From hopeless to hopeful: Silver Dollar City Foundation changing the lives of local children

For 20 years, the foundation’s Care for Kids program has provided unrestricted dollars to area school districts so when educators saw a need, they could meet a need. 

In 2026, the foundation partnered with the nonprofit Care to Learn to do even more for students. The partnership, called Together for Kids, impacts all 14 school districts that serve Stone and Taney County kids. 

“When a child doesn’t have their needs met, the chances of them succeeding becomes less and less,” Mindy says. “We want to continue to do everything we can to ensure that all children are able to have the resources and confidence they need to be successful both in and out of the classroom. Through Together for Kids, we’ll be able to do more, reach more kids and impact more.”

Mindy pauses as she ponders how those funds find their way to kids who desperately need hope and a dose of good cheer.

“I hear story after story about how the dollars from Silver Dollar City Foundation are making it possible for lives to be changed,” she said. “Whether it’s helping a family after a house fire, buying a little girl a softball glove so she can join the team, or covering the cost of a much-needed home repair so a father can be reunited with his kids, these dollars are an investment into our future. Teachers have seen kids get off the bus without shoes and had children tell them they hate three-day weekends because there’s never food at home. This is heavy stuff, and it’s happening all around us.”

Mindy, who has two children of her own, gets emotional thinking about hardworking families that just can’t catch a break.

“There are so many moms and dads who are working really hard but are struggling to get by,” she says. “One extra bill can trip them up and force them to make hard choices like do I buy food or pay the electric bill? Thanks to the generosity of Silver Dollar City Parks & Resorts, which makes our work possible, we can help that family get back on its feet.”

Mindy has always had a “helper’s heart.” Before her role with the Silver Dollar City Foundation, she spent eight years as the Skaggs Foundation's grant administrator. Her philanthropic spirit, though, can be traced back to when her adult son was just a little guy.

“His school was doing a fundraiser where kids could buy little trinkets with quarters,” she recalls. “I would send him to school with change so he could buy a few trinkets and didn’t think much about it. Then, he came home one day and was sad. He had noticed a classmate crying because she didn’t have any money. He happily gave her his change that day so she wouldn’t feel left out. He was sad because it opened his eyes to how his friend had been doing without so much. Throughout the years, she’s told me again and again how much it meant to her that my son gave her that money. That has impacted my heart in the most unbelievable way. It was only a few quarters, but it gave her a sense of belonging.”

Mindy says the Foundation has the same effect on lives on a much larger scale.

“So many families just feel hopeless,” she says. “I hear from school leaders how students who once felt invisible feel valued and cared for, and how one single act of kindness can ignite a spark of hope in their lives and change their entire trajectory.”

Since 2006, Silver Dollar City Foundation has donated more than $2.6 million so that children have their needs met and feel confident. 

In addition, the foundation also helps area districts tackle issues facing their community. Every year, each district in Stone and Taney counties is eligible to receive a Hope Grant from the foundation. Through those grants, districts are making childcare more affordable, increasing access to preschool, providing afterschool tutoring, and much more.