A rendering of the main entrance to the new DMF Center of Excellence at 4321 20th Ave. S, Fargo. It is expected to be completed in early 2025.
We are Called to Serve WELCOME
There’s no place like home, and we’re excited to be in a new one! As we reflect on the past year and settle into our new space, I’m filled with gratitude for what our team accomplished in 2024.
The year started with a bang, as Giving Hearts Day — for the 16th time in 17 years — broke its own fundraising record with $29.3 million raised and saw regional businesses collect more than 5,000 pounds of food and supplies for the second annual GHD Goods Drive. It was so gratifying to see hundreds of employers join in the Giving Hearts Day spirit and continue to find new ways to make the day their own.
The day was bittersweet this year, as it was to be the last Giving Hearts Day in the place we called home for more than a decade. As we packed up the building and prepared for the Foundation’s next chapter, I was flooded with memories of all the good that was accomplished there — the millions of dollars raised for worthy causes, the bold dreams hatched by local charities, and the countless lives improved by caring community members.
The boxes were still unpacked as we launched an initiative years in the making. In June, hundreds of regional leaders gathered for the inaugural session of Lead with Light, a program that DMF founded to help leaders create civil, healthy, high-performing environments, and over the next six months, these Leaders of Light would meet three more times.
There were many other notable achievements throughout the year — the release of a Healthy Tech Toolkit, the unveiling of a revamped Lend A Hand Up website, and hundreds of charity leaders trained in High Impact Fundraising and Boards — but Lead with Light is symbolic in what it represents for the future of DMF.
When Dakota Hospital opened in 1964, it quickly became known for its capabilities in kidney dialysis, joint replacement, and open-heart surgery. 60 years later, in 2024, we’re fighting a whole new set of health challenges in the form of addiction, mental illness, and diseases of loneliness and despair. Along with a collection of caring community partners, DMF is committed to taking up the mantle.
Lead with Light is a manifestation of that commitment, as we believe that the best way to reverse these negative health trends and reinstill a sense of hope, gratitude, and civility in our communities is to train a small army of leaders to lead the effort.
As always, thank you to our wonderful board members, DMF members, and ambassadors for helping us to create the happiest, healthiest region on the planet. Here’s to an even happier and healthier 2025!
Gratefully,
J. Patrick Traynor, JD Executive Director Dakota Medical Foundation
Rob Lauf, DDS Board Chair Dakota Medical Foundation
LEND
A HAND UP BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Robert Lauf, DDS
Kristin Kenner, DDS
John Clayburgh, DDS
Carla Schneider, RDA
Luke Trapp
Mike Kudrna
Chanel Malone, RDA
Kami Dornfeld, DDS
Chris Schmaltz, DDS
Lyndsie Jo Gryskiewicz
Paul Tronsgard, DDS
Lend A Hand Up is a subsidiary of Dakota Medical Foundation.
Jason Schaff, OD
Jim Helmers, OD
Kristin Engstrom, OD
Blaine Burdick, OD
Lori Scheel, OD
Brian Beattie, OD
Dr. Rob Lauf, DDS Chair
Dr. Susan Mathison, MD Past Chair
Nola McNeally, JD Vice Chair
Kim Meyer Director
Dr. Dave Akkerman, MD Director
Dr. Barbra Brookshire, OD Director
Julene Brown, RN Director
Vanessa Coulter, ARPN, CNP Director
John Deutsch, PharmD Director
Chris Kennelly, JD Secretary
Jessica R. Kuhn, DNP Director
Eric Monson Treasurer
Jennifer Thompson, JD Director
J. Patrick Traynor, JD Executive Director, Ex-Officio
Diane Miller Director
Stephanie Astrup Director
Dr. Barbra Brookshire, OD Director
Jason Boutwell Director
Julene Brown, RN Director
Brian Haugen Chair
Jessica R. Kuhn, DNP Vice Chair
Sindy Keller Director
Peter Jacobson Director
Peter Hovey Secretary
Jennifer Thompson, JD Treasurer
Jane Skalsky Director
Kristi Persons Director
J. Patrick Traynor, JD Executive Director
Note: As DMF and Impact Foundation share staff and services, included above are both DMF and Impact Foundation team members.
