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To view the St. Mary's Foundation News, please click on the dates below.

Spring 2009 Newsletter - PDF

Fall 2009 Newsletter - PDF

Spring 2010 Newsletter - PDF

Fall 2010 Newsletter - PDF

Spring 2011 Newsletter - PDF

Ruth Karim Endowment

Honoring Ruth for over 20 years of volunteer service in protecting the sanctity of life. “Life is sacred from moment of conception until natural death”

This endowment fund is being established by Mansour Karim to honor Ruth Karim for over 20 years of volunteer service in protecting the sanctity of life. Mrs. Karim is a co-founder of South Dakota Right to Life, recognizing that “Life is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death.” Ruth served on the local, state and national Right to Life Boards, including functioning as Secretary of the National Right to Life Board, and was awarded Humanitarian of the Year by South Dakota Right to Life. Ruth was also a lobbyist respected by both Republicans and Democrats and was appointed to the Status of Women Commission by Governor Janklow.

Ruth has always been an active community member, graduating from Pierre High School, where she was a Girls’ State National delegate and other honors and graduated from the University of South Dakota with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Ruth was a school teacher in Pierre when she married Mansour, and when he returned to SDSU to work on his master’s degree, Ruth went along and taught English and composition course to freshmen whose preparation was lacking.

She was President of the Pierre School District Board of Education, and was nominated in 1974 for South Dakota Outstanding School Board Member. Always interested in journalism, Ruth was a free-lance journalist and wrote often for the Rapid City Journal. She is active in Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, including Catholic Daughters of America. Ruth and Mansour Karim have 7 children, 16 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

Annual interest from this endowment will be used to establish a scholarship for a nursing student(s) at Capital University Center. The nursing student is to share Ruth’s commitment that human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and to be committed to enhancing a healthy environment for all children after birth.

Initial endowment of $35,000 is from Mansour Karim. The endowment can be added to at any time by family members and friends. St. Mary’s Foundation Board will oversee the interest award each year following the endowment guidelines.

March 2, 2011 - $15,000 additional funding from Mansour Karim brings the Ruth Karim Endowment to $50,000. Interest from this Endowment will generate three nursing scholarships at CUC. Mansour chose three scholarships to represent three pillars of their lives – God, Family, Community.

Expressions of Gratitude and Giving

Each year, St. Mary's Foundation receives hundreds of gnerous contributions from our community. St. Mary's Foundation is the conduit through whcih these gifts pass on the way to their intended purpose/support of equipment and services in central South Dakota.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, St. Mary's Foundation continues to support quality health care in central South Dakota.

In appreciation and recognation of our generous donors, St. Mary's Foundation dedicated the Donor Wall in October, 2010. Our donor recognition wall is located just inside the hospital lobby in the waiting room area and includes contributions made to St. Mary's Foundation. The wall features panels recognizing various levels of contributions in several categories: Annual Giving, Assoicate Giving, Halos for Heroes, RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and donors are recognized based on their Cumulative Giving levels:

Bronze $500 - $999
Silver $1,000 - $4,999
Gold $5,000 - $9,999
Platinum$10,000 - $24,999
Diamond $25,000 - $99,999
Humanitarian $100,000 – or more

We are proud to recognize our donors for their support and celegrate their generosity in a public setting. Please stop by and visit the Donor Wall. For infomration on how you can be included on the donor wall or move to the next level, contact St. Mary's Foundation at 224-3451 or juliemoore@catholicahealth.net. The Donor Wall will be updated annually in January based on calandar year.

St. Mary's Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable corporation. All gifts to the Foundation are fully tax-deductible.

St. Mary's Foundation Expands AED Program

Being trained to perform CPR can double the chance of survival for a victim suffering from an otherwise fatal cardiac arrest. Are you prepared to save the life of a friend, family member or co-worker?

Chances of survival for anyone in our community are greater if you act when you see someone collapse. Action only results when AEDs are available for use and when people know how to use them. That also means leaders in the community must take action to purchase AEDs and move to train people to use them. St. Mary's Foundation is here to support that. The Foundation is teaming up with Philips to start a Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Program to track and help maintain the AEDs out in the community and to get the locations of the AEDs out to the public. The Foundation will be working on locating the AEDs in Potter, Sully, Hughes, Stanley, Hyde, Lyman, and JonesCounties.

A database will then be developed to notify the AED registered facility when the batteries and pads have expired and need to be replaced. A list of AED locations along with maps will be made available to the public to increase the awareness of where AEDs are located and also to help determine locations where AEDs need to be placed in the community. Nonprofit organizations can apply for grants through the St. Mary's Foundation to help pay for the AED. Businesses can also order AEDs through the Foundation at a price that has been negotiated with the supplier.

For more information on an AED or to register the location of an AED call Julie Moore at 224-3451 or email juliemoore@catholichealth.net.

St. Mary's Foundation offers AED awareness training at no charge. Although this class is not a certification class it will give you the confidence you need to respond in an emergency situation. The local Red Cross also offers classes where individuals can be trained in CPR and AED. These classes are taught by certified instructors. In Hughes/Stanley County, contact Barbara Biwer at 773-4755 for more information or to sign up for classes.

Pierre's High School athletics department and Pierre Police Department already know the value of having an AED available and having people trained to use it in a time of emergency. Will you be able to save a life if your loved one suffers from a cardiac event? Will you know where to find the necessary tools? Please take the initiative to get trained and find out where AEDs are located in your community.

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