Free parking with tips that make a difference

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — When it’s as cold as it has been, many people don’t want to walk a long distance from the parking lot to their destination. But at the Sanford Health main campus in Sioux Falls, you don’t have to thanks to it’s valet parking service.

Sanford’s valet parking service has been around for years, but what you might not know is that it’s free to use.

“That’s obviously pretty unique for a large health care organization but it’s a great service that we provide through, you know, the coldest days that we’re experiencing on days like today and through some of the hottest days in the summer,” Riley Theel, Director of Guest Relations at Sanford Health, said. “Rain, snow, you name it, they’re working to support our patients.”

Now, just like in many service industries, tips are appreciated. But at Sanford Health, whatever money you choose to give the valets goes back into helping patients.

“So we take all of our tips that we get each day and donate those back to Children’s Miracle Network,” Theel said. “And the number just seems to keep growing every single year.”

That growth was really seen in last year’s tip total.

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“They raised a total of over $25,000 and it is their largest total yet,” Ashton Siebrecht, Development Officer with the Sanford Health Foundation, said. “So the community is stepping up behind them and just believing in everything that they do.”

Money that makes a difference.

“Every single penny given back, 100% goes to Children’s Miracle Network and stays here local,” Siebrecht said. “So that serves anybody that walks in those doors in a lot of different ways. Whether it’s music therapy, art therapy meal vouchers for families, lodging, mileage reimbursement — all the things that we don’t want families to have to think about when they’re usually in some of their most vulnerable times.”

And Theel says these valets are happy to see their tips go to a good cause.

“A lot of them are retired, you know maybe don’t need to be working, they just do it to support our patients,” Theel said. “And we actually had an individual this year that tracked all the tips that he received in 2024 and he matched it out of his own pocket. So just a great group of individuals.”

The Sanford valets have a long tradition of giving back their tips that started over 20 years ago.