Ready for ‘Prime Time’
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation’s Prime Time Gala has become a staple of late June in Sioux Falls. The event serves as an unofficial reunion for cattle producers and, most importantly, a fundraiser for Feeding South Dakota.
Kelsey Geraets is a cattle producer near Colton, South Dakota.
“I love it. I love this industry. It’s so full of community, it’s so whole-hearted,” cattle producer Geraets said.
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The 27-year-old grew up on the family’s feed lot, JPJ Enterprises, where she started working full-time after graduating college in 2020.
“I enjoy being outdoors mainly, working with the cattle, that’s especially a highlight of my day, but just being here with mom and dad, and living a legacy,” Geraets said.
There’s never a shortage of things to do with 2,000 head of cattle, but Geraets will take the evening off Saturday to attend the 12th annual Prime Time Gala.
“The gala gives producers a positive platform, it highlights the good that we do, not only producing food but also in the community,” Geraets said.
“Everybody leads such busy lives, to come together one night with 2,000 of our closest friends at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, to feel that energy in the room is something that’s really hard to describe,” South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation President Ryan Eichler said.
Ryan Eichler is the president of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation, which was founded in 2013.
“It’s a group of 12 volunteers basically, both farmers, ranchers, industry professionals, and really the foundation was put together to highlight the generosity of our industry and then really to just promote our industry around South Dakota,” Eichler said.
The Cattlemen’s longstanding partnership with Feeding South Dakota reached new heights in 2014, with the creation of the Prime Time Gala.
“In the first eleven events, we have supported Feeding South Dakota with about $2.7-million in donations, more impressively they’ve turned that into 1.7-million pounds of beef for distribution in their programs,” Eichler said.
This year’s event and donation couldn’t come at a better time.
“The timing of the event this year, with the cuts that Feeding South Dakota has gone through, this protein is as critical now as it has ever been,” Eichler said.
“Because of the Prime Time Gala we are able to purchase beef year-round for our guests in need,” Feeding South Dakota CEO Lori Dykstra said.
Dykstra says every donation is critical.
“Recently, we lost 1.5 million pounds of food, which equates to about $2.5 million to our budget and so we need to make up that difference, and being able to have access to good, high-quality protein items like ground beef is really important to our mission,” Dykstra said.
The meat purchased by Feeding South Dakota comes in the form of ground beef and will feed people in all 66 counties across the state.
“Right now, ground beef is one of those items that’s so expensive in a grocery store, a lot of times families are skipping those items, those high-protein, good quality items. So, us being able to provide that item right now is just essential, it helps their diet and makes sure they’re not having other concerns with their health,” Dykstra said.
And it all starts with the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation’s Prime Time Gala.
“It’s my favorite event of the year and we get to raise a lot of dollars to help a lot of people facing hunger in South Dakota,” Dykstra said.
“To me, it’s incredible to be able to give back to communities across our state and do so using the product we all work so hard to produce,” Eichler said.
“It gives me a lot of pride seeing the room full of farmers and ranchers and know we all do what we love every day and knowing we can give back to a community that has served us for quite some time,” Geraets said.
The Prime Time Gala is Saturday at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. Doors open at 4:00 p.m., with a social, dinner, and concert — featuring Jordan Davis — to follow. You can still buy entries for the truck raffle. Tickets are $100 each, with proceeds benefiting Feeding South Dakota.
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