South Dakota Community Foundation

In The Moment ... August 31, 2018 Show 413 Hour 1

If you visit the city of Huron, you see the legacy of Marilyn Hohm Hoyt throughout the community. As a community leader, visionary, and philanthropist, her legacy is at work in less obvious ways across the state of South Dakota.

Dakota State University is receiving a $3,500 South Dakota Fund grant to support a mixed-reality teaching simulation for its education students. The Virtual Avatar Learning Experience—or VALE—gives DSU students a chance to experience classroom management before dealing with real live kids. 

The VALE at DSU is the only program of its kind in the state. During a VALE simulation, education majors stand in front of a flat screen TV that displays a classroom with five avatars representing middle-school aged students.

The South Dakota Agricultural Foundation has announced the establishment of an endowment fund within the South Dakota Community Foundation. The focus is on investing in the future of the ag industry in the state. Initial partners have committed $1.5 million to this effort over the next five years. South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Lucas Lentsch and Stephanie Judson, president of the SD Community Foundation, join Midday to talk about the endowment … its genesis, its goals, and its potential impact on family farmers/producers throughout the state.

South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Jennifer Boomgaarden explains expansion of the Music as Medicine program, a partnership with Avera Health and South Dakota Community Foundation. Highlights include a new "memoir" pilot program, how grant money and individual donations fuel the orchestra, and plans to travel Music as Medicine beyond the Sioux Falls region.

South Dakota Community Foundation recently announced more than $128,000 in Community Innovation Grants. President Stephanie Judson explains SDCF's partnership with the Bush Foundation and how her organization supports creative problem solving in communities throughout the state.

A South Dakota organization has received a $10,000 grant to clean up the Missouri River. The group will focus on public awareness to help stop pollution.

The Izaak Walton League is a national conservation group. The South Chapter has organized Missouri River clean ups for many years, but wanted to take on a more proactive role. The League received the grant from the South Dakota Community Foundation to start the Missouri River Initiative. Paul Lepisto says the program hopes to educate the public on keeping litter out of the river.