Aiming to Inspire Health Raises Over $30,500 to Support Local Healthcare

  • August 18, 2026
AAA Collections placed first in the adult category at the Aiming to Inspire Health fundraiser with a score of 149 using the reverse run rule tiebreaker. Pictured are team members Hunter Serfoss, Kylin Nelson, Joe Schnetter, Kade Nelson.
AAA Collections placed first in the adult category at the Aiming to Inspire Health fundraiser with a score of 149 using the reverse run rule tiebreaker. Pictured are team members Hunter Serfoss, Kylin Nelson, Joe Schnetter, Kade Nelson.

Over $30,500 was raised at Brookings Health System Foundation‘s seventeenth annual Aiming to Inspire Health fundraiser on Thursday, Aug. 13. The event was held at Brookings Gun Club, rural Brookings, S.D., and presented by First Bank & Trust.

Proceeds from the 2026 sporting clay fundraiser and raffle will support local healthcare initiatives, including the purchase of the life-saving LUCAS 3 chest compression system. A LUCAS system provides consistent, high-quality CPR during cardiac emergencies, helping deliver the best possible care. 

Twenty-nine teams participated at this year’s clay target tournament. Winners from the event include:

  • First Place Adult Team — AAA Collections – 149* (Hunter Serfoss, Kylin Nelson, Joe Schnetter, Kade Nelson)
  • First Place Adult Individual — Kevin Wilson – 42*
  • Second Place Adult Individual — Josh Stafford – 42*
  • First Place Youth Team — BHS Clays sponsored by Basin Electric– 120
  • First Place Youth Individual — Cody Hansen – 34
  • Second Place Youth Individual — Landon Gerjets – 33
  • Drawing, Individual — Tim Jensen
  • Drawing, Team —Avera Brookings
  • Ghost Clay Drawing — Dylan Hawley
  • Lowest Individual Score — Riley VanHeerde
  • Top Individual Score on random station – Kevin Wilson
  • Early Bird Drawing —Dacotah Bank

*Reverse Run Rule tiebreaker applied for first place adult team, first place adult individual and second place adult individual.

Youth Team BHS Clays sponsored by Basin Electric placed first in the Aiming to Inspire Health fundraiser’s youth category with a score of 120. Pictured are team members Cody Hanson, Landon Gerjets, Trestin Johnson and Ajay Feucht.
Youth Team BHS Clays sponsored by Basin Electric placed first in the Aiming to Inspire Health fundraiser’s youth category with a score of 120. Pictured are team members Cody Hanson, Landon Gerjets, Trestin Johnson and Ajay Feucht.

In conjunction with the tournament, Brookings Health System Foundation also held a raffle sponsored by Brookings Powersports and Runnings of Brookings. Grand prize winner of the Aiming to Inspire Health raffle was Kyle Rausch. Rausch won a 2026 Polaris Ranger 1000 premium utility terrain vehicle (UTV) from Brookings Powersports. Second Prize winner was Rich Widman. Widman won a Beretta A300 Ultima Black Synthetic 12-gauge shotgun donated by Runnings of Brookings. Third prize winner was Clint Kooima. Kooima won a 22” Portable Blackstone Griddle.

Event sponsors included First Bank & Trust; Brookings Radio; Solventum; Runnings of Brookings; Brookings Power Sports; Sanford Health Brookings Clinic; Advanced Asset Alliance; Avera Medical Group Brookings; BankStar Financial; Dacotah Bank; Helsper, McCarty & Rasmussen, PC; Larson Manufacturing; Kerry’s Landscaping & Irrigation; Kraus-Anderson; Banner & Associates; Building Sprinkler Inc.; Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical; Eide Bailly; MarshMcLennan Agency; AMP Electric; Bowes Construction, Inc.; First Interstate Bank; Walmart of Brookings; Basin Electric Power Cooperative; Brookings Property Management; Casey’s; Sioux Valley Energy; and Midwest Fresh Catering.

Friends of the Foundation who helped make the event possible included Ace Hardware Volga, Allegra, Blue Tide Car Wash, Brookings County Outdoor Adventure Center, Brookings Gun Club, Brookings Health System Gift Shop, Burris Optical, Cubby’s Sports Bar & Grill, Dairy Queen Brookings, Outlaw Graphics, The Prairie Perk-Up, Scheels Sioux Falls, and SDSU Athletics.

For more information about Brookings Health System Foundation or ways to support local health care, please contact Foundation Director Brittany Venekamp at (605) 696-8045 or foundation@brookingshealth.org or visit brookingshealth.org/Foundation.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, municipal health system that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.

About Brookings Health System Foundation

The mission of Brookings Health System Foundation is “Inspiring people to support Brookings Health System through philanthropy, recognizing the vital role of local healthcare in sustaining quality of life in our community.” Gifts to the Foundation support charity health care for those less fortunate, health and wellness education, facility, equipment, and technology upgrades and other needs as they arise at Brookings Health System. For more information about Brookings Health System Foundation or how you may contribute, please contact Foundation Director Brittany Venekamp at (605) 696-8045 or foundation@brookingshealth.org.