Flandreau-based nonprofit Helping Kids Round First is broadening its mission to support impoverished and crisis-stricken communities worldwide. Founder Craig Severtson shared updates at a sold-out event at the Hilton Garden Inn in Sioux Falls last week, highlighting the organizations growing impact.
The nonprofit, established nearly 16 years ago to supply baseball equipment to children in rural Nicaragua, has evolved significantly. It now helps Nicaraguan farmers implement irrigation and other farming systems, provides educational opportunities for rural youth, and supports young women through educational scholarships.
Were not leaving Nicaragua behind, Severtson emphasized. However, recent calls from global networks for HKRF to provide aid in Sudan and subsequent visits to war-torn refugee camps by the HKRF team have prompted the nonprofit to expand its focus.
Severtson described the conditions in refugee camps in Chad and Sudan, which house millions of people, including over 250,000 children.
When you run from a war, you dont have anything but the clothes on your back, he said.
You run until they dont shoot at you anymore.
In the past 13 months, Severtson and his two Nicaragua-based staff members have visited the camps three times, calling the experiences life-changing.
Helping Kids Round First collaborates with partners like Iowa-based Then Feed Just One and Sioux Falls-based Kids Against Hunger, along with local volunteers and donors, to send containers of food and medical supplies to the camps. Each shipment carries nearly 400,000 fortified meals, which Severtson says are vital for survival.
Its a huge deal when they take food, he said, noting that many refugees live in makeshift homes of sticks and plastic.
Executive Director Nadia Nabhan highlighted the nonprofits mission:
Our goal is to deliver life-saving aid to refugee families in war-torn camps in Sudan and Chad. We bring fortified food to combat hunger, medical equipment to address urgent health needs, and plastic tarps to provide shelter and protection. By addressing these critical needs, we offer hope to those who have lost everything.
Key partnerships play a vital role. APDE (Action for the Protection of the Rights of Children) manages logistics on the ground, while the Sudanese American Physicians Association funds transportation. The UNs Humanitarian Air Service shortens dangerous 28-hour truck journeys across the Sahara to one-hour flights.
Looking ahead, Helping Kids Round First will partner with Orphan Grain Train to deliver aid to Cameroon, distributing food, medical supplies, and shelter materials to Adr, Chad.
Weve become players in that part of the world, and well only become more so, Severtson said, urging continued support from individuals, families, and businesses.
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