South Dakota
Feeding South Dakota celebrating 50 year while focusing on next 50
This year marks 50 years of Feeding South Dakota and the organization’s work in the state.
While the organization is celebrating the past, leaders say they’re focusing on helping South Dakota in the present and future.
After half-a-century, CEO Lori Dykstra said Feeding South Dakota’s goal remains the same: fight hunger every day.
“We can’t only just continue to feed the line; we need to get people out of that food line. And so, what does that look like?” Dykstra asked. “That means educating people, advocating for the people who can’t advocate for themselves and really making sure that we’re creating programs that are that hand up, that step out of poverty to hopefully to shorten the [food] line.”
She said though they can’t control every variable that puts people in food lines, they can do everything in their power to help.
Dykstra said, more importantly, the goal isn’t to be complacent at 50 years running. The goal is to continue to achieve more over the next 50.
Feeding South Dakota Board Chair Kim Tyler agreed. She said there’s a blueprint on how to do just that: working with the 250 partner agencies to improve rural outreach.
“I think in the next five years we want to make them more effective. Because we cannot just do it in Sioux Falls, and Rapid [City] and maybe Pierre or Aberdeen. We need every county to have folks that are helping their neighbors,” Tyler said. “And so I think we really have a lot of optimism about the partnerships that we have both from, frankly, the people who support us: donors and people who are very altruistic and want to help our cause, and then we have tremendous agencies that work with us to provide solutions in those rural areas, as well as our South Dakota cities.”
She said they aren’t acknowledging 50 years to pat themselves on the back, it’s to shed light on the food insecurity South Dakotans face every day.
“Not because we’re celebrating, Yeah, okay. We made it 50 years. It’s that we want to make sure folks know how much impact we make every month in our state. How many people we’re impacting and helping,” Tyler said. “It’s more that we’re trying to shout about the need and the really really important mission that we’re doing.”
Dykstra said it’s also an open invitation to everyone.
“We’re also hoping it invites people in to be a part of this mission, because we can’t do it without the volunteers who help us support it,” Dykstra said.
Volunteers like Whitney Heubrock and Rebecca Thompson. They are special education teachers with T-12 Thrive. They have brought students to volunteer at Feeding SD since 2017.
Heubrock said helping around the holidays especially resonates with students.
“The Thanksgiving box, or the project we do around Thanksgiving, is always fun because that always clicks with the students: that they’re helping a family have a good, big Thanksgiving meal,” Heubrock said.
Thompson said volunteering helps eliminate some of the stigma surrounding food insecurity.
“And I think being here and being physically present every week maybe takes away any shame or embarrassment if you ever do need the support,” Thompson said. “It’s like, ‘Yeah. It’s here. You know where it is. It’s not a bad thing. [Food insecurity] just happens.”
CEO Lori Dykstra said she’s seen firsthand how it can be hard to ask for help.
“It actually was in a farm community. And people roll down their window, we’re putting food in the back of the car,” Dykstra said. “And the gentleman immediately the first thing he says to me is, ‘You know, I don’t normally need the food line. I’m here because this happened with my job, and I’m switching jobs, and I’m in-between and as soon as I get my paycheck I won’t need to be here. I know this is bad, other people need this more than me.’ And I said, ‘No. We’re here for you.’”
She said they want to help people, no shame or judgement attached.
On the flip side, Dykstra said Feeding South Dakota also has plenty of happy stories to pass along. She told one of a single mother who brought her 4-year-old child.
“And she was asking her mom, ‘What are these? What are these?’ She had never seen them. And her mom was like, ‘I don’t know what they are either.’ And I said, ‘It’s a plum.’ And the woman running the pantry said, ‘Well you can try it.’ And so we washed it up and we gave it to her,” Dykstra said. “And the sheer joy on this little girl’s face. She had never tried it. And she was like, ‘That’s the best thing ever.’ And she just took a pile of them and put them in her bag. And she was so excited to try this fresh plum. Something the sheer joy that a plum can give to a 4-year-old, I mean, it was pretty amazing.”
