PIERRE — Kids Helping Kids is more than a name for one local group.

It’s what it does.

And with $20,000 more to spend this year thanks to a Turner Grant, the kids will have some deciding to do. 

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“We are here to help give kids an opportunity to do things they may not normally be able to do for financial reasons,” said Maggie Nielson, group member and T.F. Riggs High School sophomore.

In all, $50,000 was awarded to nine local youth organizations Thursday at the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce.

Kristie Maher, an adult who works with the 8-year-old Kids Helping Kids group, said $20,000 is one of the higher amounts of money the club has received.

“They serve a lot of kids with the funds they have,” said Maher, executive director of the South Dakota Discovery Center, where the club is based. “They’ve given close to 300 scholarships for out of school activities. They fund summer camps. Those cover at least 12 kids each and there are about seven or eight of those a summer. They are expensive camps to put on, but really inexpensive for the kids who participate.”

Macy Halverson, a Georgia Morse Middle School student in Kids Helping Kids, said giving low income peers money to buy things they need for activities is a rewarding experience.

“You can go and help them do what they think is fun,” she said.

Children who receive money through the club are entitled to $50 a year for things such shoes for basketball.

“It’s incredible,” Nielson said of Thursday’s amount. “I just sit here and think about all we’re going to do for the community.”

Ellen Lee, with Healthy Community/Healthy Youth, which accepted the applications from the local clubs, said the elementary to high school aged children in Kids Helping Kids do adult work.

“They are looking at their own peers and realizing ‘this kid can’t wrestle if he doesn’t have shoes’ — that’s a pretty humbling especially for a kid,” Lee said. “I think it will make them better citizens and help them be more aware as they develop.”

Maher said being a club member means considering those in need.

“When you know it affects a person it requires a lot of conversation and a lot of discussion,” she said. “They learn about confidentiality. They always participate in writing the grant. There are some really good social skills, leadership and career skills that come along with it.”