What We Do

Our Kiwanis club raises funds or volunteers for many organizations in Sioux Falls that help children and youth, including CASA, Compassion Childcare, Family Connection/Children’s Connection, the Family Visitation Center, Feeding South Dakota, the BackPack Program, the Haiti Crayon Collection Drive, the McCrossan Boys Ranch, Kids Against Hunger, Leif Ericson Day Camp, the Banquet, Project S.O.S. (Supply Our Students), the Teddy Bear Den, the Salvation Army, and the Toy Lending Library of South Dakota.

Carbs for Kids 5k and Bake Sale

Our Carbs for Kids 5k and Bake Sale, held each spring at Cherry Rock Park, raises funds for many organizations in Sioux Falls that help children, and it also supports our donation to Cure Rare Disease, whose mission is to enable the development of life-saving genetic medicines for rare and ultra-rare patient populations previously deemed too rare to treat. You can find more information about our 5k and free-will donation bake sale here.

Supermarket Sweep at Sunshine Foods

Our Supermarket Sweep, typically held in September, raises money through raffle tickets to support local programs that help children and their families.

The Salvation Army Angel Tree and Red Kettle Campaign

In December, our Kiwanis club volunteers for two Salvation Army programs to assist families during the holidays: The Angel Tree Program and the Red Kettle Campaign. Our club members volunteer to collect toys at the Angel Tree location in the Empire Mall, and we ring bells for the Red Kettle Campaign at various locations around Sioux Falls.

Adopt-A-Family at Christmas

In December, our club “sponsors” Christmas for a handful of families. We take them shopping and let them get whatever they need in order to make their Christmas special. One year a dad bought bikes for his kids, and another year a man bought supplies to change his oil. Often families just need to get a few items to keep their family going or make Christmas memories with their kids.

Toy Sanitation for the Toy Lending Library

The first Wednesday of every month, our club volunteers to clean and sanitize the toy boxes that have been checked out from the Toy Lending Library of South Dakota. These toy boxes are available for free at sixteen locations around Sioux Falls. In addition to cleaning and sanitizing toys, our club has also purchased many toy boxes to add to their collection.

Birthday in a Bag for Family Visitation Center

Our club purchases and assembles bags of party supplies and decorations to be donated to the Family Visitation Center. The Family Visitation Center is a local non-profit that empowers children to maintain healthy relationships with their family members through safe supervised visits and exchanges. Our club project attempts to support children as they celebrate with their family members.

Pizza Ranch Fundraising Events

Two or three times each year, our club volunteers to bus tables at the Pizza Ranch at West 41st Street in order to raise money for the organizations we support.