In February 2024, the Super Kids Club board was gearing up to plan their final summer schedule. However, the perfect storm of changes in staffing, and the depletion of funding streams left the full summer program underfunded. That meant the approximately 105 children, who were slated to attend the program daily during the summer of 2024, would be without childcare during the summer months. This would be the final summer of Super Kids Club, before transitioning to Bow Club, which would be run by Broken Bow Public Schools, during the fall and spring semesters of the 2024-2025 school year.
Super Kids Club (SKC) sent a survey to attendees’ families and found that 43% of families said that without SKC “they would have to quit their job, or decrease hours.” The lack of summer childcare would affect over 40 local businesses and their employees. Comments from the survey further pushed the idea that the summer program is a necessity in our community. According to the SKC board, the statistics show that 98 students attended SKC during the summer months of June, July, and August. During this time, the students logged 15,705 hours at Super Kids Club.
When the Foundation became aware of the summer programming financial situation, the Custer County Foundation (CCF) saw an opportunity to assist Super Kids Club, Inc., another nonprofit. The CCF awarded 44 scholarships, to students to cover tuition for the summer program. This amount totaled $25,092.76.
The scholarships were funded through the Yanagida Family Trust Endowment. This fund started back in 2020 with an unrestricted gift of $200,000 to the Custer County Foundation by the Roy Yanagida Family. In addition to that gift, Roy, a founding member of the Custer County Foundation, challenged the Foundation to raise an additional $100,000 and the Yanagida Family pledged to match every donation to the “Yanagida Challenge Match” dollar for dollar, up to a maximum of $100,000!
When told about the impact a portion of his gift had on SKC this past summer, Roy could only exclaim “Oh! Wow!,” SKC Board Member, Amy Wenquist reiterated, “We so appreciate the Foundation’s support of the summer program. It wouldn’t have happened without the security of those funds.”
The mission of the Custer County Foundation is to seek out, receive, and administer funds to meet the present and future needs of the residents of Custer County. Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible. Call the Foundation at 308-872-2232 for more information.