Whitney Isaacson Outreach Coordinator
Damon Gleave Chief Financial Officer
Emily Jones Director of Development
Nate Mickelberg Director of Communications
Matthew Ohren Technology Lead
Jordan Amberg Systems Developer
Evan Balko Multimedia Lead
Kelly Barbot Design Lead
Riley Boese Digital & Operations Lead
Tara Bujold Director of Executive Operations
Dianne Connelly Accounting Manager
Hannah Caughey Senior Accountant
Lana Foss Administrative Specialist
Cheryl Feltman North Dakota Dental Fdn. Manager
Tanner Olson Special Projects Coordinator
Jeana Peinovich Lend A Hand Up Director
Kim Palm Development Specialist
Cheryl Poirier Events Coordinator
Alexandra Rasmussen Lend A Hand Up Coordinator
Amanda Sayre Chief Programs Officer
Madeline Strong Impact Foundation Coordinator
Michael Schumacher, CPA Chief Investment Officer Director for the Center of Excellence
J. Patrick Traynor, JD Executive Director
Final picture of DMF staff taken in old building at 4141 28th Ave. S, Fargo (April 26, 2024)
THE DMF CENTER OF EXCELLENCE: A GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY
From 2013-2024, more than 1,400 organizations and 100,000plus people used DMF’s previous facility for a variety of charitable purposes. Due to ever-increasing demand, the Foundation determined it was time to expand its ability to serve and bring together significantly more people and organizations.
In April, DMF left the building it called home for nearly 12 years and moved into its new 94,000-squarefoot space just down the road. The DMF Center of Excellence, as it will be known, will house not just Dakota Medical Foundation, Impact Foundation, and the Alex Stern Family Foundation but also a number of other local charities including Peace Academy, Pulse Evangelism, Professional Launch, Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, and North Dakota Safety Council. DMF and its community spaces will occupy approximately half the square footage while costsharing the other half with regional nonprofits.
To create a building the entire community can utilize and benefit from, a multi-phase renovation project began in August 2024, with Phase I expected to be completed in early 2025. The Center of Excellence will open at a time when many people in our community need human connection more than ever. According to a recent study, nearly half of Americans report feelings of loneliness, and a truly inclusive space where people are welcomed and supported is important not just for the prosperity of individuals but also for the people who are working to make our community as healthy as it can be.
The campus and amenities continues to be informed by input from numerous charities, businesses, and volunteers and will be used to host in-person events, exhibits, community learning opportunities, and a variety of health initiatives.
A rendering of the future main entrance to the DMF Center of Excellence.
Pictured above is a rendering of the future home of the DMF Hall of Inspiration, which will feature not only inspirational quotes, exhibits, and stories of impact but also a timeline of the Foundation since its inception as a hospital in the 1960s.
DMF views its new campus as an enduring gift to the community and a regional destination where people gather to develop healthy life habits, build high-performing organizations, and access meaningful learning opportunities.
encouraging them to unplug from their devices and rediscover the importance of fellowship and connection in daily life.
The DMF Center of Excellence aims to bring together people from all walks of life,
LEAD WITH LIGHT
A CALL FOR LEADERS OF LIGHT
In June, DMF and Impact Foundation launched a new leadership program, Lead with Light, to an audience of hundreds at the Avalon Events Center in Fargo. Lead with Light aims to help leaders develop their capabilities to create civil, healthy, high-performing environments where those around them will shine their brightest. The ultimate vision is to grow and develop thousands of Leaders of Light across the region to ignite a powerful movement to see light, be light, and spread light.
