The Great Bend Public Library has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Kansas Library Association to support staff health and wellness. This grant was made possible through a 2019 gift from the Kansas Health Foundation to the Kansas Library Association. 

According to Library Director Gail Santy, the library will use the grant money to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to employees through a grocery store gift card for $20 each month in 2022. Fresh produce is part of the library’s Fuel Up for Work and Play health and wellness initiative, which focuses on caring for each employee as a whole person and not just during work hours.

Employees will receive continuing education that addresses movement, general nutrition and personal satisfaction. The goal is to bolster staff skills in areas of mental health, self-care, and librarianship, which will enable library employees to better serve our customers. 

Fuel Up for Work and Play will address food equity by providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables, increase joyful movement in the workplace, learn and implement stress-reducing practices, provide health and wellness information through weekly email and a monthly newsletter, and introduce wellness challenges. These measures together will help create a positive culture shift which values and promotes employee health and wellness. 

Monthly wellness challenges will include 21 day of gratitude, random acts of kindness, Olympics challenge, buddy system for exercise accountability, daily healthy habits, hydration, and deliberately using stairs, for example.  

The library will join with community teachers and offer monthly movement classes such as qi gong, tai chi, desk yoga and mindful walking.