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Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
‘The Human Race' to benefit ten local nonprofits
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — An event to benefit ten local nonprofits will hit the ground running Saturday in Sioux Falls. Health Connect is a local health and safety information clearinghouse that's asking people to lace up their running shoes for The Human Race. Spring Creek golf course sold for $2.5 million 'The Human Race is a benefit for 10 nonprofits here in our community,' Health Connect of South Dakota Executive Director Fran Rice said. Rice says the fundraiser had 90 participants last June, but more than 130 have already committed this year. 'We've had an extraordinary response to registrations and we're very excited that it's growing and growing,' Rice said. The cost is $75 with 75% of the registration fee going directly to the nonprofit of your choice from this year's list of ten. 'People really like that unique part about it where they can really give a hand up to one of those nonprofits that they have a heart for,' Rice said. 'The demand is increasing and we're doing our best to manage that, to keep up with it, and this type of investment is huge is a huge benefit,' The Foster Network Executive Director David Moody said. The Foster Network is one of the nonprofits on the list. The organization now serves hundreds of foster families every month, and will use the dollars to expand its storage area. 'We see ourselves as integral to the community, what we do benefits everybody in the community. There's certainly a lot of nonprofits and other organizations that are worthy causes. We feel like we're one that works well with all the others and provides a benefit to this community that the community needs,' Moody said. If you're still asking yourself 'why should I attend?'… 'Because we're helping ten nonprofits that are very pivotal in our community,' Rice said. 'It's all a part of caring and collaborating,' Rice added. The Human Race is Saturday morning at Sertoma Park in Sioux Falls, with the 5K beginning at 9:00, followed by the one-mile walk at 9:15. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The different ways you can help foster children
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) —May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, which has local organizations doing what they can to stress the importance of foster parents. More than 1,200 children are in foster care in South Dakota each year. 'These are kids that are dealing with circumstances that are well beyond their control. And in order to have a healthy community, a strong community, it's important. It's critical to make sure that those kids have the same opportunities that everybody else does,' Executive Director, The Foster Network, David Moody said. Former deputy sheriff charged with rape after standoff Becoming a foster parent is one of the most obvious ways to help. Without foster families, children don't have many options. 'They can go to shelters. And so there are a few youth shelters here in the state. And so those youth are homeless. They stay in DSS offices, with caseworkers. Not always is it their own caseworker, so it could just be somebody that they don't know in a DSS office and then hotels,' Children's Home Society, Community Health Worker Team Lead, Jenica Woods said. Children's Home Society offers Therapeutic Foster Care services for foster children and their foster families. 'So we provide 24/7 support to the child and to the family. And then, we provide therapeutic services. So the therapy is in-house. That's individual and family therapy,' Woods said. If you can't become a foster family, at The Foster Network, there are also volunteer opportunities. One thing volunteers help with is 'The Closet', but there are also other ways to help out. 'So, depending on what their interest is, they can absolutely contact us, find out what meets with their schedule, with their expectations, what's meaningful to them. And we will provide those opportunities if they want to assist here,' Moody said. It's a way to help some of South Dakota's most vulnerable children by giving them the stability and safety that they need. 'Because they are just kids that are in a system no fault of their own,' Woods said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Recognizing the contributions of volunteers
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The concept of volunteering dates back thousands of years but paying tribute to the efforts of volunteers didn't become a nationally recognized event in the U.S. until 1974. It's a morning of animal-related arts and crafts at Good Earth State Park and it wouldn't be possible without volunteers like Norma Wise. 'We have two full-time employees, other than that we have about 50-60 volunteers who help us run this park. They do everything from landscaping to running the front desk to cleaning bathrooms and helping us with programs. They're vital for us,' Park Naturalist Jen Stahl said. Rapid city kids help Parks Dept. plant trees 'They were looking for volunteers here at the park and I thought 'that sounds like fun', to be outside, to be in the park, to be in on the beginnings of the volunteer program here at the park, here I am,' volunteer Norma Wise said. Wise spent 32 years working at Avera before retiring and has been a volunteer at Good Earth State Park since the visitor center opened nearly eight years ago. The 74-year-old does everything from cleaning windows to helping visitors navigate the park for about four hours per week. 'People are often times looking for recommendations on what trail to take, that sort of thing, so I can do that and look at the map with them,' Wise said. Wise says she volunteers as a way to give back to the community and meet people. 'I'm not going to sit around the house (laugh). I volunteer here and I volunteer at one other location also in the city,' Wise said. In the heart of Sioux Falls, you'll find Rodger and Cherie Lacy and their five dachshunds. 'All of our dogs are fosters, they're foster fails that we took in and worked with and fell in love with and couldn't let them go,' Dakota Dachshund Rescue board member Rodger Lacy said. Rodger had a career that took the family around the world. When he retired in 2017, they moved to Sioux Falls and almost immediately connected with Dakota Dachshund Rescue, a foster-based rescue started by Doug and Diane Wade. The Lacys have fostered more than 50 dogs in the eight years since, and Rodger currently serves as a board member for DDR. 'It was apparent they needed some fundraising, they needed some help with raising money,' Lacy said. He helped raise more than $35,000 in recent months through the nonprofit's 'Find the Queen of Hearts' fundraiser. 'For me, the gratification was when we totaled everything out, Doug looked at me, Doug Wade, and said 'you know, you guys just paid three months of vet bills right here, and I thought wow, that makes me feel really good,' Lacy said. 'I am what they call a formal volunteer,' The Foster Network volunteer Kayla Rand said. Kayla Rand is a volunteer at The Foster Network, where she runs the food program for an organization providing essential resources for children in foster care. 'So once a month we help foster families that have a certain number of kids with supplementing their food,' Rand said. She's been with the nonprofit for about four months and volunteers five hours a week. 'Shred It', to raise money for Crime Stoppers 'I'm really big on church outside the walls. I teach my kids to volunteer, they're teenagers, they done it their whole lives, it's just our way to give back and it helps us to feel good about stuff and to help others around the community,' Rand said. 'We simply couldn't do what we do on a daily basis without our volunteers,' The Foster Network Board Chair Kristen Rhoades said. Kristen Rhoades is the board chair for The Foster Network. 'It ebbs and flows how many volunteers but on average we see about 40 different individuals here a week contributing anywhere from 1-2 hours to up to 5-10 hours,' Rhoades said. A common theme among our volunteers when it comes to volunteering, find something you're passionate about. 'I come here, I seriously walk in the door and I look at my watch and it's time to go home. I don't even feel like I'm at a job or volunteering anywhere because I have so much fun working here and doing stuff for others,' Rand said. It's why Lacy is willing to give his time… 'Because not everybody does, because there's a need for fosters, there's a need for volunteers,' Lacy said. …and why Wise says give it a try. 'Doesn't have to be a lifelong commitment if you don't want it to be, but just put yourself out there,' Wise said. National Volunteer Week runs through Saturday. Longtime Beresford grocery store owners retire Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
