Your donation doubled: South Dakota CARES kicks off this month

This paid piece is sponsored by LSS.

April 21 marked the start of South Dakota CARES, a statewide day of giving held in support of vital LSS services. The event highlights stories of positive change through program tours, panel discussions and agency updates, and online giving matches and challenges. Last year, more than 300 unique donors came together to raise more than $323,000 during the event.

A handful of LSS donors have set up matches and challenges to double the impact of donations made during South Dakota CARES. This includes Jennifer Kirby, who has been connected to the LSS mission all her life.

“I don’t recall ever not knowing about LSS,” Kirby said.

For more than 40 years, her grandparents served as Lutheran missionaries in Papua New Guinea, an island country in the Pacific Ocean. The experience profoundly shaped her family and spurred their involvement in organizations like LSS.

“My cousins were adopted from Sudan, and they’ve received similar support to what LSS offers. In that sense, the work LSS does has always been close to my heart.”

A challenging season in early adulthood gave Kirby an even clearer and more personal picture of LSS’ impact.

“When I was in my 20s, I needed therapy in the worst way. It was a point where I didn’t know where things were going in my life, so I went to LSS.”

Kirby said her LSS counselor helped her identify and process unresolved grief from her childhood. The healing and support she received wouldn’t have been possible without the donors who made the services affordable and accessible to her.

“I didn’t have much money, but LSS’ counseling services were on a sliding scale, so I could actually afford them,” she said. “It changed my life.”

In the following years, Kirby and her husband, Joe, moved their growing family to the California desert, where they lived for more than a decade. While they treasured their community, it lacked the closeness and connection of Sioux Falls. Eventually, they made the move back home.

“The desert was dreadfully hot,” Kirby said, laughing. “We really missed the community in Sioux Falls and the sense that people always look out for each other. I feel very loved in Sioux Falls, and we missed that.”

Now, they’re focused on making their community a better place to live. This means investing in organizations like LSS that create opportunities for everyone in the community to be healthy, safe and accepted.

“LSS not only finds ways to help people but also ways to prevent future problems,” she said. “They look out for people who might not be in a position to help themselves. And that could happen to any one of us.”

The Kirbys are sponsoring this year’s Offering Cutting-Edge Care Challenge. Fifty or more donors will unlock $25,000 to help provide specialized, trauma-informed and evidence-based education and training for LSS staff.

“Our gift is going to the Cutting-Edge Care Fund, which will train direct-care professionals on new ways to treat people,” Kirby said. “It makes the process shorter, more efficient and effective, and better for everybody.”

Every donation makes a difference. Just $100 will offset the cost of required foster care training, while a $500 gift will equip staff to help youth overcome self-harm and depression.

“It goes back to keeping South Dakota a fantastic place to live by making sure everyone who needs help has the opportunity to get it,” Kirby said. “There’d be a huge gap without LSS.”

‘Any one of us could be in a position of needing significant help’

DeMaris Nesheim is a longtime LSS donor whose giving started with the Canyon Hills Center in Spearfish — a residential treatment facility that helps youths with emotional, behavioral health and educational challenges.

Over the years, Nesheim has played a significant role in making the facility more practical and accommodating for youths.

“They had so many freezers and coolers but still not enough space, so we updated the kitchen with a walk-in freezer,” DeMaris said. “And we brought in more durable furniture that could withstand wear and tear from the kids.”

A former elementary school teacher, Nesheim has always been invested in helping children flourish. However, it was the loss of her 36-year-old daughter that sparked an even greater interest in the LSS mission.

“My daughter was a principal in California, and she devoted her life to children who were neglected and abused. I’m giving to honor her spirit.”

Nesheim notes her deep appreciation for the staff at Canyon Hills, as well as those with New Beginnings in Aberdeen and Foster Care Services statewide, for furthering her daughter’s passion through their work.

“I’ve found the people at LSS to be very dedicated. When I leave these facilities, like Canyon Hills, I think the people who work there are the saints among us. I have all sorts of respect and gratitude for them.”

Nesheim’s Enhancing Access to Mental Healthcare Match will help cover the cost of counseling for children, families and individuals, allowing them to get the support they need. Every dollar donated up to $25,000 will be doubled.

Thinking back to her own story, Kirby encourages people to consider the life-changing impact their gift could have on others.

“None of us choose the circumstances we’re born into or find ourselves in at certain points in life,” Kirby explains. “Any one of us could be in the position of needing significant help from LSS. For those of us who have the opportunity to help, it’s really important we do. This is our community and our neighbors.”

Visit SouthDakotaCARES.org and double your impact with a gift to one of four matches: Building Successful Families Match, Enhancing Access to Mental Healthcare Match, Helping Children in Foster Care Challenge and Offering Cutting-Edge Care Challenge.

Decades after life-changing help, she’s helping pay it forward