SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Over the past several months significant federal budget cuts have been felt by South Dakota organizations.
This year South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Feeding South Dakota and the South Dakota Humanities Council all lost significant support from the federal government. Two of the organizations even lost 100% of its federal dollars they’d received in the past.
On April 2 the South Dakota Humanities Council found out via email from the National Endowment for Humanities the $950,000 it received would no longer be available. That amount that made up 74% of the council’s overall budget.
“Significant cut to us, one that we didn’t expect and literally went to our spam email. So it’s been a big change” South Dakota Humanities Council executive director, Christina Oey said.
Oey says since receiving the news, it’s been had to make serious adjustments to operations like cancelling grant programs that funded speakers in rural communities, as well as reducing staff.
One program Oey said was crucial to keep was the Young Readers program which gives a book to every third grader in the state.
“It’s just a program that we are fortunate that our donors, our supporters and our communities realize the value in it, especially with declining literacy rates in our state,” Oey said.
In July Feeding South Dakota CEO, Lori Dykstra, appealed in front of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee and asked the state for $3 million to help cover the 1.5 million pounds of food it lost through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“It happened very quickly, we had to pivot and so we’ve talked to the state. We’re asking our donors to step up as well and they have been amazing. However, we know that this is a gap that we just can’t cover right now,” Dykstra said.
Whether the state decides to grant funds or not, Dykstra is hoping congress will support its services in the next farm bill.
“There’s opportunity for us to increase USDA dollars to purchase food from farmers that would support food banks,” Dykstra said.
The organization has already cut $1.7 million meals from its 2026 budget, scaling back programs like the mobile food distribution and wellness pantry.
Dykstra says it’s a difficult time as food insecurity rates rise in the state.
“We’ve had almost a 13% increase. So in order to continue to fill that gap, we needed to purchase more food to stay ahead of it,” Dykstra said.
On Thursday SDPB announced it’s preparing to cut 25% of its staff by the end of October and cancelling some local programs on TV, radio and education outreach because 100% of its federal support was taken back.
“There’s just no way to suffer a $2.3 million budget loss to have 20 plus percent of your current year’s budget taken away from you, without people understanding that that’s going to cut to the bone,” Overgaard said.
Following the cut, Friends of SDPB has launched the Bison Campaign to help cover the gap.
One thing all three organizations have in common is the impact they have in rural areas.
“It is so unfortunate because these are communities that often don’t get amazing scholars or, nonprofits that put on these great programs and we’re losing that now,” Oey said.
“A small town in South Dakota may get our food truck one hour a month. That’s not equitable access in our state,” Dykstra said.
“The very people who need public media and public broadcasting services the most are the ones who are going to be at most risk of losing it because they simply don’t have enough people to afford all the things a larger city does,” Overgaard said.
All three organizations are hoping they’ll have federal support restored in the future. In addition to monetary donations, organizations say volunteering or education about its services are also a need.
Currently the Federation of State Humanities Councils, which includes SDHC, is in a lawsuit with the National Endowment for Humanities.