In total, nearly 700 people attended the four in-person Lead with Light events, with the final session set to be held in March 2025. We also launched a Leading with Light website (BeLight.org) and monthly newsletter, which reaches nearly 2,000 people and features event recaps, practical tips, and resources for implementing Lead with Light concepts.
AN EVENING WITH A HAPPINESS EXPERT
As part of the Lead with Light initiative and in partnership with the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, DMF and Impact Foundation helped bring happiness expert and New York Times bestselling author Arthur Brooks to the Fargo Theatre in October for an evening of fellowship, learning, and purpose.
Arthur served as inaugural keynote speaker for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Speaker Series, and he delivered a 75-minute masterclass on how happiness is a core competency for those of us who want to be in charge of our own lives. Far from a fleeting feeling that we need to constantly chase, Brooks explained how happiness is something that can — and should — be actively managed if we’re going to become the best version of ourselves. It’s not some external thing that happens to us; it’s an internal thing that comes from within us.
He has devoted his life to researching and understanding what actually makes people happy and has found that we really only need to focus on four things:
1. Faith
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Work (in service of others)
If we look at happiness as a meal, those are our macronutrients. And to be happier, we need to consume more of the nutritious stuff and less of the junk.
Pictured above: Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Executive Director Robbie Lauf kicks off the inaugural TR Presidential Library Speaker Series, introducing keynote speaker and his former boss, Arthur Brooks. Robbie is the son of DMF Board Chair Rob Lauf and was instrumental in getting Brooks to Fargo for the event.
Arthur Brooks
GIVING HEARTS DAY
2024 AT A GLANCE
Raised since 2008
$29.3 M 87,849 5,586 LBS* donations
Raised in 2024
participating charities 612
of food and goods collected**
*Amount only includes those businesses that reported lbs. collected. **126 locations
Giving Hearts Day 2024 saw a new kind of milestone, as the most charities ever — five — surpassed the $1 million raised mark. Hospice of the Red River Valley, New Life Center, Oak Grove Lutheran School, University of North Dakota Foundation, and YWCA Cass Clay all had seven-figure fundraising days on the region’s largest day of giving. We also added a new teammate, as the lovable Henry the Heart made his debut as the official Giving Hearts Day mascot (see above). Henry could be found at businesses, service clubs, and churches across the region, directing people to dropoff locations for the second annual Giving Hearts Day Goods Drive.
In the tradition of the Jerry Lewis telethons of yesteryear and in partnership with WDAY, Giving Hearts Day also launched the first-ever Giving Hearts Day Show. Local news legends Dana Mogck and Kerstin Kealy served as hosts, as viewers enjoyed charity impact stories, live interviews, and two $20,000 Golden Ticket giveaways. As Giving Hearts Day 2025 prepares to surpass the cumulative $200 million milestone, we feel like the 625 participating charities are just scratching the surface of our region’s generosity.
HIGH IMPACT FRIENDRAISING COACH ERV INNIGER
While Coach Erv Inniger has been a valuable part of the GHD team for years, one big change he made this year was working with his coaching caseload starting in the spring. Erv did this to ensure that the groups he works with have a solid fundraising plan and calendar of activities year-round, not just during Giving Hearts Day season.
Erv helps ensure that his charities have the fundraising tools and strategies they need to grow their organization’s fundraising success on an ongoing basis and helps them to become better major-gift fundraisers. He also helps to push them out of their comfort zone and set much bolder goals to work toward.
DMF Chief Programs Officer Amanda Sayre has overseen the past two Giving Hearts Days, with more than $55 million raised during her time as director.
"Help me end hunger!"
HIGH IMPACT BOARDS
We believe that in order to create a region of the highestperforming charities, we must first create a region of the highest-performing boards and CEOs. That’s why, in 2024, we greatly expanded our offerings for High Impact Boards, a board-development program representing the culmination of more than two decades of research and experience working alongside hundreds of charity board and leadership teams.
