RDCM In The News!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2024

Red Dog Children's Museum Joins Western Kansas Foundation’s Match Day.
Help Us Increase Our Impact and Create Lasting Change for Children in Southwest Kansas!

Garden City, KS – The Red Dog Children’s Museum (RDCM) is excited to announce its participation in Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF)’s Match Day on December 3rd, 2024. On this special day, every donation from $20 - $2,000 made to RDCM will qualify for a proportional (or pro rata) match from WKCF’s $100,000 pool, helping to further the impact of our donors.

Match Day provides a unique opportunity for community members to support RDCM’s mission of creating inclusive, educational experiences for children of all backgrounds; offering programs that focus on early childhood education, cultural awareness, agricultural education, and local history.

“What I love about Match Day is how it brings people together to make a tangible impact in our communities,” said Jenny Hands, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Red Dog Children’s Museum. “When you choose to support Red Dog Children’s Museum this Match Day, you’re helping us move closer to our vision of becoming a sustainable and valuable resource for all children in Southwest Kansas. We’re so thankful for the generosity of our communities and for the WKCF match, which truly amplifies the giving spirit of Southwest Kansas.”

Donations made on Match Day will directly support the museum’s ability to reach more children, expand programs, and enhance exhibits that promote Red Dog’s mission of providing a safe space for children and families to play, grow and learn through exhibits, programming and activities that provide young children a foundation for educational growth, community and cultural appreciation. Every contribution helps RDCM achieve its vision of a brighter future for the children and families of Southwest Kansas.

To participate, donors can give online through the Western Kansas Foundation’s website www.wkfc.org or in person at the First United Methodist Church - 1106 N. Main St. in Garden City from 7 AM to 7 PM.  

How You Can Help:

• Donate on December 3rd, 2024.  Any amount is welcome but only $20-$2,000 amounts qualify for the proportional match.
• Share the news with friends, family, and colleagues to encourage others to join.
• Follow RDCM on social media for live updates and success stories on Match Day.

For more information on Match Day and how to support Red Dog Children's Museum, visit www.rdcm.org.

About Red Dog Children's Museum
RDCM is a non-profit, mobile organization based out of Garden City, Kansas, dedicated to fostering creativity, education, and cultural awareness through hands-on exhibits and programs throughout Southwest Kansas. Serving a diverse and vibrant community, RDCM believes in working to break down cultural barriers and create a space for all children to learn and grow.

Southwest Kansas To Get A Children's Museum

BY MEGHAN FLYNN - Garden City Telegram – 

Southwest Kansas will soon get its first children's museum.  

Red Dog Children's Museum received a $28,435 grant from Kansas Tourism Monday morning at the Russell Child Development building in Garden City.  

The museum was one of 14 recipients of Kansas Tourism's 2023 Attraction Development Grants.

Additionally, the museum received two other local grants from the Finney County Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Garden City Co-op to help kickstart it.  

The museum has been a project of Jenny and Trevor Hands for the past two years. 

Together, the couple has a son, Graden, and when they travel, they go to children's museums anytime they're near one, Jenny Hands said. 

Jenny Hands said the idea for the children's museum came to her and her husband while sitting on their living room couch because they were inspired by their son, their travels and because they always "wanted to so something" for their community.  

"But in the research of planning this, we found of the 10 nearest children's museums to Garden City, eight of them are outside of state lines and they're an average of 300 miles away," she said.  "That is not accessible for our community, and we just started to develop a passion for educating children in our community and giving them the same opportunities that children in larger cities have."

Thus, the Red Dog Children's Museum was born.

Since then, they've created a non-profit for the museum and outlined a plan and exhibits for the museum, which will be a mobile museum with 10 planned exhibits, Jenny Hands said.  

"It was not feasible to just start with a beautiful, state-of-the-art children's museum like we hope to one day have, so, our vision is to start a mobile children's museum," she said.

Jenny Hands said all of the exhibits will be inside of a trailer and they hope to travel across the southwest Kansas region, setting up at various events or inside an indoor space that a community has temporarily to allow the children of that community to come and learn.

"Our exhibits are focused on southwest Kansas," she said.  "When you go to children's museums they usually are learning about that area, so we hope many of our exhibits are related to southwest Kansas and to what our can learn and develop in their time at the museum."

One exhibit example is on the red dog, from which the name of the museum was derived, she said.  A red dog is a baby buffalo, which is red when they are young. 

"It's about buffaloes and the indigenous people that live in our area in the past and how they used buffaloes and how buffaloes were so important to their life," she said.

Another exhibit will focus on how important the railroad has been in southwest Kansas history, and another is on construction careers, Jenny Hands said.

"That's another one of our exhibits that doesn't seem to relate to southwest Kansas, but it does," she said.  "We've really tried to keep that a focus, we're also really trying to keep cultural inclusivity a focus and make sure that our exhibits are accessible to all of our residents."

Trevor Hands said the exhibits will rotate.

"When we get it all done, we'll be rotating through those (10 exhibits)," he said.   "So, they might not all be displayed a certain event, but four or five or six would be kind of rotating through."

