Sioux Valley Energy and its members are investing in local communities by giving a boost to groups and organizations, including awards totaling $6,050 to those in Brookings County.
During the most recent quarterly meeting of the Sioux Valley Energy Customers’ Trust Board of Directors, $35,899 in grants were awarded by the cooperative’s Operation Round Up program. An additional $5,000 was reserved for scholarships.
Brookings County recipients included:
• Brookings- Mickelson Middle School — $800 to purchase 8-10 digital microscopes that can be used for the sixth grade science classroom, these will help to enhance several units, with a primary focus on the rocks and minerals units
• Special Education Transition Program Housed at Hillcrest Elementary – $500 to provide real-life opportunities as they develop these essential skills
• STARS – $800 to expand tools for obstacle courses to ride through, along with rubber mats to provide safe and stable walkways to the program areas
• National Inventors Hall of Fame — $1,000 for full camp registration for 10 local low-income children
• South Dakota Youth Foundation, Inc — $750 to support comprehensive review and update of the Healthy Youth curriculum done in collaboration with the University of Minnesota dietetics program
• Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program – $1,200 to launch a pilot program that will serve up to 10 teens who are in a pivotal transition point in their lives
• Bruce Stingers Baseball – $1,000 to purchase a padded backstop to ensure the safety of players, coaches, and umpires
Other recipients included:
• Brandon, South Dakota Buddies & Co — $1,000 to purchase a freezer to use in their shop – this will help them to expand their business by selling individual and family size freezer meals
• Brandon Tennis Association – $500 to reduce registration fees, provide summer lessons for children 5-14, T-shirts for all participants, and scholarships for families in need
• Chester School – $250 for boat kits and award medals for a project in science class for middle school students
• Colton Fire Department – $2,500 to be used to purchase three AED Life Pak CR2 models with public access defibrillator cases
• Colton Friends of Baseball – $1,500 to help with field improvements, such as replacing dugouts, concession stand and fencing, along with adding a crow’s nest, accessible seating, and new bathrooms
• Crooks Community Childcare Center — $1,300 to purchase chairs and an infant table for the new center
• Flandreau, South Dakota Flandreau After Prom — $200 to help cover costs for food, activities, prizes, and entertainment for after prom
• Flandreau/Hartford ROCS Transit – $2,000 to be used for general transportation for the elderly, disabled youth, and the overall general public
• Garretson Area Historical Society – $600 to address public safety, health concerns, and the preservation of a cultural community assessed at the museum. Funding will also support a licensed wildlife contractor to perform human bat exclusion
• Hartford West Central Music Association – $1,499 to purchase two marching band baritones
• Holland, Minnesota SW MN Blaze Baseball – $1,000 to help pay for registration fees, lodging, and meals for the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame tournament in New York
• Luverne, Minnesota Luverne School – $1,000 for miscellaneous items for classrooms
• Luverne School – $1,000 to purchase a dramatic play kitchen and sensory table for children to learn through hands on play
• Madison Dakota State University — $850 to support essential event expenses for the “Women in Science Day”
• East Dakota Transit— $2,000 to provide general transportation to the elderly, disabled, youth and the public within Madison city limits
• Dakota State University — $1,000 for the “JA in a Day” program
• Lake County Historical Society — $800 to help develop the Boyd Wagon Virtual Reality Experience, an innovative educational project designed to bring local history to life for youth, families, and lifelong learners
• Pipestone, Minnesota, Pipestone Calumet Players – $1,000 to purchase costumes, build sets, and advertising
• ACE of Southwest Minnesota – $600 to help provide meal for 200 volunteers for an appreciation event
• City of Pipestone – $1,000 to purchase and install communication boards for the parks and outdoor swimming pool
• AMP (Arts & Mentoring Project) – $1,000 to help cover cost of a local storage unit that houses essential equipment, supplies, costumes, and sets for the AMP
• Pipestone Area French Club – $1,000 for expenses for students to travel to France
• Quilts of Valor – $1,500 to purchase supplies to make quilts that will be presented to veterans each year in this region
•Sioux Falls McCrossan Boys Ranch — $2,000 to purchase track and field items needed to utilize the new complex
• Center of Hope — $1,000 provide clothing to those transitioning out of prison through “New Beginnings,” provide new bicycle parts/locks for those that use bikes as their main form of transportation, and to provide medicine assistance for the uninsured
• Sioux Falls Roosevelt Band Parents Association — $1,000 to be used for props and marching equipment for the 2026 marching band season, along with funding to help with bus service to transport students to and from competitions
• Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium — $750 to enable hundreds of children and adults to engage with SFZA’s facilities and programs, including “Zoo & Aquarium for All” which provides reduced-price admission for economically disadvantaged individuals opportunities for all ages
More than $2.5 million has been donated to area non-profits, schools, and communities since the year 2000 when Sioux Valley Energy started its Operation Round Up program. The program is simple — participating members “round up” their electric bill to the next high dollar and those “rounded up” funds are placed into a trust. Additionally, many Sioux Valley Energy employees donate from their paycheck each month. Each quarter, the Operation Round Up board of trustees meets to review applications and consider grant requests. A list of recent grant recipients, as well as information on how local organizations can apply for funding, can be found at https://www.siouxvalleyenergy.com/operation-round-up. The next deadline to apply for funding is May 20, with grants being awarded in June.
Sioux Valley Energy, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, is a member-owned electric utility, providing reliable electric service at cost-based rates to nearly 30,000 homes, farms, businesses, and industries in a seven-county area of east-central South Dakota and western Minnesota.
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