Keloland's Don Jorgenson interviews, Craig Severtson, Paul Fishback, Jay Fishback and Leslie Black about the organizations purpose and growth into hospital equipment and farming projects.  Fall fundraiser was announced. 

1 of 3 baseball stories highlighted by MIDCO Sports Magazine outlines serving the needs of kids in Nicaragua from the Midwest. How a non-profit from Flandrea, SD goes beyond baseball equipment to securing local food markets, clean water and hospital equipment in impoverished communities.

 Used items from Pipestone County Medical Center’s (PCMC) old clinic will soon be in a shipping container on their way to Nicaragua, where rather than being outdated, they will provide much needed upgrades at public hospitals.

Starting July 5 Helping Kids Round First will air every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. as part of Midco's summer programming.

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Travel with Daniel to the dusty baseball fields of Nicaragua in Beyond Baseball: Rounding First as he chronicles the incredible work being done by the non-profit Helping Kids Round First to bring opportunity to young baseball players, empower women, put food on the table for families, and bring quality medical equipment to one of the poorest countries in the world.

Hear from some of Nicaragua's brightest stars including Marvin Benard (Giants), Roniel Raudes (Red Sox), Marlon Avea (Astros), Kevin Gadea (Mariners) as well as Olympic softball star Ruby Rojas. (a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Helping Kids Round First)

The first ocean-bound shipping container left Flandreau by truck Nov. 12. Members of HKRF flew to Nicaragua a few days later to meet the shipment. 

“This has been a long, arduous process,” Craig Severtson, president of HKRF, said before the shipment left. “I couldn’t be happier.” 

For the complete article see the 12-11-2015 issue.

Students in Nicaragua express gratitude for gifts from Moody County

Some supplies were donated by Huron groups 

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Baseball equipment collected throughout Eastern South Dakota was held in a warehouse in Flandreau prior to being shipped to needy youth in Nicaragua last month. Helping Kids Round First, the organization that sponsors the collection and shipment, was assisted by the South Dakota International Trade Center to ship the items. 

FLANDREAU — Helping Kids Round First, an organization based in Flandreau, recently celebrated a significant milestone. The growing group successfully shipped its first, 20-ton ocean container full of baseball supplies to Nicaragua. 

It is the kids only ray of sunshine.

He is going to Nicaragua in about ten days and needs four more units to fill a container (40,000 lbs.).  He is asking for ANY baseball or softball items that you can donate.  It can be equipment or uniforms, shoes etc. whether used or new.

If you have anything to donate you can bring it to Dell Rapids Middle School office.

Helmets, gloves, and uniforms are just a few of the items that have come into the organization and housed recently in a shed. They waited patiently to be packed up and sent off for distribution in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

That is where HKRF founder Craig Severtson is heading as you read this. He will be there to meet a shipping container full of equipment when it reaches its new home.

This mini documentary depicts the lives in Nicaragua affected by Helping Kids Round First. Interviews by: local officials, volunteers and HKRF team members. Credits Jay and Paul Fishback, and Northern Voyage.

This mini documentary depicts the lives in Nicaragua affected by Helping Kids Round First. Interviews by: local officials, volunteers and HKRF team members. Credits Jay and Paul Fishback, and Northern Voyage.

Hospital Donates to Non-Profit.

Kreutzfeldt asked the staff at the Madison Hospital & Clinic to donate some of their old medical equipment before they moved into a new building. With help from the Chester and Flandreau football teams, it's been relocated to the shop. The equipment is now waiting to be shipped to Nicaragua.

Helping Kids Round First (HKRF) has effectively hit it out of the park with a new project.

The Flandreau-based baseball charity collected many of the leftover items from the former Madison Community Hospital and clinic -- more than two semi-trailers worth -- which will be sent to two public hospitals in Nicaragua.

07/15/15

KSFY Interview: Craig Severtson is a Flandreau native whose charity, Helping Kids Round First, has been working to bring baseball, as well as much needed medical supplies, to the poor Central American nation of Nicaragua. We had a chance to sit down with him during yesterday's road show in Flandreau.

Helping someone less fortunate to be successful and gain more opportunities is something I could spend my entire life doing – and plan to. Blending the two of these, I decided to create school supply kits to send to Nicaragua for my Senior Project.

Published on Jun 10, 2015

Students receive school supply kits through Helping Kids Round First based in Flandreau, South Dakota.

Work in Nicaragua includes help for subsistence farms 

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Among the group’s projects: developing basic irrigation systems, adopting more advanced fertilizing methods and providing basic equipment to improve planting and tillage efficiency. This isn’t about elevating subsistence farming to a bulk level of production; instead, it’s about improving subsistence agriculture so that people truly can subsist on it. Deep poverty and sharp hunger are stubborn facts of daily life for many Nicaraguans.

One of the more recent relationships the team has established is with Helping Kids Round First, an organization founded by 1974 USD alum Craig Severtson that strives to give underprivileged youth opportunities through baseball. Specifically, the organization collects used baseball and softball equipment and uniforms and ships them to youth in Nicaragua. The group has done so for a decade.
 
Current and former Coyote players alike set a goal of 350 items they could donate to the organization. They surpassed that goal by nearly 100 items.

SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO AM and KWSN) – The Augustana College baseball team will embark on the trip of a life time on Saturday, Jan. 15, when they take off for Managua, Nicaragua. On the 12-day excursion, the Augustana coaching staff and student-athletes will participate in missionary work and experience a new culture. The team has been enrolled in an on-campus course titled "Cultural and Political History in Nicaragua," taught by Augustana Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Landon Karr. The course will continue in Nicaragua where Dr. Karr will lead field trips to various course-related sites and destinations.

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The Augustana baseball team will also be involved in a service-learning project in cooperation with the South Dakota-based charity Helping Kids Round First. HKRF was founded by Flandreau, S.D. native Craig Severtson, father of former Viking closer Bret Severtson and Beau Severtson (a former Augustana wrestler). The team will host two days of youth baseball camps in Somotillo, Nicaragua with the mission of giving underprivileged kids opportunities through baseball. For more information on HKRF, visit www.helpingkidsroundfirst.org. 

Head Baseball coach Tim Huber is interviewed by Augustana students on the importance of global learning.