The grant funds from Kansas Tourism will pay for the 10 exhibits, which were outlined when they applied for the grant, Jenny Hands said, all that they have to do now is get volunteers to help them build some of them, whereas some can just be purchased and set up.  

"We would really hope that all 10 exhibits are ready when the weather warms up and community events start happening," she said.

Jenny Hands said they are excited that her family's dream is becoming a reality.

"We've had this dream for about two and a half years now, so to finally see something come of it and someone really believes in us, that is transformational," she said. "We're so excited that this idea can become a reality and we're just excited to see where it goes."

Trevor Hands agrees, calls it "exciting and terrifying."

He's excited to have. place available for children in southwest Kansas to come and learn about the place they call home.

We recognize that there was a void in just a climate-controlled environment for kids during the heat of the summer and the freezing cold of the winter, he said." "This is something for kids to come and also just learn about this area and the cultures, the diversity that we celebrate.  Just a fun learning and playing environment, so we're really excited to offer that to this area."

Jenny Hands said eventually they do want to have a permanent children's museum in the area, hopefully Garden City, but they don't want the focus to only be on Garden City.

"We still hope to keep our focus on all of southwest Kansas and not just Garden City, and we want to make sure that's really clear, that we are a southwest Kansas museum," she said. "We are really trying to make sure that all of our southwest Kansas communities are included."

Despite that, Garden City is their hometown and is centrally located within southwest Kansas, Jenny Hands said, so it's a good place within southwest Kansas to help serve the most children that they can.

Bridgette Jobe, Director of Kansas Tourism, said what drew them to the project initially was the name, Red Dog Children's Museum.

Jobe didn't know what a red dog was and had to look it up and in doing so, was intrigued by how people don't know the history of southwest Kansas and some of the terminology related to the area, even if they grew up in the state like she did, but on the eastern half.

That was the first thing that attracted us," she said.  "The second thing is we know this is a little it of an unusual project because it's not a permanent structure to do this, but the intent is to someday have that permanent museum and we like that, and we wanted to support the project from the beginning."

Jobe's excited to see the project come to fruition.  

"I think it'll be great," she said. "I think there's so many opportunities just to go even outside of southwest Kansas to other parts of the state, to just educate on the great history that is here," she said.  "Southwest Kansas is for the legendary, that's how we promote this part of the state, and we think you guys can help tell that story,"

Roxanne Morgan, Executive Director of the Finney County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said she thinks the museum is a fantastic, unique idea that will attract visitors but will also be a quality-of-life benefit for locals.  

"We win twofold, that's exciting," she said.

Morgan also likes that Kansas Tourism recognized the benefit. of the project by providing a grant, it allows the southwest Kansas to share the "wealth of what we do and the value that we have to our state and the rest of the world."

"It's a very, very valuable asset to tour community," she said.  "While it's in the mobile, it's a very unique idea and that builds the interest to facilitate then their brick-and-mortar, so long-term, they're going to be a great attraction for Finney County.  So, it's very exciting."

Shannon Dick, Garden City Commissioner, agrees that the museum is a great benefit to the city and southwest Kansas. 

"This is something that we really need in the area and it's great that Trevor and Jenny are working on it, because they really do care about not just our kids but local ag., all the things that make Garden City work," he said. "This is going to be a great addition, and I'm looking forward to seeing it grow."

Source:  https://www.gctelegram.com/southwest-kansas-to-get-a-childrens-museum/

Tourism Grant Awardees Announced: Boosting Local Tourism Initiatives to Drive Economic Growth and Visitor Engagement

TOPEKA – Kansas Tourism today announced it will distribute $500,000 in Attraction Development Grants. The fall 2023 funding will be split amongst 14 communities across the state for tourism attractions that either are being developed new or having enhancements made to existing sites.

The Tourism Attraction Development Grant Program supports travel experiences that positively influence where individuals choose to visit, resulting in further economic impact through capital investment, job creation, revenue and increased visitation.

“Attraction Development Grants are a powerful investment in the economic growth and cultural richness of our state,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said, “These funds further help to foster a deep appreciation for our diverse landscapes, heritage and the countless experiences that make Kansas a must-visit destination.”

In total, these grant recipients will invest more than $2,316,112 toward the approved projects.

“These grants play a pivotal role in enhancing our tourism attractions, allowing us to invest in innovative experiences that captivate visitors and strengthen our economy,” Kansas Tourism Director Bridgette Jobe said. “They empower us to continually evolve and offer unique, memorable adventures that draw travelers from far and wide.”

To view the list of approved projects, click here.

The next round of Attraction Development Grants opens February 1, 2024.  For more information, please click here or contact Kansas Tourism Grant Program Manager Carrie Doud at carrie.doud@ks.gov. Funding for Kansas Tourism grants is provided by the Economic Development Initiatives Fund (EDIF) that is derived from state lottery proceeds.

For a full list of grants provided through the Kansas Department of Commerce, visit the Grants Calendar page here.

Source:  https://www.kansascommerce.gov/2023/11/tourism-grant-awardees-announced-boosting-local-tourism-initiatives-to-drive-economic-growth-and-visitor-engagement/