The BPI Bulletin - October 2020

Published on Monday, September 28, 2020

Live Like Cat Updates

On March 29th Live Like Cat went down to Vermillion to establish the endowed USD ‘Caitlyn Carman Education Scholarship’ in celebration of what should have been Caitlyn’s 22nd birthday.  We are extremely proud of this accomplishment as it happened just one day short of the foundation being incorporated.  An endowed scholarship ensures the distribution of funds to students long after we are gone. 

Live Like Cat held their second annual bean bag tournament at Golf Addiction in Sioux Falls.  The tournament is the largest fundraising event for the foundation.  The Covid didn’t stop hundreds of supporters from coming out to play in the tournament or simply to support the mission.  The weather was perfect to enjoy the tournament or simply listen to the D.J. 

There were 58 teams who played in the flighted tournament.  Prizes were awarded for first, second and third place in 3 flights.  So even the most inexperienced players had a chance at winning. 

BPI sponsored the ‘Closest to the Pin’ contest on the golf simulator inside Golf Addiction.  This is a big attraction as it only cost $5 to enter at a chance of winning a YETI cooler.  BPI’s employee, Jason Oaks, was the winner of the YETI cooler.  The contest is run by the Golf Addiction employees, so no favoritism was given to who ended up closest to the pin.  Thank you, BPI, for donating the cooler!

Another BPI employee was the lucky winner of the custom bean bag boards.  There were hundreds of people who entered the bean bag boards raffle, but Sarah Brasel was the winner.  Ironically Sarah had talked about how much she would love to win the boards.  Thank you to all the BPI employees who purchased raffle tickets.

On August 12th Live Like Cat randomly drew 12 names as the lucky winners as the ‘New Teacher Grant’ recipients.  A total of $3,600 was awarded with each recipient receiving $300 to be used towards classroom expenses of their choosing.  The teachers who won the grant were from all over South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. 

The beginning of September was busy donating books to a few classrooms and the middle schools in Sioux Falls.  People are surprised when they find out the classroom libraries are not funded.  The majority of the classroom library books are purchased by the teachers.  It’s a huge relief for teachers to have these books donated to them.  They are always so appreciative.

Recently the winner of the ‘Teacher of Excellence’ award was presented.  Actually, this was something we ran back in February where anyone could nominate an excellent teacher.  We were about ready to announce the winner when the schools all shut down.  It was inspiring to read all the entries as so many teachers are deserving.  We selected Landon Ahlers as the winner.  He is a middle school/high school teacher and basketball coach at George/Little Rock School in George Iowa.  On September 25th we surprised Mr. Ahlers and his class. 

Landon received a stay and play golf package at Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort and $200.  Landon plans to use the money on lab supplies. 

In October, Live Like Cat will be donating a new book to every student (Kindergarten through 5th grade) at the Hills/Beaver Creek Elementary School.

Follow Live Like Cat on Facebook (livelikecat), Instagram (livelikecatorg) or visit our website at LiveLikeCat.org for all updates and upcoming events.  

The next Live Like Cat fundraiser will be on November 2nd at the Barrell House in Sioux Falls.  The Barrell House is located near 57th Street and Sycamore Ave.  All you have to do is show up and eat!  A portion of their day’s profits will be donated to LLC!

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