We trained dozens of organizations and hundreds of nonprofit leaders across the region in the BD3 (Bold Dreams x Brilliant Delivery x Burning Desire to Serve = Extraordinary Impact) and IMPACT frameworks. We also launched a new High Impact Boards implementation and
HIGH IMPACT BOARDS NEWSLETTER
We’ve all been there. You attend a great training, have every intention of implementing all the great things you learned, and before long, those good intentions turn to businessas-usual. We wanted to avoid this kind of learning loss with High Impact Boards, and so this year we launched a regular newsletter that keeps the IMPACT framework top of mind for our charity partners. Each month, we explore a concept from the HIB framework and highlight real charities that have put the framework into practice. Through the newsletter, readers also have the opportunity to purchase the official High Impact Boards book and sign up for ongoing trainings and workshops.
coaching program and monthly newsletter that helps charities put the IMPACT principles into practice on a regular basis.
It was a busy year for the High Impact Boards team, as we conducted 10 in-person retreats and workshops across the region, including our first offerings outside of the Fargo-Moorhead area. Through a combination of group and individual retreats and hands-on implementation workshops, we were able to introduce hundreds of charity leaders to the “rocket ship” that is High Impact Boards and helped them reimagine their servant role as board members who are called to lead with a bold vision.
HIGH IMPACT BOARDS IMPLEMENTATION AND COACHING
High Impact Boards Coach Dan Jacobson was a valuable addition to the team this year, as he assumed the role of implementation-and-dashboard specialist. With a caseload of 30 organizations, Dan helps charities that have participated in an HIB retreat go from theory to practice. The first step is usually the development of an organizational dashboard because, as we like to say, “What gets measured gets done.” Dan also led numerous dashboard workshops throughout the year, where nonprofits could come in person and learn how to build a dashboard that works for their particular organization.
HIGH IMPACT BOARDS BOOK
Each participant at board trainings receives a copy of the official Impact Boards book, “Reimagining Board Service.”
Pictured left: Gigi’s Playhouse Board receiving their High Impact Boards certificates of completion.
LEND A HAND UP
FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS
Giving Hearts Day
$167,703 raised Holiday Hand Up..............
MILLION RAISED
COMMUNITY FUNDRAISERS
Maple River Golf Event
$71,502 raised Summer Boost..................
FOR
$23,347 raised
$38,209 raised Stick It to Cancer ................ $44,156 raised LAHU Fore Families ........... $11,090 raised
While Lend A Hand Up started as a medical-crisis program, there are many other crises that cause significant challenges as well. That’s why, starting last year, Lend A Hand Up now also assists those families suffering from more than just medical issues. Fundraisers can now be held for families suffering from a traumatic event or the recent death of a family member. In addition to this expansion, we also expanded this year into Ottertail County, Minnesota.
NEW WEBSITE
For much of 2024, the Lend A Hand Up and DMF webdevelopment teams were hard at work rebuilding the Lend A Hand Up website from the ground up. Built with the geographic expansion of Lend A Hand Up in mind, the new site features a much-improved fundraiser-application process, as well as other ease-of-use upgrades. The hope is that it creates a much better user experience for not only fundraiser champions but also donors and the general public. We’d invite you to check it out and maybe even make a gift to a family while you’re there.
MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS
One of the primary objectives for Lend A Hand Up throughout 2024 was growing awareness of the program, highlighted by a number of ongoing partnerships with local media. Among the highlights were a new monthly radio segment on News & Views with Joel Heitkamp (KFGO), ongoing radio campaigns with Midwest Communications and Radio FM Media, regular appearances on North Dakota Today (KVLY) and the KVRR Morning Show, and regular interview segments on Radio Free Fargo and Life 97.9 FM. The proof was in the pudding, as Lend A Hand Up saw its highest number of fundraisers hosted to date and experienced a significant bump in monthly website traffic.
