Carmon's generosity earns him Community Spirit award

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor

Greg and Sheri Carmon will receive the “2017 Community Spirit Award” Oct. 27 at the Brandon Community Foundation’s annual Oak and Vine event. Jill Meier/BV Journal

When Greg and Sheri Carmon moved their business, Midwest Railcar Repair, from downtown Sioux Falls to the countryside north of Brandon in 1999, they also pledged to be difference-makers in their new surroundings.
Nearly two decades later, the Carmons have made good on that promise in multiple ways, which has led the Brandon Community Foundation Board of Directors to select them as this year’s “Community Spirit Award” recipients.
“I was very surprised,” Greg said of the honor. “We’ve tried to be active in the community ever since we moved here, because I think if you are in a community and you’re not doing something to better it, better yourself and the people you employ, you’re not working as hard as you should.”
Adds Sheri: “It’s a very nice honor and Greg has done a ton of work, not for the credit, but he believes in trying to make Brandon a better place, and I think he’s done a good job.”
Greg said that both he and Sheri “have a passion” to help others. 
“Whether it’s the church or the community or whatever, you just need to help those that need help, and that step up sometimes changes lives,” he said. “Once you have enough money to buy a steak and enjoy a vacation or two, what do you do with the rest of your money? You try to improve lives of those that work for you or are surrounded by you. It’s just part of the passion, I guess.”
“As I look at the past Brandon Community Foundation Spirit Award recipients, they all have different contributions and involvement in the community,” said Bob Logan, president of the BCF. “The Carmons are no exception. Being instrumental in the beginning of the Community Foundation as a board member, they have been champions of our community as business owners and supporting our community in many ways. Their commitment to their business and employees shows how much spirit they have in making Brandon and the Valley Springs area better for all of us that live here.”
Greg, a former member of the Foundation Board, was part of the effort that helped raise the Community Fund’s initial $300,000.
“It started out pretty fast,” he recalled. “We had the first $300,000 raised, which was a record for the Sioux Falls Community Foundation, who manages the fund.”
The fund has since grown, inching toward $700,000, and Carmon credits that growth to the Foundation’s renewed energy in recent years.
“We started out fast and then lost the momentum, energy and drive, because everybody’s that on these boards are volunteers, there’s no full-time employees. In Sioux Falls, there are nine full-time paid people, so you can get a lot of stuff done. Here, it’s all volunteers,” Greg said. “I’d like to thank the people that are on the board since this is strictly a volunteer committee and people are doing it in their spare time. I think that’s maybe overlooked at how much time people are putting in different organizations; and it isn’t just the Community Foundation. If everybody would give a percentage of their time and funds to this, it certainly could make a big difference in any community. So, thank you to all those that are doing all these wonderful things.”
Both Sheri and Greg come from humble beginnings, but were nurtured to be willful givers. 
“My parents were very committed to the church - church first - but when we were raised, we didn’t have any extra money. You paid the church first and then you took care of yourself,” Sheri tells. “My mother has always done everything she can to help out in the community, and my father as well. It wasn’t like money was free; it was counted and planned for.”
Greg describes his farming family as “impoverished.”
“We had a two-bedroom house with seven of us in it. There were no running water indoor facilities; you woke up in the morning and you had ice in the water bucket, so you had to appreciate neighbors and gratitude, but you learned how to work hard and be honest,” he said. “Now that we have the chance to give back and help others that need a hand, we enjoy doing that.”
The Carmon’s giving spirit has spilled over to other goodwill causes. Greg serves on a handful of boards, “which all end up being fundraisers or devoting a lot of time to the greater good,” he said. 
He recently traveled to Switzerland and Germany with South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard to learn about their dual apprenticeship educational program.
“They were trying to teach us and a couple other states that came with us how they teach their kids and train them to become good students and very useful early in life,” he said.
The trip abroad will benefit his role on the Build Dakota Board of Directors, which is tasked with gifting 300 free-ride scholarships each year to vocational tech students enrolled in one of eight vocations identified as “critical needs” for workers.
He also serves as the chairman of the grant committee for the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation Board, which awards grants to 501(c)3 organizations.
“Typically, we give away $30,000 to $50,000 every 60 days, so that’s pretty fun,” he said. “It’s amazing that organizations can do so much with so little money but they just need that little step to get started.”
Sheri’s volunteerism extends to church endeavors, The History Club of Sioux Falls and most recently, Call to Freedom, which supports the demise of human trafficking.
“She leads Bible school church groups and a lot of other things that she doesn’t take credit for, but she’s always there,” Greg said. “You are kind of who you hang around with, and luckily, we’ve been exposed to people with big hearts and grand ideas; that kind of rubs off on you.”
The couple also supports Simba Educational Ministries, a Christ-centered program in Kenya that Garretson native Chase Ward has brought recent attention to.
“We want to make an impact or a difference if we can, and we’re fortunate enough to do that now,” Greg said. 
Brandon Community Foundation’s annual Oak & Vine event, the organization’s signature fund-raising event, will be held from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27 at the Brandon Golf Course. The suggested donation is $125 per person or $250 per couple. 
The BCF maintains an endowment fund where the interest earned from donations is used to award financial grants to area organizations that serve the Brandon area community and have a financial need. More than 35 nonprofit organizations have received grants in the last 11 years.

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