This campaign makes our events possible by providing essential funds to go towards the cost of running our programs and enabling us to keep events FREE for families to attend and enjoy!

💙 Fun & Friends is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that focuses on hosting free, accessible, recreational events for people with disabilities of all ages in the Sioux Falls area. We are an inclusive group that allows for families and individuals to self identify if our organization is right for them. We welcome those who have a physical disability, intellectual disability, or otherwise identify as having a disability and who are looking for an accessible and inclusive community. Fun & Friends is run completely by passionate women volunteering their time, and entirely powered by the generosity of the Sioux Falls community.

💙 Our Mission Statement: Our mission is to strengthen our community through social programming for both families of a child with a disability as well as individuals with disabilities themselves. We foster meaningful connections between those individuals, their families and the community through scheduled meetups, social events and by providing private Facebook groups as an open forum for communication, and general support. This is a casual group with no paid dues or obligations. Fun & Friends hosted activities are open to the entire (age appropriate) group. Attendance is never necessary.

💙 We have 4 active programs for people who have a disability, rare disease, genetic condition, or who are on the spectrum. These programs are broken down by age. 321 Fun is our birth-5 group, Fun & Friends Jr. is our 6-12 group, and Teens & Adults serves those 13+. Each program has their own volunteer coordinator who plans a monthly event for their program (at no cost to families to attend). Coordinators also moderate and engage parents through our private Facebook groups, which are open for parents to use as an online forum, to ask for recommendations, or share struggles and successes.

💙 Our Teen & Adult Program boasts an annual Winter Ball. This formal dance is open to all teens & adults with disabilities in the area and features a fully catered meal, specialty mocktails, games, crafts, professional DJ and photographer with photos made available to download for FREE to all guests. The 2026 Winter Ball was attended by over 200 people, and we will be looking to move that event to a larger location for 2027.

💙 Between those 3 core programs, we currently serve 487 individual members through our online parent groups, which we estimate represents close to 300 local families.

💙 Our 4th program is our newest addition: Fun for All Open Gyms. Once a month we host an open gym at the Special Olympics building that features specialty equipment, themed activities and crafts, and a monthly special guest (a community resource). These are free, casual events that encourage connection between parents, siblings, and the kiddos themselves. These open gym sessions are geared towards kids in the 0-10 age range, but siblings of any age are always welcome and encouraged to attend. This program continues to evolve and grow and has been featured by local news.

💙 Outside of our 4 programs, we also host parent events, like Dads Nights, Meet-A-Mom Coffee Mixers, Autism Parent Mixers as well as general Fun & Friends events, open to all members such as our All Family Picnic and the biggest event that we host–the Family-Friendly Disability Resource Expo, which will be making its return in 2027. We have hosted limited series in collaboration with South Dakota Special Olympics (the Young Athletes series and Strider Bike Adaptive Trike Class) and South Dakota Deaf Resource & Outreach Program (American Sign Language classes). Every event that we host, no matter the size or scope, is FREE for families or individuals to attend and enjoy.

💙 We love getting our families together at public events as well, such as The Levitt summer concerts, library events, city hydrant parties, etc. Through these opportunities, inviting our members with disabilities to participate in events out in the larger community, we hope to inspire confidence by lifting their visibility to the general population and reminding everyone that people with disabilities belong in public places and that together we are stronger. This is just one of the ways we cultivate widespread community impact and build towards creating a more inclusive, accessible Sioux Falls for ALL!

🗓 2026 & Beyond Projects:

We hosted our second Strider Bike & Adaptive Trike series held in collaboration with Special Olympic South Dakota following our successful Adaptive Trike Campaign that raised $16,000 to go towards the acquisition of 5 adaptive trikes. These trikes will be available for private use by our families at no charge once the class has finished.
Our 2nd Annual All Family Picnic was our biggest family event of the year, with over 200 people in attendance. This event featured entertainment like: music, face-painting, character performers, and activities like sensory tables, bubbles, inflatable carnival games, and of course snacks and refreshments. We purchased 110 white Fun & Friends shirts for attendees to tie dye and take home for free! This was a casual community event and we encourage families to invite their friends and set up camps on the lawn. This event was hosted at the Falls Park Open Air Shelter (where the Farmer’s Market is typically held) which provided ample paved and shaded, accessible space.
We are in the beginning stages of planning our biggest parent event of the year, our first Fun & Friends Parent Mixer. This event was previously hosted as an Autism Parent Mixer, but we have decided to open it to the entire disability community. The vision for this event is to treat disability parents to an upscale evening out, while giving them the opportunity to connect with each other, support one another, and exchange resources organically. We will be working with other local organizations (We Rock the Spectrum, Uniquely Yours, Safe Haven Kids Care) to organize coinciding specialty childcare nights to help make attendance possible for parents. The goal is to host this event in the Fall.
As mentioned above, we have an annual Winter Ball that we host for teens and adults. We will begin planning this event soon for January 2027. As we have outgrown our previous location (Mosaic) we will be looking to move to the Convention Center, or a similar space. As this is one of our most expensive events to host, there are sponsorship (& volunteer) opportunities unique to the Winter Ball.
We have already formed our 2027 Family-Friendly Disability Resource Expo committee to begin planning that event, happening on April 17th 2027 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center. This will be our second time hosting this event. Our 2025 Expo gathered 60 local disability resources all in one place for local families to take in! We also provided a free lunch for volunteers, attendees, and vendors. The Expo featured family-friendly entertainment like Mr. Twister, 605 Art Bus, food trucks, door prizes, and more. The Expo was attended by over 400 individuals and we are hoping to make the 2027 Expo even bigger & better!

💡 We have several ideas that we haven’t quite been able to pin down to bring to life quite yet, but we always keep a list of our “dream” events, like a speed dating event for adults (akin to Love on the Spectrum) or a big Family Formal for local families (the kid friendly version of the Winter Ball). It’s one of our ultimate goals to open a physical location in town. This would help alleviate our eternal struggle to find affordable space to rent for events, as well as storage, and office space. We would love to have an inclusive space available for our families to utilize as well.

🎥 Links to media coverage throughout our history:

*Note on the use of the word “disability”: Preferred disability language can be subjective, and vary from person to person, but we, as an organization, choose to use the word “disability.” To many, this word is the emerging modern standard. It is a neutral term that avoids the use of euphemisms like “special needs” or “differently abled.” It acknowledges the reality that some people may need specific accommodations to fully participate in life. It is an inclusive word that helps promote and affirm one's identity and helps those who identify as having a disability to connect with the broader community.

Essential Funds

Help us build a more inclusive and FUN Sioux Falls for ALL!