The Meatball Ministry will be recognized at Acts of Excellence event

The Acts of Excellence program, sponsored by Sanford Health, connects us with individuals and organizations who are building a culture of excellence in South Dakota, one act at a time. Please join us and area inductees to celebrate this Act of Excellence on Thursday, April 15th, 2021, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm CT at the Lake Area Tech College, Event Center Level 4, in Watertown South Dakota.

Meatball Ministry not only fills stomachs but also feeds the soul

It has been said that the fastest way to someone's heart is through their stomach. Gene and Betty Torness of rural Big Stone City have taken that concept and expanded upon it to create the Meatball Ministry.

What started as a thoughtful gesture towards aging parents, this idea has turned into a community fellowship program, providing meatballs to those in need of a good meal and a boost of spirits. The Meatball Ministry started around 1996 to help Gene and Betty’s elderly parents, and this simple act of kindness snowballed into something bigger for the Torness family could have dreamed. The duo now shares their meatballs not only with the elderly but also with families dealing with medical issues, hospitalizations, births, deaths, and other occasions that might call for stomach-based healing.

Averaging 12 dozen meatballs each week, the kind act now goes beyond the traditional church family reaching the ecumenical community and outlying areas of NE South Dakota. Support has expanded as well in addition to financial donations, John and Annelies Seffrood of Summit along with churches and community members donate the ingredients for Gene and Betty's Meatball Ministry.