Feeding South Dakota is trying to raise $2 million in the next two months. The organization that serves the hungry is being awarded a matching grant from the John T. Vucurevich foundation. It’s phase one of a larger campaign to provide food for people who would otherwise go hungry.
The grant money toward funding Rapid City’s new Feeding South Dakota location could ring it at $500,000 – that is, if the food organization can raise enough matching donations by the end of the year.
After Feeding South Dakota raises $2 million to support Rapid City, the capital campaign shifts at the start of 2014. The initiative is then working to pull together $1 million for outreach and capacity expansion for the program in Pierre.
Kerri DeGraff with Feeding South Dakota says the final stage of the campaign kicks off near the end of next year.
"And then we will be ending in Sioux Falls, and our goal with that facility is to combine our current food pantry location and our current food bank facility into one facility that is just more efficient and more effective in reaching hunger needs in the eastern part of the state," DeGraff says.
The total two-year fundraising effort seeks to raise $6 million to support Feeding South Dakota’s programs that fight hunger statewide.
People who want to donate to Hand to Hand: The Campaign for Feeding South Dakota can visit the organization's website.