Giving to those who served: Yearlong fundraiser benefits retreat center (2024)

Sacred Mountain Retreat Center’s mission is to support veterans, active duty military and first responders as they heal from trauma. A Rapid City business is raising funds throughout 2024 to cover the costs of retreats for 10 individuals.

Dynamic Roofing is dedicating a percentage of profits from every project completed this year to Sacred Mountain Retreat Center. The company’s goal is to fully cover the costs of retreats for 10 veterans. Veterans, active duty military and first responders nationwide can attend all-expenses-paid retreats at Sacred Mountain Retreat Center. Each retreat costs about $3,800 to $4,000 per person, according to Sacred Mountain Retreat Center Director Jerrid Geving.

Dynamic Roofing’s team of owners have a passion for helping veterans. Each has close family ties with the military. Riley Burke, Dynamic Roofing’s CEO, lost a cousin and several close friends who suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Burke and Chief Operating Officer Jon Castaneda started Dynamic Roofing in 2019, and the company also is co-owned and operated by Chief Marketing Operator Ryan Diehl and Chief Sales Officer Cody Welch.

Since the company was founded, the owners’ goal has been to make a positive impact and help strengthen the veteran and first responder community.

“These brave men and women have put their lives, their careers and their stability on the line so that we can stay safe on the home front,” Dynamic Roofing staff said in a written statement. “Veterans and first responders who live or have lived a life in the service of others often wear the emotional and physical scars of their chosen profession.”

Dynamic Roofing specializes in exterior work including roofing, siding, gutters, exterior paint, windows, doors and skylights. In addition to donating a portion of their profits, Dynamic Roofing is selling red and blue t-shirts featuring Sacred Mountain and Dynamic Roofing logos. Shirts are $10 each, and 100% of sales will benefit Sacred Mountain Retreat Center. Go to facebook.com/dynamicroofco for more information and photos of the shirts.

“We try to do something different every year to help local veterans, and this year we’ve partnered with Sacred Mountain to try to raise awareness about the organization because not a lot of people know about them,” said Jessica Poppe, office manager for Dynamic Roofing. “Riley takes a particular interest in the community of veterans we have here. We’re always trying to find ways to help.”

Sacred Mountain Retreat Center is a nonprofit organization that runs on donations and support from Black Hills communities. It’s continually looking for businesses, corporations and individuals to partner with who want to support the center financially or by volunteering.

Since it opened in 2018, Sacred Mountain Retreat Center’ retreats have served 280 veterans, active duty military and first responders. Geving said the center’s overall goal is to save lives, marriages, families and careers.

The center sits on 68 acres about eight miles outside Deadwood. The center’s lodge contains eight bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, plus a commercial kitchen, dining room, great room and game room. The property includes a blacksmithing building, and Gevin hopes to build a wood shop.

The center hosts six retreats a year, and about 50 men and women per year participate in the retreats.

Anyone interested in participating in the retreat must go through an application process, Geving said. Once an individual is accepted, the process begins – including booking airline tickets if needed and getting the person scheduled into a retreat.

“Our slogan is ‘Hills heal heroes,’” Geving said. “I don’t think that can be broadcasted enough (that) the men and women that serve go through a lot of heartache. They go through hard times and the more help we can give, the more lives we save.”

According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, about 22 veterans die by suicide every day.

“The more lives we save, the more families we can keep together, and the more families we can keep together, it’s easier (for veterans and first responders) to keep their jobs or find a new career,” Geving said.

“I just had a strong feeling for the men and women of service, and I felt like if I could help one veteran or first responder from committing suicide, it was a win,” he said.

Each seven-day retreat at Sacred Mountain Retreat Center is mentor-based, Geving said. The retreats encourage healing through hands-on activities – equine therapy, blacksmithing, woodworking and leather work – in a peaceful setting in the Black Hills.

“We have an equine therapist, a blacksmither, a wood carver, a guy that helps with leather work,” Geving said. “We have two massage therapists that work on all of the men and women that come to retreats.”

“Horses and blacksmithing – it’s something I grew up with and found a lot of peace and healing doing it. It’s proven that equine therapy is extremely therapeutic,” Geving said.

Currently, he transports horses from Montana for the retreats but one of his future goals for Sacred Mountain Retreat Center is to build an on-site equine center.

The retreat center’s lodge can be rented as an AirBnB for corporate retreats, family reunions, weddings, vacations and other special events. All rental income directly benefits Sacred Mountain Retreat Center and the veterans, military personnel and first responders it serves.