By ABIGAIL SHEARER
Tiger Media Network
Community leaders and members gathered on Friday to celebrate the grand opening and ribbon-cutting of the Bob and Pat Schmidt Community Center, a new facility in Hays designed to address childcare shortages while also providing a hub for seniors and families.
“This is really such an exciting day, seeing all these amazing faces here to celebrate such a phenomenal project for our community,” said Sarah Wasinger, president and CEO of the Hays Chamber. “This community center will provide an intentional space that better supports meaningful opportunities and activities for our senior citizens, as well as families needing an entertaining environment for childcare.”
Communiy Board and Volunteers say the Pleadge of Allegiance. 
American Flag flying high. 
Mayor Sandy Jacobs gretting community members into the Bob & Pat Schmidt Community Center. 
Community Memberes enetering the Bob & Pat Schmidt Community Center. 
Community members coming into the main room. 
Chamber President and CEO Sarah Wasinger expresses her graditiude to the commuinty. 
U.S Senator Jerry Moran explaining his excitment and how proud he his of Hays. 
Mayor of Hays Sarah Jacobs talks about how the community center symbolizes the support Hays has for eachother. 
Early Childhood Children’s Specialist with the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, Melissa Schoenberger talked about how Hays has the insperation to see change and did something about it. 
Executive Director of Grow Hays, Doug Williams, thansk everyone that helped buid, fund, and plan the creation of Bob & Pat Schmidt Community Center. 
Schmidt Foundation Board Chairman, Gary Shoreman talked about how importaint comminity is and its succes. 
Doug Williams and others preparing to cut the ribbion. 
The cutting of the ribbion. 
The people who help create Bob & Pat Schmidt Community Center. 
Community Members in the main room. 
Front of Bob & Pat Community Center
The project directly addresses a critical shortage of childcare providers in Ellis County. Since 2021, the area has lost 18 childcare home providers and three preschools. The new center will add 83 childcare slots, bringing the county’s available openings back up to 470.
“Quality and affordable childcare is important to our families and it drives our local economy by keeping our talented workforce engaged in important work,” Wasinger said.
United States Senator Jerry Moran commended the community for tackling challenges with local initiative.
“Good things happen when people in the community say, ‘we’re gonna roll up our sleeves, go to work, and make sure that this problem, this challenge is solved,’” Moran said. “This facility represents the best of people in Kansas and the best of people across the nation.”
Moran also paid tribute to the Schmidt family, whose generosity made the project possible.
“It’s sad they’re not here with us today in person, but their leadership, their financial support, their efforts to make sure that good things happen in their hometown continue,” he said.
Hays Mayor Sandy Jacobs said the new center is more than bricks and mortar.
“[This is] a place where young children will take their first steps in learning, where seniors will find companionship and purpose, and where families will come together to share experiences and build memories,” she said. “Today we’ve cut the ribbon on a facility that truly reflects who we are—a community that values connection, care, and the well-being of all generations.”
Other speakers included Melissa Schoenberger of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, who emphasized the role of state and federal support, and Grow Hays Executive Director Doug Williams, who credited community partners, donors, and builders for bringing the vision to reality.
“It really has been a community project,” Williams said. “The longer we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
Chairman of the Schmidt Foundation, Gary Shorman, reflected on the late Bob and Pat Schmidt’s legacy of community leadership.
“They didn’t do it because they wanted a name on the building,” Shorman said. “They did it because they wanted to help the community and help it grow.”
As the ceremony concluded, attendees were invited to tour the facility and share in refreshments. The center, with its dual focus on childcare and senior services, is expected to become a cornerstone for Hays and Ellis County.
“This facility symbolizes our community’s commitment to supporting families, honoring our seniors, and fostering intergenerational connections,” Hays Vice Mayor Mason Ruder said. “Together we build not just a facility, but a stronger, more connected community.”