February 2024 Newsletter

Happy New Year from the Longley's

Firstly, I would like to wish all of you, our family and friends, a Happy New Year! May it be a year of health, joy, and inspiration. Our family was blessed on December 3, 2023, by the early arrival of twin girls, Kennedy, and Kamryn. Emma and Tom are great parents and after having to leave their babies in the NICU for thirteen days, life is now getting into a new routine. So officially, Paul and I are now old…. Paul is fondly going to be called Papa Whiskers or Grumpy Old Papa, depending on the day. For me, Mimi Leigh sounded just perfect. We cannot wait to introduce you all to these sweet baby girls in July!

What we have been up to:

Leigh was back in Sioux Falls in November 2023, to attend the Friends of Gary Gaspar Symposium for Suicide Prevention and Care. It was an honor to be included in this event, learning from others who share a vision and have been impacted by the tragedy of suicide.

At the end of January 2024, our grant proposal in collaboration with Fight-Like-A-Ninja and Live Inspired 365, was submitted to the Friends of Gary Gaspar for consideration. To Say Angela, Chantelle, Michelle, and I are excited at the prospect of working with Avera Behavioral Health, is an understatement. We are proud of our submission and cannot wait to announce what we are up to. Whether we are the recipients of the grant or not, we will find a way of moving forward in a unique direction.

To whoever may be awarded the funding, we are proud of you and the work you do in regard to Mental Health!

Spotlight:

The following is a little about the non-for-profit, Live Inspired 365, written by co-founders, Chantelle Friedman & Michelle Thie

Live Inspired 365 was started by two moms whose lives have been greatly impacted by mental illness.

What started out as an idea to sell items of positivity, to give ALL proceeds back to promoting Mental Health Awareness, we quickly learned there is a gap in our community that needs to be filled. We are hoping to do just that.

While we still sell items of positivity, with hopes of spreading encouragement for all to see, our focus is on sparking conversations about the importance of Mental Health. We do this by creating projects with businesses, organizations, and schools to help support and encourage others that struggle with Brain Pain. Our projects help to spark meaningful conversations about the importance of Brain Health, and to spread the message that there is “Always Someone that Cares”.

It is easy to feel alone if you experience brain pain, but we are breaking down the barriers, and sparking important conversations about the resources available, and encouraging people to get help, that may not otherwise be comfortable sharing it with others.

Our projects are simple, but are showing others that their employer, school, or organization are willing to talk about Brain Health, and are there for them if they need help in the future. Every conversation about Brain Health is important, and has to power to decrease the stigma, by normalizing the subject.

Please don’t be afraid to talk about Brain Health. The more we talk about it, the more likely people are to understand that they are NOT alone. This discussion alone will give them the courage to seek the help that they need. We are hosting our 2nd Gala this Feb 24th at The Country Club of Sioux Falls. ALL funds raised this night help to continue our mission of Promoting Mental Health Awareness & Suicide Prevention.

To learn more about our gala, click here.

Follow us on Facebook & Instagram or visit us at www.liveinspired365.org to follow along, or to see how you can “BEE Involved”. Bee Kind, Bee INSPIRED….just BEE

Lost & Found Peer-to-Peer Mentorship Programs

New Community Prevention Advisor

The Lost&Found Peer2Peer Mentoring program had a busy Fall 2023 semester. Christina Johnson joined the team as a Community Prevention Advisor. She oversees the Peer2Peer Mentoring Program and Campus Chapters at the University of South Dakota, University of South Dakota-Sioux Falls, Augustana University, and Mount Marty. While working toward her Master of Social Work degree, Christina was a graduate assistant with Lost&Found during the 2022-2023 academic school year. Her past work experience with L&F made her the perfect candidate! She has already been working hard to expand Peer2Peer Mentoring to Mount Marty in Yankton, SD.

ReachU

The Lost&Found student programming team has been working with ReachU, a technology company developing products for nonprofits, to develop a companion mobile app for the Peer2Peer Mentoring Program. Current functions within the app allow participants to:

Create personal profiles seen by their paired mentor/mentee
Schedule meetings with their mentor/mentee and Lost&Found staff
Access resources
View upcoming campus-based events
Read articles regarding mental well-being
Complete a “battery check” in order to promote self-insight and emotional regulation

The app will be piloted with participating students at South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota during the Spring 2024 academic semester. Development will continue with the ReachU app and focuses on adding the following functionality in 2024:

Messaging capabilities within the app between Lost&Found staff, mentors, and mentees
Features to accommodate students learning from a distance
Accessibility to Lost&Found Advocates learning materials that allow students to complete a self-paced “learning journey”
Central hub for Lost&Found campus chapters to access resources and communicate as a team
Read articles regarding mental well-being
An administrative web portal to facilitate program operations including user and content management

ReachU and Lost&Found will continue to expand the deployment of the app throughout 2024, beginning with currently supported South Dakota schools.

VOA Patient story and treatment

AG has been coming to VOA-Lifemarks for almost two years. She has made significant progress on her childhood trauma, self-esteem, and self-worth. We are currently working on parenting skills of teenagers and being a single mom without much support. She works two jobs and has always managed her bills. Lately, times have been tough. She asked for help and support. She was the perfect candidate for the Longley Foundation Funds as she is driven, responsible and humble. She wanted me to pass on to those that donated thank you. She feels very blessed and one less bill she has to worry about for a while.

Nicole Burger, MA, LAC, CPS, QMHP, LPC-MH Supervisee

Outpatient Therapist
Volunteers of America, Dakota/ www.voa-dakotas.org

New Happenings:

The Longball22 Golf Classic is booked for July 19, 2024! Once again it will be held at Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort. All registrations will be done through our Give Smart domain, and we are hoping this will be a smooth and simple process. Individual emails will be sent out soon with all the details; however, we hope to have registration open by April 1, 2024.

Projected Pricing:

Corporate Sponsorship

Eagle Level

$10000.00

2 x teams entry fee /dinner. An additional table for eight with dinner included. Longball limited water bottles for team players.

Birdie Level

$5000.00

1 x team entry fee/dinner and four additional dinner tickets. Longball limited water bottles for the team players.

Par Level

$2000.00

1 x team entry fee/dinner.

Best Ball Format

18-hole Tournament

$675.00

(boxed lunch/dinner included)

9-hole Tournament (AM)

$500.00

(breakfast/dinner included)

Hole Sponsorship

$525.00

(in memory of sponsorship)

Dinner

Dinner Tickets

$60.00

Dinner: table for 8

$450.00

All sponsors will have their names displayed on the slide show during the dinner/auction. Please do keep this day and join us in remembering Ben and raising funds to help others.

Special Announcement

We have been donated a hunting dog puppy for our auction at the golf day. The puppy was born at the end of January. It is a male 3/4 German Shorthair and 1/4 Labrador. This will make a great pheasant hunting dog. The breeder will start the training, etc.

The first $500 donation to the foundation will get the dog. You contact Paul via email at paul [at] longleyfoundation [dot] org and choose a name and other details.

On behalf of the board of the Longley Foundation and the family of Ben, we thank each and every one for your continued love, friendship, and support.

Looking Ahead:

Barrel House: Monday night fundraiser: date to be announced

Pizza Ranch Gives Back: date to be announced.

Concert at the Levitt: We are working hard and in conjunction with The Levitt to bring a concert to the community of Sioux Falls on July 20, 2024. Should we be able to secure an artist, this will be a night to bring the community of Sioux Falls together. Raising awareness of the pandemic of suicide yet offering hope, compassion and understanding.

On behalf of the board of the Longley Foundation and the family of Ben, we thank each and every one for your continued love, friendship, and support.