Happy Tuesday! Megan here.

Many of you may remember last summer Sioux Falls Simplified launched the inaugural 'A Little Help' give-back campaign.

  • Through that, you beautiful people helped raise $5,000 for Journey of Hope, a nonprofit that provides essential hygiene products for folks who need them. Simple, effective, helpful.

Well, we're bringing back 'A Little Help' again this year with a different nonprofit that focuses on making people's lives simpler by connecting them with essential medical equipment.

Meet Owen's Outfitters.

Tell me more

Owen's Outfitters is a medical equipment lending library.

Essentially, if you need medical equipment – knee scooters, crutches, wheelchairs, ostomy supplies, breast pumps, adult diapers, you name it – you can come to Owen's Outfitters, and if they have it, they'll give it to you.

  • There's no stacks of paperwork, no income qualification, none of that. You say you need a knee scooter, and Executive Director Mike Turner believes you.
"No one is coming here for fun," Turner said. "None of this is fun."

Also, if you have medical equipment you don't need that still has a useful life, you can donate it and reduce what ends up in landfills.

And remind me what 'A Little Help' is all about

Let me start with a little backstory. I used to work for a newspaper that ran a really cool, locally focused give-back campaign.

  • Every December, they'd pick a local charity, spend the entire month telling stories about the work the organization was doing, and raise money to help them keep doing that awesome work.

One year, I was the reporter selected to help tell those stories, and it was an experience that's stuck with me. There are so many amazing nonprofits in town doing amazing work, and it can be easy to let that work fall into the background if you're not directly impacted by it.

I wanted to bring back a similarly structured give-back effort, and thus, "A Little Help" was born.

  • Because, I think the Beatles said it best – we all get by with a little help from our friends.

How is this all gonna work?

It's very simple. I don't do things any other way.

You're going to see a lot of stories about Owen's Outfitters this month. The hope is that you'll see the value in the organization's mission, build a connection and maybe even throw a couple bucks their way.

  • Each story will include a link to donate. You'll also see that link in a little blurb in every newsletter that hits your inbox this month. The first one is right here.
    • You'll see a donate button pop up in the top right corner of the page. It's that simple. 😄

What's the goal?

The goal is to raise $5,000 to help Owen's Outfitters. It's an attainable goal – all it'd take is for everyone reading this email to give $1.

  • The even bigger goal is to help the nonprofit connect with a larger space so they can better store all of the medical equipment folks donate and accommodate the ever-increasing demand they're seeing. (So if you're in the commercial real estate biz and have a good hookup, hit me up.)

And while I'm not great at sales or fundraising, I am good at telling stories. My goal is to tell stories all month long about the impact Owen's Outfitters is having on our community.

  • I hope that by sharing their story, you'll feel as strongly as I do that their work is worth supporting.

What happens next?

I'll go ahead and get the ball rolling with a $50 donation from Sioux Falls Simplified.

And whenever you're ready, you can go do the same (in any amount) here:

Here to offer 'A Little Help'

P.S. Have you ever received medical supplies from Owen's Outfitters? I want to hear from you! Reply to this email and share your testimonial.