Announcing our spring grants for 2025! Congratulations to the local organizations expanding access to dental care, music education, and literacy for children across the Black Hills. Over $43,000 in funding will support programs that nurture student well-being, creativity, and academic success. We’re proud to invest in these efforts and look forward to the positive impact they’ll have in the months ahead.

• • Rapid City Area Schools / Delta Dental Mobile Program $18,000 – Expanding student access to dental care through on-site mobile clinics at public schools
  • Chamber Music Festival of the Black Hills $15,000 – Supporting educational music programming for underserved and low-income youth

  • South Dakota Humanities Council $10,000 – Purchasing books for the Young Reader One Program, serving 3rd grade students across the Black Hills

Rapid City Area Schools / Delta Dental Mobile Program

$18,000 – Expanding student access to dental care through on-site mobile clinics at public schools

The Delta Dental Mobile Program brings essential dental services directly to children who otherwise face significant barriers to care. Managed, operated, and staffed by Delta Dental of South Dakota, the program deploys two fully equipped mobile dental clinics. The mobile clinics serve more than 5,000 children across the state each year.

With a mission rooted in supporting underserved youth, the program provides preventive, diagnostic, and restorative dental care at no cost to children or their families. Community site partners, such as Rapid City Area Schools, host the mobile clinics, making it easier for students to receive care where they already are — at school.

Access to dental care is a critical component of a student’s well-being and academic success. Untreated tooth pain and other dental issues can negatively impact a child’s ability to focus and learn in the classroom. While many students may be covered by Medicaid, access to Medicaid-accepting dental providers in the community is limited. The Mobile Program bridges this gap by offering services such as dental exams, x-rays, cleanings, sealants, fluoride treatments, cavity fillings, crowns, and extractions. When more intensive or follow-up care is required, school nursing staff coordinate with community providers, including Complete Health’s Dental Clinic, to ensure continuity of care.

This grant supports continued partnership with Rapid City Area Schools to expand the reach of the Delta Dental Mobile Program and help remove barriers to care for students in need.

Chamber Music Festival of the Black Hills

$15,000 – Supporting educational music programming for underserved and low-income youth

The Chamber Music Festival of the Black Hills promotes the appreciation of classical music through world-class chamber music performances and educational outreach across the Black Hills and Pine Ridge region. Their mission is to foster a love of classical music by presenting concerts in innovative formats and engaging the broader community through education and involvement.

JTVF has proudly supported the Festival’s educational programming for over a decade, recognizing its vital role in making high-quality music experiences accessible to children, especially those from low-income and underserved communities. All youth programming is offered free of charge and reaches a diverse audience of students and families across the region.

This summer, the Festival will continue its impactful lineup of youth-centered programs, including:

• Musical Story Time
• Children’s Family Concert
• Discovery of Strings and Harp
• Master Classes
• Celebration of Strings

These initiatives provide children with hands-on experiences, exposure to professional musicians, and opportunities to explore instruments they might not otherwise encounter — all of which inspire creativity, build confidence, and nurture a lifelong appreciation for the arts.

South Dakota Humanities Council

$10,000 – Purchasing books for the Young Reader One Program, serving 3rd grade students across the Black Hills

The South Dakota Humanities Council (SDHC) delivers enriching humanities programming across the state, with a mission to celebrate literature, promote civil conversation, and tell the stories that define South Dakota. Through partnerships and public programming, including the South Dakota Festival of Books and One Book South Dakota, SDHC works to advance literacy, civic engagement, and access to the humanities for all.

Founded in 1972, one of SDHC’s cornerstone literacy efforts is the Young Reader One Program, which focuses on improving literacy among third grade students — a critical year for reading development and future academic success.

Research shows that students who are not reading proficiently by fourth grade are at greater risk of falling behind academically and dropping out of school. The Young Reader One Program aims to reverse this trend by:

• Providing third-grade students with their own copy of a selected book
• Creating opportunities to interact with the book’s author or illustrator
• Supplying teachers with classroom resources to enhance reading instruction

This $10,000 grant will help purchase books for students across the Black Hills region, ensuring that more children — particularly those in underserved areas — have access to meaningful literary experiences at a pivotal stage in their education.