Dykstra said in her time as CEO, she’s learned that people who aren’t food insecure may take things like a fresh plum for granted.
She added, while the organization is happy to celebrate 50 years, she hopes they can continue to fight food insecurity even further in the future.
See Republican Zach Lahn speak after primary win in governor’s race
GOP gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn speaks to his supporters during an election night watch party on June 2, 2026, in West Des Moines.
The makeup of the Legislature was up in the air as of 1 a.m. after South Dakota’s primary election.
Ten Republican state lawmakers ousted in 2024 are angling to get their seats back in 2026. Results were mixed for the nine who had primaries on Tuesday, with results still coming in for several races and others set for possible recounts.
Shawn Bordeaux of Rosebud won the state’s only Democratic primary, beating Troy “Luke” Lunderman for a chance to return to the state Senate.
Bordeaux will face Chamberlain Republican Rebecca Reimer in November’s general election. Reimer, who was term-limited in the state House of Representatives, beat Lower Brule Sen. Tamara Grove in Tuesday’s primary.
In Watertown’s District 5, Rep. Josephine Garcia fell in a state Senate primary to incumbent Sen. Glen Vilhauer. Garcia beat Byron Callies in the 2024 primary to earn her seat in the House of Representatives, but opted to challenge Vilhauer for his Senate seat instead of seeking reelection to the House.
Callies, Vilhauer and Garcia are all from Watertown.
Vilhauer won with 59% of the vote. His was one of the first state legislative victories of the night reported on the Secretary of State’s website.
Vilhauer won handily, but he said he wasn’t necessarily expecting to as polls opened on Tuesday.
“I knew it was going to be a battle going in,” Vilhauer said. “She worked hard on her side, and I didn’t know what to expect.”
Callies was among the first to call Vilhauer to congratulate him, around 9:30 p.m.
“I’m happy, because Glen’s a solid legislator,” said Callies, who’s angling to win his seat back in the general election.
Garcia did not return a call seeking comment.
In District 21, Sen. Mykala Voita of Bonesteel beat former Sen. Erin Tobin of Winner in a rematch of their 2024 contest, which Voita won by a few dozen votes that year. This time around, Voita bested Tobin by 1,002 votes.
In response to a request for comment, Voita sent a text reading “Glory to God!”
Tobin did not return a call from South Dakota Searchlight about her race after it was called, but said earlier in the evening she would be “at peace” with the results regardless of what they might be.
Another rematch saw Yanktonites Lauren Nelson and Jean Hunhoff battling for District 18’s state Senate seat. Nelson was a newcomer in 2024 when she beat Hunhoff, who’d spent decades in the Capitol between stints in the House and Senate. On Tuesday, Nelson held off Hunhoff, winning by 243 votes.
Other notable races
- District 4 Rep. Dylan Jordan of Clear Lake, first elected in 2024, finished fourth in a five-way race. As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, he trailed Ryan Kohl of Milbank and former Rep. Fred Deutsch of Florence, in first and second place, respectively. A recount is possible in that race, with 59 votes separating the top two vote-getters while Rep. Kent Roe, of Hayti, came in third place, with 72 fewer votes than Deutsch.
- District 4 has two possible recounts. In the other, Bryant’s Stephanie Sauder beat Clear Lake’s Tim Begalka by 105 votes in the unofficial tally from the Secretary of State.
- District 1 Rep. Logan Manhart of Aberdeen, elected in the 2024 primary, fell to Rep. Nick Fosness, a hospital administrator appointed by Gov. Larry Rhoden in 2025, and newcomer Daniel Kjos.
- Another recount was possible as of Wednesday at 1 a.m., in the District 16 race for House of Representatives. Rep. John Shubeck of Beresford trailed Lisa Bogue of Beresford by 245 votes in unofficial results. Jason VanDenTop of Canton was in third place, trailing Shubeck by 68 votes.
Vote totals incomplete
- Sen. John Carley of Piedmont, who won his first term in 2024, trailed William Meirose of Sturgis by 166 votes as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.
