Update from South Dakota

Our newest board member owns a martial arts studio in town and came on the board with the idea to have a holiday break-a-thon. His youth students are collecting pledges for the boards that they are going to break. This is very exciting and I’m hoping that this becomes a huge annual event for our chapter. (Next year we have already discussed adding the adult members because they want to break bricks for the cause.) One of our other new board members is the night DJ for our local country radio station and may provide coverage of the event. I am so glad we finally found new board members to help the chapter!

Also, our chapter has taken a step forward in making a decision to take on more counties or not. They have placed me on a taskforce to meet with key Red Cross leaders in the area we would be taken over and with Regional staff to make a decision by March. I’m a little nervous because if we do decide to take on these counties, we will be switching everything over when I am supposed to be taking on chairman position. This would mean a total reconstruction of the board of directors along with trying to figure out where to have staff members located for proper service to all areas. In the end it will be worth the time and effort. It is going to test my leadership skills, I hope with the aid of other board members we make the best out of the situation to continue to strengthen our chapter. Hopefully we can help that area gain their chapter charter back and be self standing. This will not happen in my time on the board, but hopefully a future goal for all involved.

I will keep you informed on our decision and let you know how our break-a-thon goes!

Jessica Mueller
South Dakota