Families celebrate together, laugh and cry together, and care for one another. For many of us, the CHS Family is an extension of our own. Here are a few pages from our own CHS Scrapbook...

 

Congratulations!

Trevor Lawhorn, son-in-law of Beth Amble (SFCH Registered Nurse), was inducted into the Sioux Falls Canaries Hall of Fame on July 31, 2020. Trevor is married to Beth’s daughter, Rachel. On a side note, Trevor worked in the SFCH Maintenance Department before moving on in his computer career. Trevor now works at SDN Communications as a member of their network engineering team. 

Jenny Wallace (Part-time Teacher’s Assistant at BHCH Owen School) and her husband Rolando gave birth to a son, Robert William, on Saturday, August 8, 2020. He weighed 6.4 pounds and was 18.5 inches long.

Erin Amundson (Outreach Advocate at Children’s Inn) married Blake Boysen on Saturday, August 29, 2020. Blake is an electrician at Builder’s Electric.  

Vanessa Hoogendoorn (Adoption Specialist-SF-CBS) and her husband, Brent, celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary on September 5th.

Michelle Banghart (Teacher’s Assistant at SFCH Loving School) is engaged to Michael Marshall. Michael works at Daktronics. These two Minnesota TWINS fans will be married Saturday, October 10, 2020 in Sioux Falls. Michelle says, “He is a great guy, and makes my life complete!”

Cassie Nagel (Education & Public Awareness Specialist-SF) recently celebrated her graduation from the Think3D Leaders of Tomorrow program. With support from the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation’s “Bridging the Gap” fund, this 13-week program is designed to develop and equip the next generation of aspiring leaders within Sioux Falls’ diverse population with the skills they need to become effective leaders. 

Loni Anderson (Administrative Assistant-BH-CBS) is going to be a first-time grandma! She brought celebration treats to share with the staff at Messengers. Her daughter’s due date is February 17, 2021.

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Going Above and Beyond!

Hollie Consoer (Bright Start Nurse), along with her two girls, Sara and Kierra, volunteered to come in and organize the donations stored in the garage at Bright Start. Hollie made this an opportunity to plant a seed of giving in her two young daughters. This act of kindness was a big task and was very much appreciated by all the staff at Bright Start!  -submitted by Kathy Schneider

Kudos to all the staff at Sioux Falls Children’s Home for once again rallying to support a co-worker in need. Alma Pedraza, one of our cooks at SFCH, needed to pack up and make a quick move to Idaho to be with and help her son’s family through a family emergency. To help her with travel and moving expenses, staff provided food and hand-crafted items for a bake sale and silent auction. As a result, $1,220 was raised to help Alma!

I know I didn’t get to know everyone very well at CHS, but never in my whole entire life have I worked with people that are so wonderful and kind-hearted who would do a bake sale so they all could help me out.  CHS has shown me and welcomed me and made me believe that there are good God-willing people in this world.  I am so thankful to everyone at CHS for helping me.  God Bless You All!   --Alma Pedraza

Another shout-out to SFCH Staff for their support of the Usborne Books & More Annual Book Fair brought to the SFCH campus by Natalie Van Houten (former SFCH Family Therapist). Book sales to staff totaled $1,103 and Natalie “gives back” half of that amount ($551.50) in books for SFCH. Thanks to all SFCH book buyers, and to Natalie for her generosity to us!