Giving Hearts Day
More than $18,500 raised on Giving Hearts Day in 2025
The North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation has a full heart after generous donors helped the charity raise more than $18,500 on Giving Hearts Day on Feb. 13. This was the 501(c)3’s fourth year of participation in Giving Hearts Day, a 24-hour giving event for more than 610 non-profits across North Dakota and Minnesota.
Giving Hearts Day donations to the North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation came from more than 90 donors from across four states. The foundation for the Giving Hearts Day campaign was laid by six match donation pledges, totaling $3,500. Match donors included Justin and Carrie Deckert of Arena; Scott and Heather Katus of Watauga, S.D.; Jason and Peggy Leiseth of Arnegard; Gary Martens of Ross; Randy and Stacey Schmitt of Rugby; and Wendy Stuber of Bowman.
“The Stockmen’s Foundation is grateful for all the support it received on Giving Hearts Day,” said Jason Leiseth, North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation president. “These gifts make a profound difference in our industry.”
One example came just recently in 2024, when the Foundation launched the Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program to support cattle-ranching families in North Dakota who suffered catastrophic losses in the horrific wildfires that swept across the state in October 2024.
In addition to their own $50,000 gift, the NDSA and NDSF invited others to join them to provide financial support to help ranchers rise from the ashes and rebuild their herds, their homes and their hopes. This month, the NDSF distributed nearly $950,000 from the Out of the Ashes Wildfire Disaster Relief Program.
The NDSF stands by producers when Mother Nature deals incredible blows in the form of catastrophic wildfire, blizzards, floods and drought.
The Foundation has also made a profound difference in the lives of students. Sydney Tastad-Flax of Rolette received the NDSF’s Tokach Angus Ranch Memorial Scholarship in 2024. Tastad-Flax is in her second year of graduate school at Kansas State University, where she is pursuing her master’s degree in animal science and industry with a focus on reproductive physiology. She plans to apply to a doctoral program. Teagan Erbele of Lehr received an NDSF Myron Wold Memorial Scholarship in 2024. She is another example. She is a North Dakota State University freshman studying ag education and animal science, inspired by her own experience as an ag education student, FFA member and cattle rancher.
Generous donors have helped the Stockmen’s Foundation make significant contributions since it was established in 2008. Among its work, the organization has:
• Provided 115 college students studying for beef industry and related careers with scholarships;
• Delivered nearly 2 million dollars in direct relief to producers who were devastated by relentless floods, blizzards, wildfire and drought;
• Provided curriculum to agriculturists to assist them with the generational transfer of their operations;
• Established a research fund to help keep the industry on the cutting edge with science and technology;
• Provided high-quality North Dakota beef to hungry families in the state; and
• Provided mental health resources to farmers and ranchers navigating challenging times.
To learn more about the Foundation’s charitable mission, visit www.ndstockmen.org/foundation.
Giving Hearts Day was started by the Dakota Medical Foundation in 2008. Since then, more than $225 million has been raised for charitable missions. The 2025 event generated $31 million from nearly 40,210 donors.