We love being part of the Rapid City community, which includes getting involved with local charitable organizations, nonprofits, youth sports teams and more. People are doing things all across the Black Hills, and more support is always appreciated. Here are some of they ways we’re giving back, along with information on how you can join the effort!

Fall

Holiday drives

We are hosting a pajama drive for Youth & Family Services! We have Christmas trees at each of our stores, with gift tags on them. Each tag features the name, age and gender of a child enrolled in programming at YFS. It also includes what size they wear. Kicks and Giggles Boutique at 329 Main St., Suite 3, is offering a 20% discount on your pajama purchase if you show them the gift tag at checkout. Here’s how it works:

1. Pick a gift tag off the tree
2. Buy and wrap a gift
3. Return the gift, with the tag, to the store by 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21.

For more details, go here. 

It is time for our annual holiday drive! Unlike previous years, we will not hold a raffle this year. This is in part to minimize touch points and help our guests and employees stay safe during this pandemic. We are, however, still collecting items for area families, many of whom have been hit hard by COVID-19. Through One Warm Coat, Toys for Tots and Heat their Feet, we are collecting new and gently used winter weather apparel and new/unwrapped toys/games. Winter weather gear can include coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. Youth & Family Services, Cornerstone Rescue Mission and rural schools will distribute the donations to local families. We have collection bins in the service departments of all three of our Rapid City stores (Denny Menholt Rapid Chevrolet, Denny Menholt Toyota and Rushmore Honda). Please help us keep our community warm this winter!

Thanksgiving Dinners for local families

Denny Menholt Auto Group is proud to be partnering with Timmons Market and Youth & Family Services to provide over 400 dinners to meet the needs of families this Thanksgiving, but there are also ways you can help! You can support children and families in need by:

• Volunteering your time at YFS’ Gift Wrapping Booth in the Rushmore Mall
• Sponsoring a family in need for the holidays
• Or by making a monetary gift that will help provide year-round programming for children

For more information on how you can get involved, visit YFS online at www.youthandfamilyservices.org.

Summer

On Aug. 11, the 12th annual Paint the Rock Pink golf tournament once again drew pink-clad female golfers to Red Rock Golf Club in Rapid City.

Every year, the golf tournament raises funds for the Image Restoration program at Monument Health’s Cancer Care Institute. For this ladies-only tournament, two-person teams compete on the 18-hole course. Teams are also encouraged to decorate their golf carts; most teams choose a theme that highlights the purpose of the event: fighting breast cancer. Our auto group sponsored the Hole in One competition again this year, as well as a golf team. Hillary Dobbs-Davis and Krista Morrison participated as our team, and had a blast! Great job Monument Health on this fun event, and thanks to all the ladies who help raise money for a great cause!  

On July 11, we were thrilled to meet Peydon on his Wish Day. Peydon hopes to be a computer programmer one day, so Make-A-Wish South Dakota granted his wish for a shopping spree at Best Buy and Game Stop. He came to Rapid City for a fun weekend with his mom, siblings and cousin. Their trip included a stop at our sister store, Denny Menholt Rapid Chevy, where he was greeted by guests and employees from Chevy, Denny Menholt Toyota and Rushmore Honda. It was so nice to meet you Peydon, and we hope you had an amazing day!

Rapid City Young Life had to cancel its banquet this year, but did still hold a golf tournament in August, and its Color Chaos event in September. (Photos courtesy of Rapid City Young Life)

Spring

In March, we also sponsored the Cornerstone Rescue Mission’s annual Cornerstone Celebrates banquet, the annual American Heart Association Heart Ball in Rapid City, and the St. Jude radiothon.

As our community takes precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), many local community events and gatherings were canceled or postponed in March, including:

• Rapid City Concert Association March 31 Sultans of String concert, postponed (no reschedule date yet announced)
• Youth & Family Services Kids Fair, postponed to Nov. 6-8
• Club for Boys corporate free-throw challenge, canceled
• Cruzers Rushmore Mall Car Show, postponed to Sept. 5
• Black Hills Area Council Boy Scouts of America Leadership Breakfast, postponed to May 14

We remain committed to helping our community however we can, and appreciate all the local leaders doing what they can to keep everyone safe and healthy. Many people are coming up with creative ways to hold virtual events – like the Black Hills FlyFishers hosting its annual auction entirely online. Way to go!

Winter

We closed out February with our Denny Menholt Employee Night on Feb. 29 (Leap Day!) at a Rapid City Rush game, and it was a great night! Two of our employees, Rushmore Honda parts consultant Nick Wentz and Collision Center detailer Mike Clifford dropped the puck before the start of the game, which was also the Rush’s “DC Comics Night.” Players from each team wore specialty jerseys representing famous DC Comics characters. The Rush wore Batman jerseys while their opponents, the Tulsa Oilers, sported supervillain Joker jerseys. The Rush won 8-4, ending a fun and exciting evening! Along with our sister stores, Denny Menholt Rapid Chevrolet and Rushmore Honda, we sponsored one of the intermission games. The winner, Stew Mehlhaff, won $750 toward a set of new tires. (To see a video of the game, visit our Facebook page.) Ashley Wetzel also won our drawing for $150 toward PDR work. Congrats, and thanks for playing! The Nemo 500 Outhouse Races were Feb. 29 at Nemo Guest Ranch. This quirky event hosted by the Naja Shrine raises money for the Naja Shrine Kids Transportation Fund. It features the title Outhouse Races, a chili cook-off, prizes, and children’s games! Counts of the Cobblestone Car Club hosted its 21st annual indoor car show Feb. 21-23 at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Every year, proceeds from the Counts Car Show go to help local charities. Check out some of the beauties from this year’s show:

Vitalant hosted the Community Heroes Blood Drive in January, which happens to be National Blood Donor Month. During the drive, 226 people donated 262 units of blood (22 more than the year before)! All Denny Menholt Auto Group employees also donned pink T-shirts as part of Monument Health Foundation’s Tough Enough to Wear Pink project during the stock show. Proceeds from the T-shirt sales go to support the John T. Vucurevich Cancer Care Institute in Rapid City. In the lead-up to the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo, we sponsored daily radio updates.