Communities | News From Our Chapters

 • Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NY dot Mingo County, West Virginia
dot dot
 • Belmont, NY Montrose, Arkansas
dot dot
 • Cairo, Illinois Myra, Kentucky
dot dot
 • Crownpoint, New Mexico Pembroke, Illinois
dot dot
 Hope, Arkansas Pembroke, Illinois School District
dot dot
 Jackson, Mississippi Red Bird Mission, Kentucky
dot dot
 Lake Providence, Louisiana Thoreau, New Mexico
dot dot
 • Lemmon, South Dakota Washington County, Maine

Lemmon, South Dakota — There's a severe drought in Lemmon - with no relief in sight. The work that's available is low-end, minimum wage. So people are voting with their feet and moving out. Lemmon's 2000 population of 1,398 is down 13.4% from the 1990 figure of 1,614. The people in Lemmon are overwhelmingly Caucasian (96%).

Situated in Perkins County in the northwest part of the state, just across the state line from North Dakota, Lemmon has one factory, and has lost railroad jobs, telephone company jobs, and electric company jobs. Census 2000 data reveal that the median value of a private home is $28,700; statewide, the median value of a South Dakota home is $74,300.

  • Lemmon’s population is aging. According to the Census, 27.5% of residents are 65 or older. Nationally, only 12.4% of the populace is elderly; for South Dakota, the figure if 14.3%.
  • The nearest “big city” (population of 50,000 or more) is more than 100 miles from Lemmon.
  • The median household income (1999) of $28,109 is below the statewide figure of $35,282.

Florence Hoff, the pastor of the Bison Presbyterian Church, which is in an adjacent town, is F-to-F’s local contact. Ms. Hoff helped found the Community Food Pantry in Lemmon 14 years ago, which is where Family-to-Family recipients pick up their packages.

F-to-F sending families in California are supporting families in South Dakota.

Lemmon Community Food Pantry
209 1st Avenue West
Lemmon, South Dakota 57638
c/o Florence Hoff
Chapter Chairperson
Julia Holladay
La Mesa, California

Angie Smith
Los Gatos, CA


Lori Weinstein
Plainview, NY

Sources:Population Loss and Demographic Data, Housing, Income Data: U.S. Census; Housing Value: Epodunk; Geographic Information: www.city-data.com