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ROCS to provide VITA Services!
ROCS has been awarded grant funding to provide Free Tax Preparation Services in South Eastern and South Central South Dakota!
Services will begin on January 17, 2012 and will be available 8-4:30 in Lake Andes with Community Outreach Days in Mitchell, Pickstown, Chamberlain, Tripp, Yankton and Winner.

ROCS Receives Financial Education Grant
ROCS and the Fort Randall Federal Credit Union will be providing FREE Financial Education Services to Charles Mix County. A six week Financial Education Course will be held in March/April and will be open to the public. Financial Education Services will also be provided in conjunction with VITA services in 2012. For more information contact dbultje@rocsinc.org.

October 10, 2011
Wagner Dakota Senior Meals site to close
The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. Board of Directors made a difficult decision at their October board meeting. Due to the continued deficit at the Wagner Dakota Senior Meals site, the decision was made to close the site, effective October 14, 2011.
The only way to save the site and save the service for the people of Wagner, is for the community to step in and offer their support to get the site’s deficit paid off. 
How can you help?   A monetary donation is always welcome.   The donation is tax deductible.    A large donation would be wonderful and very helpful to the site but any donation would help.  
The Wagner Dakota Senior Meals site has had financial trouble for many years, but this was not for lack of effort on the parts of former employees Shirley Greger and Alyce Kafka. They, and the participants and volunteers, worked hard at fundraising and soliciting from businesses but the site needed more.  If by some miracle, the site does remain open, the community will need to support it by donations and fundraiser participation.
Many of the Dakota Senior Meals participants are people who have lived and worked in the Wagner area all of their lives.   They are the ones who started and supported many of the businesses that you enjoy now.   They are the people who paid taxes so that many of the services that you are now getting could be supported.    Their taxes also helped to pay for the wonderful school that your children attend and the streets that you drive on. 
Do you, as a community, want these same people to have the opportunity to stay in their home a little longer?   A healthy meal each day has been proven to keep many at home longer.   Our meals meet 1/3 of the dietary requirements for the day.   A year of meals paid by the suggested donation is much cheaper than a month at a nursing home.   Would you rather have your tax dollar help to keep someone in their home longer or would you rather have it help to pay for the stay in a nursing home?   Your local nursing home is a great place and it provides volunteers to help deliver the meals but it’s not home.   Many of the participants are homebound and the delivered meal is their only healthy meal for the day and their only contact with other people.  The participants who are able meet at the congregate site so they can visit with others and enjoy fellowship during their meals.    Someday, you may need the program for your friends, your grandparents, your parents or yourself.   If it closes now, it probably will not reopen.
We appreciate the many individuals, businesses and organizations that have volunteered to deliver the meals throughout the years.   That is a support that many communities do not have and it has helped the site greatly.
It’s your turn now.   Do you want to help?   Do you want the site to remain open?  It will close October 14 without substantial donations and continued support from the community.

August 18, 2011
ROCS Holds Open House
The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. hosted an Open House and new building tours on Thursday, August 18, 2011. The event was attended by more than 30 local residents. Coffee, juice and cookies were served to guests and door prizes were given away.
The Open House featured progress photos of the building project and program information for the Weatherization, Transportation, Emergency Services and Dakota Senior Meals programs was available.

August 16, 2011
Dakota Senior Meals program launches new logo
The Dakota Senior Meals program recently launched a new logo for the program. DSM Budget Director Karen Janousek said that the previous logo had been in place for several years and was in need of an update. The DSM staff were presented with two new logo options and voted on their favorite promoting the meals sites as providing Food, Fun, and Friendship! The new logo will appear on corresponence as well as promotional items and on the website!
Congratulations, Dakota Senior Meals, on the launch of your new logo!

May 16, 2011
Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. New Building!
The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. has moved! The ROCS office is now located at 140 Hwy 50, Lake Andes! Click here for photos of the building and the move.
The Building was built by and owned by Jim Simmermon (Southtown Rentals.) Jim was wonderful to work with and the building was built to our design specifications.
The new building has individual offices for each employee as well as expanded common areas and warehouse space. We love to have visitors and encourage anyone who is curious to come out for a tour.
An open house is being planned for mid-June to celebrate our new space.