SANDY’S DONUTS
Lend A Hand Up’s summer fundraiser event this year featured a partnership with Sandy’s Donuts. For a full week in July, Sandy’s offered special Lend A Hand Up doughnuts in their stores, as well as a “ Lend A Hand Up Dozen” on their website. For every dozen sold, Sandy’s donated $5 to the program, and one lucky customer had the opportunity to give $500 to a family fundraiser of their choice. Sandy’s also sold special Lend A Hand Up stickers, the proceeds of which went to support the program.
Note: The Lend A Hand Up team wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to the hundreds of donors, volunteers, ambassadors, and champions who made this another record-breaking year for the program.
PEACE ACADEMY
As part of DMF’s commitment to developing a region of the healthiest kids possible, the Foundation has made a number of investments in Peace Academy, a revolutionary childcare center that is changing the way providers in our region think about early childhood development. As part of a major expansion in fall 2025, Peace Academy will join DMF in its new building, occupying a 18,000-square-foot space on the east side of the building. To learn more about what sets Peace Academy apart, check out this short profile.
If you want to understand what makes Peace Academy different, start with the plates.
“Eight and a half inches, white, undivided,” says Jana Bruhschwein, as she takes us through the kitchen of the Fargo childcare center. “The size isn’t overwhelming. The weight is appropriate. And visually, not dividing plates gets kids used to tolerating and experiencing different kinds of foods. It lets the flavors and smells flow together.”
Bruhschwein is the founder and executive director of Peace Academy, a revolutionary new childcare center where the unofficial mantra is simple: Do what’s best for the kids. From the curriculum to the dishware, everything they do has to pass that litmus test.
“Peace Academy is the culmination of all my years in education,” says Bruhschwein, who founded Peace Academy in 2022. “I was a public school teacher for 12 years, I was a Head Start director over summers, I was a preschool director for years. And I always said, ‘Someday, when I have my own place, I’m going to center every decision around what’s best for kids.’”
It’s actually a more radical concept than it might sound. That’s because many childcares, according to Bruhschwein, are forced to prioritize other things.
“They’re built around things like what space is available and what they can afford,” she explains. “And it’s not always as conducive for kids as it needs to be.”
So she set out to change that with the help of a Fargo couple that believed in her vision from the very start.
Joel and Debbie Peterson purchased a building to house the fledgling academy, gutted it, and within just six months, there were kids walking through the door.
“I turned 50, and I thought, ‘I have one wild and crazy life. How am I going to spend it?’” Bruhschwein says. “And here it is.”
Armed with a career’s worth of personal experience and expertise, she threw herself into the research around early childhood development. Everything from the square footage of the classrooms to the layout of the play areas to, yes, even the size of the plates, is informed by the latest academic literature, area professionals, and something called the Nurtured Heart Approach.
The Nurtured Heart Approach is a relationship-based philosophy that focuses on showing up when things are going right and transforming the way kids perceive themselves, their caregivers, and the world around them.
“Nurtured Heart is about building strong inner wealth and pointing out character qualities in children such as being honest, generous, empathetic, and having self-control,” says Bruhschwein. “100 percent of our staff are trained in Nurtured Heart. It’s something I require because when everyone in the building speaks the same language, it brings consistency, clarity, and a positive culture across all classrooms.”
As we move between classrooms, I get to see it in action.
As Bruschwein is explaining to me the effects of cortisol levels on learning, she stops mid-sentence as she bends down to meet the gaze of an excited blonde boy. He’s nearly sprinting across the room to show her some jewelry he’s just put the finishing touches on.
“Ooooooh, I love your green necklace! I see that you worked hard to put those beads on and are proud of your hard work,” she says, giving him her full attention.
You can tell right away that, in the best way possible, nothing about a Peace Academy classroom is normal. In one room, kids and teachers are singing and dancing with a teacher playing guitar.
In another room, everyone’s crawling on all fours across a world map. There are no hushed tones, and everyone is active, smiling, and genuinely happy to be there.
“The first five years of a child’s life are the foundation for future learning and success,” Bruhschwein says. “Getting to love on kids in that most important time of development, I’ve seen that you can really make or break a child based on how loved and seen and safe they feel. And it directly correlates to how they will absorb information.
