Above: SFCH food services employees are excited to be back in their own kitchen and in the beautiful new Daugaard Dining Hall.
Change–it can bring joy, tears, challenges and success. And it’s never easy–especially when you go through it alone! At CHS, our staff continues to prove how amazing they are; and, with hard work, dedication and teamwork you can accomplish anything.
Construction for the Daugaard Dining Hall began in September of 2023. Before the bulldozers rolled on campus, the Facilities Department on the SFCH campus and at Shelter For Family Safety brainstormed solutions to find a non-disruptive way to keep the kiddos fed without having a dining hall. One idea was to use the gymnasium to prepare and serve meals. Because of ventilation, they realized they couldn't cook in the gym, but they could serve meals.
The facilities team held meetings with LifeScape, a non-profit organization serving children and adults in the Sioux Falls area, and decided to have them prepare and deliver meals to the SFCH campus.
“After our dining coordinator here (SFCH) resigned we stopped using LifeScape and began using kitchen facilities at the Shelter,” said SFCH Facilities Supervisor Brad Hansen.”
CHS Facilities staff at Shelter For Family Safety and SFCH worked together to prepare and delivere meals during construction.
Shelter For Family Safety Facilities Supervisor Mark Sigette and his team quickly jumped into action. They went from preparing 40-60 servings per meal to preparing 150-180 servings per meal.
“We basically tripled what our output was,” said Mark. “There’s a lot of things that play into that, like equipment, staffing, supplies and food.”
When they made the switch from LifeScape to the Shelter, even the kiddos noticed a difference in the quality.
“They (Shelter For Family Safety) made really good food and we noticed the kids eating more,” Brad explained.
“This worked out better than any of us probably anticipated,” stated Mark. “We had a mantra of ‘feed the kids’ and despite any obstacles or problems we had, that was always in the forefront of everyone's minds.”
Luckily, the teams weren’t met with too many issues and had good weather for most of the year–other than one bad snowstorm where only Brad and one person from the laundry facility made it to work.
“That was a challenge since we were bringing food in. She and I served what we could find for breakfast. Thankfully, our crew had laid some stuff out the night before.”
“Everyone helped out–maintenance guys, housekeepers,” said Facilities Director Clinton Hubers. “The whole Facilities team helped at some point during this process. And I didn’t hear a single complaint from anybody.”
Working together brought both teams some unique opportunities. It gave them a chance to meet each other and form bonds and relationships outside of the campus they work on. It also allowed the SFCH team to get into a kitchen and use the same equipment being installed in the Daugaard Dining Hall.
"They all know each other now. It feels like one team compared to two separate teams," said Mark. "In the event anything happens to either one of our kitchen staffs, I think we could roll this back out and they would succeed. "