Costa Rica Raffle

Our Stories

The beginning of the 2022 holiday season brought an experience the Schelske family did not have on their Christmas list. Thanks to a caring rural South Dakota community and local, quality, accessible health care, they ended up receiving a wonderful gift – their child’s health.

When you meet Saw Joseph Naykaw Kankanyaw, it’s hard to believe you aren’t looking at a healthy, normal five-year-old boy. His grin is infectious and given an opening he’ll show you his dance moves.

Rural health care has never meant more to ranchers John and Dixie until their own granddaughter was bleeding out in their house.

Judy and Jerry Martin met online via a dating service. Judy said she was being a smart aleck because Jerry claimed in his profile to be a cowboy. She had heard from a friend there was a single man named Jerry working at Walmart and then realized the man she met online was the same Jerry. She went to Walmart to check him out a few times. One day she walked up to him and said, so you think you’re a cowboy, huh? He recognized her too. They started dating and never looked back. That was 13 years ago. They were married for eight.

Our family is grateful to have received services from the Smiles for Miles program.