“It’s not a permissive, do-whatever-you-want kind of thing either,” she says. “In fact, because of our approach and our highly trained teachers, children who may have struggled in previous settings, many times, find success at Peace Academy.”
Don’t just take her word for it, though. There’s a small army of local parents who have not just become true believers in the mission of Peace Academy but also advocates. One of them is Desiree Meisch, who sought out Peace Academy following some struggles with her three-year-old son.
“He had some behavior issues, his speech was behind, and he wasn’t working or playing well with other children,” Meisch says. “Nine months ago when we started, he was a different boy than he is today. He has a ton of friends, he’s happy, he’s energetic, he knows how to overcome obstacles, and he knows how to self-control. Before we started at Peace Academy, he didn’t have that. It’s been a life-changing experience.”
Fellow mom Stephanie Reznecheck agrees.
“The teachers are so passionate about what they do,” Reznecheck says. “They go above and beyond to channel a child’s intensity to be used as the energy to fuel greatness. And that’s what we want out of these children is that greatness.”
At Peace Academy, the parents aren’t just parents, though. They’re also students.
“Parenting is hard,” says Bruhschwein. “And so another important part of Peace Academy’s mission is to provide resources to parents and caregivers in their most important role.”
That’s why each month Peace Academy hosts a parent-education series that’s free of charge and open to any member of the public who’s interested in becoming the best parent they can be.
They can learn about the basics of the Nurtured Heart Approach, how to feed a picky eater, and best practices for dealing with a troubled sleeper, among other topics. It’s also a great way to ensure that kids aren’t getting one message during the day and another when they go home at night.
Along with nurturing children and enriching parents, the third tenet of Peace Academy’s mission is to strengthen the community. They do this through their ambassador program, which provides opportunities to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Ambassadors volunteer 1-3 hours a week in a classroom, and it’s a win-win for both sides.
“These people long for meaningful opportunities in the community,” Bruhschwein says. “And so they gain meaningful life and work experience, and our kids get an opportunity to learn about people of differing abilities.
“For example, one of our ambassadors is non-verbal so kids learn: What does it mean when her eyes light up and she smiles? What does it mean when she moves this way or that way? They learn how to read some of those non-verbal cues.”
While Peace Academy currently serves about 200 kids, they’ll soon be doubling that as they move into a new 17,500-squarefoot space next fall. They’ll also expand from serving kids ages 3-5 to those as young as 12 weeks old. And in the future?
“We don’t currently have plans for kindergarten (and beyond), but I would love to,” she says. “Before we move to the school part, though, if every kid from 12 weeks to 5 years old had what we’re doing, it would be community-changing.
“Another dream of mine would be to have a speech-language pathologist and occupational therapist on site. The sooner we get an intervention, the better. But how do we pay the salary of an SLP, not worry about insurance, and actually serve kids who need it? I don’t know how to make that happen yet.”
Bruhschwein says she needs to raise about $2.5 million total for the build-out, new equipment, and outdoor space at the new facility that Peace Academy will share with Dakota Medical Foundation, and she’s optimistic that the community will recognize the value of what they’re doing.
“It’s important to me that Peace Academy not only be successful today but that this outlives anyone in this building,” she says. “That forever there are funds that allow us to invest in our youngest. Economist James Heckman says that one dollar spent in early childhood has a return of between $4-$16, so what if we invest one dollar here — at the most critical time of development — and not wait and try to fix it down the road and remediate? This is the time.”
If you are interested in learning more about Peace Academy and supporting its mission, please visit PAFargo.com. For inquiries about sponsorship and naming rights at Peace Academy’s new space opening in fall 2025, please contact Peace Academy Founder Jana Bruhschwein at 701-205-3021 or Director@PAFargo.com.
2024
Donor Advised Funds
$5,075,221 Fiscal Hosts
Lend a Hand Up Program
Purpose Restricted Funds
Endowments
Distributions ......................
