Receiving funds for a charitable organization can be tough work. Usually you have to rely on private donations or various government funding. But one Rapid City group is asking for help on the national stage.
The State Farm Insurance Company is giving away Neighborhood Assist grants to charities across the nation. Over 2,000 submissions were narrowed down to 200 and now people can vote online for the causes. Each of the top 40 groups will receive a $25,000 grant.
Four groups from South Dakota were selected to be in the finals. And two charities were submitted by the same organization in Rapid City. Youth & Family Services Inc. applied for the State Farm grant on behalf of Keep Rapid City Kids Safe from Meth and Meeting Needs of Low-Income Families in Rapid City.
Brianna Nelson is the Communications Coordinator for Youth & Family Services. She says both these causes hope to make Rapid City a better place.
“From what I’ve heard it’s very unheard of for one organization to have two causes submitted in the top finals, so that’s kind of exciting for us. We really rely on the community support for all of our programs and services throughout the year on an annual basis. But especially in a competition like this where we are relying on the community to support our programs and our services through voting online we would really like to encourage folks to get out there and if you think this is a worthy cause to vote for us, we would appreciate it very much,” says Nelson.
Nelson says just having their work recognized means a lot. She says voting is open until Friday night on the Neighborhood Assist website.