We accept checks and cash. If they want to register, they can come to our office, or they can register online.”
Hernandez said some schools have registered their students for the event, and she is looking forward to having school children in the races.
“We’ve sent out flyers to most of the businesses in town,” she said. “We’ve sent the registration form so they may come in and sign out. Schools are welcome. Teachers are welcome. Bring your class if you want to. They would have to register and go from there.”
At this time, Grace Place’s primary fundraisers are the Run Baby Run and the center’s annual banquet, which typically takes place in the fall. Hernandez said the future will likely see some additional fundraisers for the center.
“We have a lot on our plate, but we do foresee a variety of other fundraisers in the future,” she said.
At this time, Grace Place’s ultimate goal is to purchase an ultrasound machine. Hernandez said that goal is very much in sight now, and the center is looking for a stenographer to operate the machine.
“We’re not where we want to be,” she said. “We want to be able to pay for their services we’re wanting to provide. We want to be able to pay a stenographer, pay a teacher. I’m the current director, but we’re also needing more staff. As the money flows in, we’re able to hire others to fill in for those areas of ultrasound, teaching.”
With most non-profit agencies, volunteers are a constant need, and Hernandez said Grace Place too is in need of volunteers.
“We have students who are coming in to use their community service hours and helping us there, but we do need volunteers who are willing to come in on a weekly basis and stay with us,” she said. “We have volunteers now, but they also have their own jobs. It’s hard to depend on the current ones we have. We want to look for some stable volunteers who could come in on a weekly basis at least once a week.”
Grace Place likewise offers classes for expecting parents, and Hernandez said those classes are growing in size.
“We’re seeing more than 40 people a week,” she said. “Our classes are very informative. We’re teaching a lot of moms and dads great information on family, pregnancies, babies, toddlers. There’s information as your kids are growing, whether it’s finances, getting a job, starting credit.”
Hernandez said she feels the classes are blooming at Grace Place, and she likes that people are finding out more about what the center is doing.
“We can see that by the growth we’re having,” she said. “The classes are doing really well.”
However, maternity clothes are something the center is lacking, and while there is much in the way of baby clothes at Grace Place, Hernandez said there is never enough to fit the growing demand for those items.
“As we’re growing, the more clothes we have, the better,” she said. “We’re in big need of diapers. Formula is another big need – baby food, baby shoes, swings, strollers. Anything a child may have outgrown and a family doesn’t know what to do with it and they would love to donate, we would love to accept what they would love to give us.”
Grace Place has received some local grant donations from National Beef, the City of Liberal and Golden Plains Credit Union, and Hernandez said several local churches donate on a monthly basis. Individuals in the community have also donated to the center.
“We’re so grateful for all of those and all of the donations we received at the banquet, but we’re always looking for grant writers,” she said. “We’re looking into grant possibilities and opportunities.”
May 10, Grace Place will be hosting a free car seat safety lane event from 3 to 6 p.m. open to the public to help people install car seats correctly in their vehicles.
Hernandez herself is a certified technician of car seat installation from the National Child Passenger Safety Board, and she said she will know what type of car seat is needed by the weight, size and age of a baby.
“You can come by, and we can check your car seat to make sure it is installed appropriately,” she said. “If it wiggles more than an inch, it’s installed incorrectly. We will help you install it correctly, and for the people who cannot afford a car seat, we can work with you.”
Hernandez said getting certified in car seat installation takes three days of education.
“You would have to sign up at Safe Kids Worldwide, and they have these courses you take,” she said. “They’re all over the world, but once you sign up, you go in, and they teach you on all the different variety of car seats, all the different variety of seat belts that are in your car, whether it’s a front facing, rear facing, convertible, if a booster. If you follow the manual, you’ll see in detail how things have to be. We want to save our children from being hurt in a car accident. The safer they are, the better.”
Hernandez said car seat installation is not as easy as many may think.
“You have to push down on it, tug on the seat belt, make sure it’s locked in place, and it can’t wiggle more than an inch,” she said.
For the car seat safety lane, there is no registration or appointment needed.
“They just come through the lane,” Hernandez said. “We’ll have signage out there where they’ll see us.”