$1,158,781
$2,455,801
$599,713
$19,587,991
$2,315,040
Since opening its first charitable giving fund in 2002, Dakota Medical Foundation has experienced tremendous growth. Now host to 95 donor-advised funds, endowment funds, and fiscal-sponsor projects, we are proud to help support so many wonderful causes making such an extraordinary impact throughout the region.
• We handle all the administrative and back-end details for our funds such as keeping detailed records, fund distribution, charitable receipting, and annual IRS reporting.
• We help our funds and FSPs go beyond just the distribution of dollars. We help them become true agents of impact, creating important change for their particular cause and mission.
• We offer various training and resource-development opportunities to unleash our donors’ greatest potential to serve others.
• We provide the opportunity to participate in the region’s largest day of serving others: Giving Hearts Day.
• We connect funds to our vast network of nonprofit partners and share insight on critical community needs.
• We offer branding and marketing assistance to a select number of funds and fiscal-sponsor projects.
DMF FISCAL SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT:LIVE LIKE RACH
Rachel didn’t have to die.
In January 2019, Pat Monson sat by the bedside of her daughter, Rachel Ellingson, as she was dying of colorectal cancer. At 33, Rachel was living her best life. She was an attorney working in New York City and engaged to the love of her life.
She’d had some symptoms – blood in her stool, abdominal pain, low iron — and she had shared all of that information with her doctors. Because of her age, though, they weren’t concerned about it.
She persisted, however, and in October 2015, she was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. It had already metastasized to her liver and lungs. Had the doctors been concerned and made a proper diagnosis, her chance of surviving this cancer was 90 percent. At that point, her survival rate was 13 percent. Tragically, on January 6, 2019, Rachel lost her fight, but her legacy lives on through Live Like Rach.
Colorectal cancer is not your parent’s cancer anymore. It’s reached epidemic proportions in individuals in their 20s and 30s. Caught at an early stage, this is an eminently curable cancer.
There are some things you can do right now: If you have symptoms, don’t pass them off. Advocate for yourself. Find out if there’s any history of colorectal cancer in your family. Sometimes, we don’t know. Know the symptoms, advocate for yourself, and help us fulfill the promise that we made to Rachel: Don’t let this happen to anyone else.
To watch a short video profile of Live Like Rach and to learn more about how you can protect yourself from colorectal cancer, please scan the QR code on the right.
NORTH DAKOTA DENTAL FOUNDATION
This year, the North Dakota Dental Foundation and its partners hosted Mission of Mercy, a two-day free dental clinic held at the Bismarck Event Center. Between cleanings, fillings, and extractions — among many other types of treatments — nearly 850 patients were seen in total. Mission of Mercy fills an important gap in the delivery of dental care in the state. A recent survey showed that 98 percent of people listed cost as one of the reasons they had not received dental care they needed, 73 percent reported having no insurance to pay for dental care, and 43 percent had dental pain.
PATIENTS AND PROCEDURES
842 total patient visits
88 pediatric patients
175 prophylaxes
(cleaning debridements)
200 panoramic X-rays
865 intra-oral X-rays
165 fluoride varnishes
42 sealants
500 fillings
20 amalgams
480 composites
848 extractions
56 interim partial dentures
7 primary steel crowns
42 root canals
VOLUNTEERS
83 dentists
90 dental assistants
24 dental hygienists
93 dental assisting/ hygiene students
3 dental lab technicians
8 pharmacists/ pharmacy techs
27 nurses
3 physicians
144 general volunteers
$878,368 of services provided at NO CHARGE
OPTOMETRIC FOUNDATION OF NORTH DAKOTA
VISION MISSION
New to the Vision Start program this year were “Vision Missions,” where the Optometric Foundation coordinated a date and time with a Vision Start provider and a local childcare facility. The childcare facility transported kids to the clinic to receive their comprehensive eye exams. These two pilot missions in the fall of 2024 resulted in an additional 15 kids receiving eye exams, four of whom then received glasses and one who was diagnosed with amblyopia. The 2025 goal is to host multiple Vision Missions each month to ensure that every child in North Dakota receives an eye exam.
