Giving Back for December

Jan. 2, 2020

Giving Back recognizes businesses and organizations that are helping our communities. Here’s a look at who gave back for December.

Midco/Midco Foundation

Every year, Midco’s Sioux Falls technical operations team raises money to sponsor a family at the St. Francis House over the holidays. This holiday, the staff sponsored a mother and her four children. In addition, the team put up a hat and glove tree collecting winter clothing for families in need. They raised $1,450 to purchase gifts for the family and collected 111 hats, gloves and other winter apparel items. The Midco Foundation also provided a $1,500 grant to the St. Francis House.

Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual adopted two families through the St. Francis House and provided them with more than $2,200 in gifts this holiday season.

Northwestern Mutual also donated $12,500 to Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota.

Rudy M. Navarrete’s Tex-Mexican Restaurant

As a result of fundraising efforts at Rudy M. Navarrete’s Tex-Mexican Restaurant, more than 100 children at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire received a new pair of tennis shoes as a Christmas gift. The restaurant at 2209 W. 57th St. also donates 10 percent of sales from 4 to 9 p.m. every Monday to charities. The upcoming lineup starts off with MOPS on Jan. 6. After that, Active Generations programs will benefit: Activities on Jan. 13, Nutrition on Jan. 20 and Bridges on Jan. 27, Meals on Wheels on Feb. 3, Fitness on Feb. 10 and a yet-to-be-determined program on Feb. 17.

Buffalo Ridge Brewing

Buffalo Ridge Brewing will host Craft Beers & Bingo from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday to raise money for the Hartford Area Community Foundation. Since starting the event in February, the Hartford brewery and community members have raised a total of $6,875 to help eight organizations. Each month, a local community leader/business owner is selected as the bingo caller, and he or she chooses a local charity organization in need. January’s fundraiser will feature Sunshine Foods owners Merlin and Sheri Goebel as celebrity callers. They’ve chosen the community foundation to receive the proceeds.

Xcel Energy/Xcel Energy Foundation

Xcel Energy employees and retirees across its eight-state territory volunteered nearly 70,000 hours to support 800 nonprofits in 2019. Employees, retirees and board members also donated to nonprofits, and their gifts were matched by the Xcel Energy Foundation. Through this program, donations totaled more than $6.1 million last year. Those donations included $20,000 to support relief efforts in Sioux Falls after three tornadoes tore through the city in September. As part of Xcel Energy’s Day of Service on Sept. 7, employees in Sioux Falls volunteered to stain picnic tables at Leif Ericson Day Camp.

Sanford Health

The fifth annual Samaritan’s Feet Barefoot Classic on Dec. 14 at the Sanford Pentagon raised awareness for the nonprofit organization that shares a message of hope with children in need in the United States and around the world by washing their feet and giving them a new pair of shoes. The tournament, presented by Sanford Health,  featured eight boys and eight girls basketball teams from South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Coaches were given the option of going barefoot to help raise awareness of the effort. Sanford Health has partnered with Samaritan’s Feet since 2015, donating more than $1 million to help support shoe distribution events across the Midwest and around the world.

Sanford Health is donating $1 million to renovate Trojan Field in Worthington, Minn. The school district will start work in the spring to build a new stadium and athletic field with artificial turf, a nine-lane track, new bleachers, a new scoreboard, a play clock, concession area and a total remodel of the existing field house. Sanford is the sports medicine provider for the Worthington Trojans.

Macy’s

Macy’s annual Believe letter-writing campaign raises money to help grant wishes for children with critical illnesses. Macy’s donates $1 to Make-A-Wish for each letter written to Santa Claus during the holiday season, with a maximum donation of $1 million. On National Believe Day, Macy’s doubles its donation, pledging $2 for every letter collected, up to an extra $1 million. Throughout the previous 11 campaigns, more than $19 million has been given to the organization.

First National Bank of Omaha

A Sioux Falls student, Audra Kooima, won a $2,000 contribution to a NEST 529 college savings plan account. The First National Bank of Omaha and the state of Nebraska sponsored a contest that encouraged families to submit their favorite back-to-school photos of their children. Ten winners were chosen in a drawing.

Has your organization given back to the community? Or do you know an individual who proves one person can make a difference? Email us at [email protected].

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Giving Back for December

Giving Back recognizes businesses and organizations that are helping our communities.

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