   November 24, 2010          
Gregory Dakota Senior Meal’s Essay Wins Grant Money to Help Local Seniors in Need
Subaru’s “Share the Love Event” inspires sharing stories of bringing food and compassion to local seniors
 The Gregory Dakota Senior Meals elderly nutrition site has just won $100 from the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA)/Subaru “Share the Love” grant program.  The winning essay, which follows this news release, describes how one participant “Shared the Love” while he lived and after he passed away.   Dakota Senior Meals is now entering the next phase of the holiday competition – which relies on getting the most Facebook users to “Like” our story.   Winning that portion of the contest could earn this Meals On Wheels program up to an additional $500.
The money comes at a critical time for this Meals On Wheels program, and the more than 140 other grant winners nationwide.  The country’s economic downturn has made it more difficult to raise money to continue feeding our community’s homebound and other hungry seniors.    Dakota Senior Meals plans to use the money to help cover the costs of running the nutrition site.  
The MOWAA/Subaru “Share the Love” grant is tied to Subaru’s Share the Love Event.  The Share the Love Event will run from November 20, 2010 – January 3, 2011.   Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased to the customer's choice of one of five charities, including MOWAA.
“These Meals On Wheels programs share love every day by bringing food and companionship to America’s hungry seniors,” said MOWAA President and CEO Enid Borden.  “For the third year in a row Subaru has generously included Meals On Wheels in its Share the Love Event.  We want the world to read these stories and find out more about what these amazing Meals On Wheels programs do every day to ‘Share the Love’ in their communities.”
“We are so proud of our nutrition sites! It is stories like this one that really show how important our elderly nutrition programs are,” Nutrition Field Director Nancy Janak said.
The next phase of this competition relies on getting the most Facebook users to “Like” this story.  More than 140 “Share the Love” essays from programs across the country have been posted on MOWAA’s Member blog.   The Meals On Wheels program with the most “Likes” will win an additional $500.  Those placing 2nd through 10th will receive an additional $250.    To “Like” the local essay submitted for this Facebook contest, go to mowaablog.org and search “Dakota Senior Meals, Rural Office of Community Services.”

ROCS Dakota Senior Meals WINNING ESSAY:

Dakota Senior Meals of Gregory, South Dakota has a beautiful story to tell.   Because the love and caring of those at that site brought joy to one man, others received joy.
The story begins with a gentleman of 97 years who drove 10 miles every day to the MOW program whatever the weather.  He always brought something to share.   Sometimes it was a flower from his late wife’s flower bed, a funny card he received or pictures of his farm or family, and always, he brought a joy for life.   He loved seeing others and having somewhere to go for dinner.
When he passed away last month, his niece gave his remaining meals and three more months of meals to a relative who has fibromyalgia, a fixed income and can’t get out of the house much. The niece thought a hot meal delivered to her home would be a great Christmas gift.   She had always been a person to help others in any way that she could, and to get out and cheer up shut-ins.   Now, the meals have really brightened her days at home.  She enjoys the meals and says she feels like a “queen in her own castle”.  

October 27, 2010
ROCS Transit purchases busses
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds have allowed ROCS Transit and Yankton Transit to add more vehicles to their fleet. ROCS Transit purchased one Sprinter bus that will be used in Wessington Springs as well as a 24 passenger bus for Winner and a 16 passenger bus with a wheelchair lift for Gregory County.
Yankton Transit added a van and two Sprinters to their fleet.

Building Progress
The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. will be moving! Building is in progress for a new leased office space for ROCS. The new office is located on the South side of Lake Andes and will feature more space, individual offices, room for expanded services and increase parking and warehouse space. We are excited for this new space and will continue to update the progress. Expected move in date is May 1, 2011.

ROCS awarded SD Community Foundation Grant
The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. was awarded a $5,000 Non-Profit Enhancement Grant from the South Dakota Community Foundation. This grant will be used to implement a digital document management system. This system will allow ROCS to digitize our documentation for streamlined document retrieval and management.

45th Anniversary Celebrated
The Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. celebrated 45 years of Community Action in Charles Mix County on August 13, 2010. A picnic was held in the Lake Andes City Park and was attended by over 100 people. Each program provided information and certificates were presented to staff who have served over 10 years and over 20 years.
We appreciate the support from our Community and the friends of Community Action.

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