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Karen Heiling and Dave Larsen have had the same seats in the same spot for the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra since 1999 – when the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science opened.

That’s a quarter century of supporting the orchestra, and just one of the many ways they have put down deep roots in Sioux Falls, which they’ve called home for more than 40 years.

It started when the two of them did their residencies in family practice. Dave, from Wisconsin, and Karen, from Minnesota, met in Sioux Falls – neither with plans to call it home.

But, as it happens, the city on the banks of the Big Sioux River slowly worked its magic, and the two of them settled down and began to raise their family here.

“It’s just the right size city for us,” Dave said. “And it’s only getting better.”

Karen agrees, noting that it became clear as they raised their family here. “This is small town enough feeling, but there are a lot of people.”

That meant they were able to indulge in their hobbies – music, costuming, pickleball and supporting various groups.

“It’s just the right size city to have musical groups to play in, but small enough that you go to the grocery store and see people you took care of 20 years ago,” Dave said.

Now, they spend much of their time traveling to visit their children and three grandchildren. But they continue to look for opportunities to be involved in the community.

“All through our careers, we always donated to charitable groups the amount we could at the time,” Dave said. “We’ve been fortunate in our careers.”

Years ago, as they worked through their wills and estate planning, they made vague plans to consider charitable giving as part of their plans.

“It was nothing specific, but then a few years ago we made something more formal and decided community advocacy was important,” Dave said.

That brought them to the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, where they created an endowment to continue their current charitable giving and legacy plans.

“It was a lot easier than we thought, and we had put it off thinking it would be complicated,” Karen said. “It was a good way to do things.”

Supporting important causes

Karen and Dave have interests that can best be described as varied.

There are things that you might expect – a passion for education and their alma maters. A deep belief in helping others through service – think mentoring, serving on boards and other volunteer activities. Immersing themselves in their chosen city became part of their -and their children’s – identity.

“I remember visiting family in Wisconsin, and my kids were like, ‘wow, there’s a lot of trees here,’” Karen said with a laugh. “I remember thinking, we’ve raised South Dakotans. Sioux Falls and South Dakota has been very good to us, in terms of our practice and our patients and the people we’ve met.”

With that in mind, they’ve continued to give back.

“We thought enough of Sioux Falls that we wanted to make it our home, and now we want to continue to see it improve,” Dave said. “This is our home from here on, and anything we can do to make it better for us would make it better to anyone else at the same time.”

For Karen, much of their generosity reflects places where they have connections.

“It felt important to continue those connections, and it doesn’t need to be that they even know who you are,” she said. “I look at our years in practice, and the people who fell on hard times and got judged because of getting laid off, and we want to help. The under-represented people can be easy to ignore.”

Dave agrees.

“There are people who need help out there, and we see them,” he said. “Let’s make a difference where we can, in our neighborhood.”

Mary Kolsrud, chief philanthropy officer for the Community Foundation, said that sense of place combined with the spirit of generosity is an ideal combination to make a real difference.

“Dave and Karen are such great examples of giving. They truly care about Sioux Falls, and they’ve invested in causes important to them through their time and their charitable donations,” she said. “That intentional giving is so inspirational.”

She noted that their legacy plans include directions for the kinds of organizations they want to support – with an emphasis on the arts, education, the environment and people who need help. But it also allows for flexibility – knowing the nonprofit landscape can change, and other organizations with similar missions might need support.

“That ensures their giving stays relevant long into the future, and their legacy will truly be based on their interests and values,” Kolsrud said.

Legacy of giving

Both Dave and Karen have stories about their parents and friends demonstrating acts of kindness and charity.

For Karen, whose dad died when he was in his 40s, it was friends and neighbors who would quietly support her mom. “It was just a family group, but they would basically say, ‘oh, we have these leftover boxes of food,’ and they gave them to my mom. It was a very kind way of them to help us,” she said. “We have this money for you, or this box of food, and they weren’t expecting anything in return.”

Being on that receiving end of philanthropy shaped her, and Dave, who said his father modeled giving back both financially and through service – performing with the local orchestra and giving to a local theater group.

“Philanthropy can involve time, too. That’s another way you can give to your community,” Dave said, noting many times when people retire, they struggle to find meaning and purpose.

It’s been important to them to find opportunities to give back.

Dave is passionate about musical groups – including 29 years with the Sioux Empire Brass Society, where he currently serves as manager, or volunteering with OLLI. Karen sews costumes for the Brandon Valley school district performing arts, informally mentors students and is a formidable opponent to the tennis team – on the pickleball courts.

Or sewing new clothes for when Buddy, the mascot of South Dakota Public Broadcasting, had to show up in the state legislature. “He needed new clothes,” Karen said.

“Everybody can do their part,” she said. “I used to teach Sunday school, and I would tell people, ‘Take care of your little part of the world, and if everyone did that, the world would be a better place.’”

Dave agrees.

“You can’t make the world perfect, but you can make it better.”