RAPID CITY, S.D. — Herb and Shelley Ebel started OsteoStrong Rapid City – a bone health clinic – in 2016 in an effort to improve their own health.
Now, on their five year anniversary, they’ve decided to give back with a month-long fundraiser to support the nonprofit organization Lifeways.
“They do a lot of things that I think they get reward from, but they also do a lot of hard work for our community, so we really need to get behind Lifeways,” says Herb Ebel, owner and regional developer of OsteoStrong.
Lifeways is a drug prevention, intervention, and outreach program that does classroom education, assessments, and intensive outpatient treatment.
They’ve worked in the Rapid City community since 2003, and partner with Rapid City Area Schools and the Custer School District to provide in-school counseling and education programs.
The Ebels say they wanted their business to be a service to the community – and helping Lfeways fits within that mission.
“Our kids are 19 and 20 now, but when they went through high school here, we’ve seen the pressure that they were under to try different substances at the school-level,” Ebel says.
Lifeways Executive Director Michele Brink-Gluhosky says that just like other diseases, addiction has risk factors that lifeways looks to address.
They’re currently involved at the middle- and high-school levels, with students 10 to 18 diagnosed with substance abuse disorders. Lifeways says prevention education needs to begin as early as possible.
“We recognize the need to start reaching out to even younger students…with those elementary students, research shows really prevention needs to begin prenatal,” Brink-Gluhosky says.
OsteoStrong is hoping to raise at least $5,000 for Lifeways, which will be donated in the name of Miguel D. Berry – the brother of an OsteoStrong employee who was lost to an addiction-related death earlier in August.
OsteoStrong will hold an open house Tuesday afternoon, August 31 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at 1600 Mtn. View Road Suite 108, along with vendors donating to Lifeways, including Alternative Health Care, Black Hills Advocate, Massage Envy, The Market, Well Beyond Personal Medicine, and Solutions Chiropractic.
CLICK HERE for more information on Lifeways and a link to donate.
Looking for more news and information? NewsCenter1 Media Group has you covered go to NC1.TV today for all of your Western South Dakota and Wyoming news today.
