It all started when a Cassville native married a northwest Arkansas native, and they brought a business plan to Cassville.

The Hive Youth Outreach opened in January of this year.

Owner and Youth Director Kasey Rundall and his wife Bridgett Rundall, decided to start the nonprofit organization to help the teens of Cassville.

Bridgett currently owns and operates a daycare, called Bee Kind Daycare at the same location.

Kasey said getting The Hive up and running has been a slow process.

“We are hosting big events to try to get kids interested,” he said. “But, it is a new business.” The Hive caters to youth 13-18 years old.

“We are open year-round,” Rundall said. “During the summer we are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and during the school year we are open after 3 p.m. We try to do events on weekends as well.”

Rundall said some of the activities available for youth at The Hive include a theater room, where they host movie nights, VR headsets, TV streaming services, video games, an arcade machine, pool table, foosball table, an ice-cream machine, popcorn and other snacks.

“We want this to be affordable, so we only charge $5 for the day,” he said. “My wife is a Cassville graduate from 2009.

She grew up here, but I was kind of a nomad. I grew up in northwest Arkansas, which is where we met. My childhood wasn’t great, but that has really led me into what I am doing.

“When we moved back to Cassville, we really saw the need for teen youth out here.”

The couple are foster parents and in the process of adopting three of their foster children.

Rundall said he noticed in this area people from similar backgrounds can take completely different paths, and he wants to help guide teens away from drugs and alcohol.

“We have been living back in Cassville for three years,” he said. “We have been running Bee Kind Daycare and starting The Hive since 2019.

“Right now everything is completely paid for by us, and we keep doing it because there is a need for it.”

Rundall said The Hive does have a 501C3, but there are still some things that have to be paid before they can apply for federal funds.

“We don’t have a ton of traffic and it is a struggle,” he said. “But, I won’t stop. We are going to take care of the kids here in Cassville. We see the value of what we are doing, even without high traffic.”

Rundall said he and his wife are Christians, but they do not push their beliefs into the businesses.

“Our youth groups aren’t focused on that because we want safety for children whether they are religious or not,” he said. “My wife told me that growing up here kids would ‘go to the park’ which meant being around drugs, or they would ‘backroad’ which meant drinking. We want to keep kids off drugs and alcohol by offering them something to do.”

Rundall said they always wanted to raise their family an area like Cassville.

“We wanted the small town feel and a better ratio of teachers and students,” he said. “We have six children total. We are adopting three of them. We got into fostering to take care of children, especially the younger kids, but our first placement was a teen. That is when I really started to see the need. There are so many kids in care here, and we love all of our kids 100 percent.”

Rundall said the Bee Kind Daycare is run upstairs, and The Hive operates downstairs.

“They are completely separate, but together,” he said. “There is a door that separates us and a deadbolt on both sides. We have to both agree to open the door in order to open it.”

Rundall is working on getting the daycare state licensed to help cover costs and make it more affordable.

“We are genuinely in it to care for kids and help parents,” he said. “We think the daycare could also be a huge help to teen moms in the area.”

Rundall said he has plans for growth in Cassville, but he wants the community to be involved, too.

“It will take the community to keep this going,” he said. “We do often see the same kids, but it is very scattered. A lot of children who come are friends with our kids.

“I am a good dad, but I mean that in the sense that I am a good dad to every child.”

Rundall said he operates The Hive to be free of judgment.

“When a kid comes to me with something, I talk to them like they are adults,” he said. “I explain the issue to them, I teach them how to be safe, and I try to teach them good morals.”

Rundall said the area has a high poverty rate, and that is another reason why The Hive is needed.

“When a child is waking up cold, hungry, scared or abused — that is trauma,” he said. “Cassville can’t grow if we can’t take care of our kids. We have a donation jar at the BBQ Station, but we would love to get more out in the community.

“I use a Henry Ford quote for my kids, ‘Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.’”

Randall has hired the company Bright Ridge to work on his 501C3 filings, and is currently gathering donations to complete the process.

“Copy Cat and Mike Carr have been huge helps for us through this process,” he said. “We love Cassville’s old charm. We want to use local businesses to build up Cassville. We want to hear from the people of Cassville about what kind of events they would like to see, what would the kids like.

“We are also helping teens learn how to get through the college financial process by teaching financial classes.”

Bridgett and Kasey Rundall said they need the people of Cassville to help keep this business alive so they can keep caring for local children.

For more information about The Hive, people may follow their Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/thehiveyouthoutreach. For donations, people can call Kasey Rundall at 417-846-6892.