OPTOMETRIC ANNUAL CONGRESS EXHIBITION
Optometric Foundation of North Dakota teammates Jack Berg and Whitney Isaacson attended the North Dakota Optometric Association Annual Congress and Exhibition in Bismarck as an exhibitor to promote OFND’s Vision Start program and visit with local providers about vision health for kids. There are big things ahead for the Vision Start program, and we could not be more excited!
Pictured above: NDDF staff and volunteers at Mission of Mercy 2024 in Bismarck
HELPING
AWARDS
Helping Hearts Awards are presented annually to select individuals and organizations that regularly exemplify care, kindness, and compassion for their neighbors. The awards are often reflective of the important role that an organization's leadership and board of directors serve in the planning and manifestation of bold dreams. Through their servant leadership, they act as a model for others to follow and emulate. There is no light that shines brighter than that of a Helping Heart!
Jana Bruhschwein Founder, Executive Director Peace Academy
Cullen Children’s Foundation
Lend A Hand Up Partner
Petro Serve USA
Giving Hearts Day Partner
Jenessa Fillipi Founder, Executive Director Down Home
Amanda Thomas Former Board Chair Center of Excellence Committee Member
DMF
WORKING WITH AND THROUGH OTHERS
We know how much more we can accomplish when we mobilize the community for the greater good. Here are some of the ways we did that in 2024:
Estimated Economic Impact 2024
Member/employee match grants: $142K
Building “in-kind” usage: $121K
DMF Center of Excellence: $13.2M*
$51,359,000
Outside grants secured: $196K
Lend A Hand Up: $2M
$3.7M
Giving Hearts Day: $29.3M
ANNUAL FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT REPORT
As of and for the years ended Sept. 30, 2024 and 2023
Dakota Medical Foundation is diligent in its choice of investment firms and closely monitors the structure of its portfolio for risk, long-term stability, and performance, as carefully outlined in our investment policies. DMF's investments are conservatively invested and broadly diversified. Assets are strategically invested to support operations and initiatives, grow asset values through time, and limit portfolio volatility and downside risk. DMF's short-term cash liquidity portfolio strategy is designed to meet current operating cash flow needs while managing against market volatility and the risk of drawing down long-term investments during market declines.
Chair Eric Monson
FORMULA THAT GUIDES OUR WAY
WE HAVE A DEFINED APPROACH IN EVERYTHING WE DO
LEAD with hope and vision.
GALVANIZE gratitude.
We believe the best way to achieve extraordinary impact is by having bold dreams, striving for brilliant delivery, and showing up with a burning desire to serve others. As such, we have identified the following five pillars to guide our journey.
INSTILL purpose and meaning in everything we do.
HONOR health: body, mind, and spirit.
TALK, walk, and model civility, forgiveness, and love for all.
1. Acknowledge the impact of your words and behavior on others.
2. Model civility, forgiveness, and love for all.
3. Stay curious and open to new ideas, perspectives, and opinions, but be willing to abandon something when it is not working.
4. Treat people as individuals, not as members of groups.
Code of Civility
5. When you make a promise, keep it.
6. Greet and acknowledge others.
When an organization sets out to change the world, it can be easy to lose sight of our calling to see and be light. At DMF, the following 10 principles guide how we think about, speak to, and behave toward others. They aren’t just window dressing, though. We actively practice and remind each other of these principles regularly. And because we know we will, at times, fall short of these ideals, we acknowledge when we have made a mistake and immediately right our wrongs.
7. Seek first to understand, and respect each other’s time.
8. Actively seek constructive feedback.
9. Acknowledge the contributions of others.
10. Do not say anything about someone that you would not say to their face.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
-Margaret Mead