- Former Rep. Tyler Tordsen led Rep. Tony Kayser by two votes in the District 14 primary, with results still coming in. The Sioux Falls men are vying for second place and a spot on the November general election ballot alongside Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt of Sioux Falls, who led by more than 600 votes early Wednesday.
- District 28 Sen. Sam Marty of Prairie City was in a close race with former legislator Ryan Maher of Isabel.
- Former Rep. Gary Cammack of Union Center, who lost his seat in 2024, and Gary Deering of Hereford, led Reps. Terri Jorgenson of Piedmont and Kathy Rice of Blackhawk in the District 29 race.
- In District 30, Hot Springs Sen. Amber Hulse led former Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller of Rapid City by more than 1,300 votes.
- Former Sen. David Johnson of Rapid City led Sen. Curt Voight of Rapid City in a rematch of their 2024 race for District 33 Senate in early results.
- Rep. Heather Baxter of Rapid City has signaled her intention to challenge sitting Secretary of State Monae Johnson for the Republican nomination to that constitutional office at the state’s Republican Party convention this summer. In early results, Baxter trailed former Rapid City Rep. Becky Drury and Rep. Mike Derby in the District 34 primary.
- Early results in the District 35 primary put Sen. Greg Blanc, elected in 2024, in a close race with fellow Rapid City resident Nicole Mitzel.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
South Dakota
Republican businessman Toby Doeden advances to primary runoff in South Dakota governor’s race
Republican businessman Toby Doeden has advanced to a runoff in South Dakota governor’s race, NBC News projects.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, who replaced Kristi Noem last year when President Donald Trump nominated her to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was battling with Rep. Dusty Johnson and former state House Speaker Jon Hansen for a second spot in the July 28 runoff. The primary will go to a runoff because no candidate eclipsed 35% of the vote.
Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race. Doeden branded himself on his campaign website as “a total political outsider who’s tired of the government’s failure to deliver on its promises” and one of Trump’s “fiercest supporters.”
Rhoden, a former lieutenant governor, agriculture secretary and lawmaker, campaigned on property tax cuts and lowering crime in his bid for a four-year term.
Johnson is the state’s lone representative in the House, where he previously was chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Hansen, who was elected to the South Dakota House in 2010, held several leadership positions before he became speaker.
The Republican nominee will be the favorite to win the general election in the solidly red state this fall. A Democrat has not served as governor in South Dakota since the 1970s, and Trump carried the state by 29 points in 2024.
News
Agronomist: eastern South Dakota crops hit and miss
An agronomist in eastern South Dakota says corn and soybeans are hit and miss as the growing season begins.
Steven Zemlicka with AgTegra Cooperative tells Brownfield, “We’ve got corn anywhere from V1 all the way up to V4. Biggest stuff’s maybe touching V5. Corn’s coming right along, looks pretty good. A little bit of hail here too, but I don’t think it’s going to be much of an issue. Stands for the most part are pretty good, pretty solid.”
Zemlicka says soybean emergence has been slow due to the wet, cool conditions, and there are a few fields that still need planted.
“People were still working on planting soybeans when we got the recent rain.”
He says recent rain totals ranged from a half inch to as much as four inches in the northeast part of South Dakota; the southern part of the state has been drier.
South Dakota’s corn is rated 61 percent good to excellent, with soybean conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent, according to USDA’s first condition ratings of the season.
-
New Mexico22 seconds agoCumbres & Toltec to begin summer season June 9
-
North Carolina3 minutes ago‘Bonsai in the Blue Ridge’ exhibit brings dozens of displays to North Carolina Arboretum
-
North Dakota8 minutes agoAnd he’s off
-
Ohio15 minutes agoThe purge? Ohio moves to downgrade non-domiciled CDLs
-
Oklahoma18 minutes agoWhat Oklahoma Does Better Than Texas and Why It Matters
-
Oregon23 minutes agoAmid warnings of future cuts, University of Oregon trustees approve next year’s budget
-
Pennsylvania30 minutes agoState Awards Contract To Resurface Major Doylestown Borough Street
-
Rhode Island33 minutes agoShifting Sands in Rhode Island – Rhode Island Monthly
