Burke Community Foundation Tops $100K Goal, Earns $12,500 Match
August 17, 2025 // Community Savings Account
The First Fidelity Bank Burke Community Foundation has exceeded its $100,000 fundraising goal, unlocking a $12,500 matching grant from the Lillibridge Family Fund held at the South Dakota Community Foundation. The milestone boosts the foundation’s permanent endowment, ensuring continued support for charitable projects that benefit the Burke area for years to come.
With this accomplishment, the Burke Community Foundation’s permanent endowment at SDCF continues to grow, ensuring long-term support for charitable causes in the Burke area. Since its inception, the fund has made impactful grants to organizations and projects that enhance quality of life for local residents.
“We are grateful to the Lillibridge family and SDCF for offering this matching challenge, which inspired our community, former residents & alumni, and friends to come together in support of our foundation,” Mindie Wischmann, Burke Community Foundation Chairperson. “Because of the generosity of our donors, we can ensure that worthy causes in the Burke area will be supported for generations to come.”
Recent grantees have included:
- The Rock
- Burke Day Care, Inc.
- Burke Community Meals, Inc.
- Gregory County Historical Society
- Burke Community Senior Center
- Gregory County 4-H Leaders
- Fitness on Main
- Burke Ambulance Service, Inc.
- VFW Burke Post 9950
- Burke Volunteer Fire Department
- Community Memorial Hospital
“We are proud to partner with First Fidelity Bank Burke Community Foundation to create a sustainable funding source for local nonprofits,” said Jamie Farmen, SDCF Community Development Coordinator. “This fund gives current, past and future residents a way to give back and invest in the future of their community.”
The fund is a permanent endowment with SDCF and is overseen by a local advisory council. Donations to the Burke Community Foundation are invested alongside other SDCF endowed funds, and a percentage of the fund’s value is distributed annually to charitable and nonprofit causes in the area. As the fund grows, so will the annual impact it has on the community.
Burke Community Foundation Advisory Council
- Mindie Wischmann, Chairperson
- Mike Glover, Secretary
- Mistie Drey
- Jason Witt
- Mark Green
- Philip Henning
- Susie Karbo
First Fidelity Bank Burke Community Foundation was established in 1994 with the goal of creating a permanent funding source for charitable causes in the Burke area. With careful investment, the fund will continue to grow and enhance the quality of life locally, forever. This fund is one of 90 community savings accounts in partnership with SDCF.
SDCF is a public non-profit organization established in 1987. SDCF, with offices in Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen administers 1,300 funds benefiting hundreds of charitable organizations annually. The Foundation distributed nearly $40 million in grants in 2024 which made a tremendous difference in communities statewide. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. If you have a specific cause you would like to support or would prefer to give for the general good of our state, please visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/giving to learn more or call 1-800-888-1842.