SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – On Thursday night, anyone that stops in to the Brandon Dairy Queen will be helping a local organization’s fight against cancer.
From 5-8 p.m. on October 23, 10% of all sales at the Dairy Queen in Brandon will go to the This is The Way Foundation, which provides scholarships for students going into the medical field.
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The foundation was created by Lori Huml, whose 13-year-old son, Spencer Thorsland, passed away from cancer in 2024.
“To see the community helping his foundation just feels like such a partnership, and it’s been amazing support from our community,” Huml told KELOLAND News.
She says the foundation was created as a way to give back to the community who helped her family during Spencer’s battle, as well as helping with tuition for medical students who may play a hand in finding a cure one day.
“My son Spencer is the inspiration behind it,” Huml said. “ … He was in the hospital so much and met so many people, and started to really have this dream of becoming a surgeon.”
This is the fourth fundraiser the Brandon Dairy Queen has done with the foundation.
“It’s a local event and we really wanted to help support our local community,” district manager Isaac Haase said. “We’ve built a good rapport with Lori, and we just want to keep doing them in the future.”
The foundation, which launched a year after Spencer’s death in January 2025, will give its first scholarship to a Brandon Valley High School senior in the spring.
Huml said she would eventually like the foundation to have multiple endowed scholarships for students at Brandon Valley and other schools as well.
“My goal is to have a $100,000 endowment fund where it can just be self-sufficient,” she said. “Each year we could give a $5,000 to $10,000 scholarship to Brandon, and then I’d love to see that endowment fund built again and be something for the Sioux Empire. Then just keep building funds and they can just keep feeding a school every single year.”
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This is the Way Foundation has also partnered with Remedy Brewing in Sioux Falls, the Brandon Pizza Ranch and Brandon Valley High Schools “Tradition of Giving” campaign.
In December, the Stampede Hockey team is hosting a Star Wars themed night where all of the players will wear special, themed jerseys that will be auctioned off at the game. The proceeds will go toward the scholarship program.
On January 9, the foundation partnered with Skyforce during one of their home basketball games. If people purchase a ticket for the game through this link, $5 will go back to the foundation.
