Kemin Celebrates 25 Years of Partnership with Ellipsis

On Friday, December 13, Kemin team members will step away from their work at Kemin’s global headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa and gather for their annual employee holiday auction.

Over the last 25 years, Kemin has raised more than $940,000 for Ellipsis through these auctions. Every donation, big or small, is celebrated and helps improve the lives of children in our community.

But this event wasn’t always held in a big, beautiful convention center space. It started with one man. 

History of Kemin’s Partnership with Ellipsis

In 1999, Herb Elliott, a Kemin retiree, went to YESS (the organization that has now changed its name to Ellipsis) in the role of Santa Claus with other Kemin employees to take candy, fruit, and pillow blankets donated by the employees of Kemin.

While visiting what is known as the crisis nursery where they house the children five years and younger, a little girl came up to Herb. She put her arms around his leg and said, "I love you, Santa." As you might guess, he was pretty choked up thinking about children living at the shelter during Christmas without the joy of family and gifts at this wonderful family time of year.

After telling this little girl that Santa loved her too, Herb came back to Kemin and began thinking what we could do to make Christmas better for these children. Herb did wood carving and knew that several other employees at Kemin did also. There were many other employees who had other talents, such as cooking, quilting, painting, knitting, etc. 

Herb asked Kemin’s founders, R.W. and Mary Nelson, if he could have an auction the following year and asked Kemin employees to contribute their crafts. With their approval, Kemin took the resulting money and made sure that the children at the shelter all got Christmas gifts. Herb had hopes that they might raise $500-$600. That first year, thanks to the kind hearts of Kemin employees, they auctioned 42 items and to everyone's amazement, Kemin raised $2,400. Santa Herb bought each child at the shelter several gifts and donated the remainder of the money to YESS to help them cover growing expenses.

The spirit of this event quickly spread throughout the organization, and over the years it has become a beloved tradition that team members look forward to every year.

As we approach the 25^th anniversary of this event, Kemin is embracing the original spirit of the holiday auction with hundreds of donated and handmade goods available for team members to bid on and purchase. All proceeds go directly to support Ellipsis.

Learn More about Ellipsis

Ellipsis is central Iowa’s critical safety net for kids and families in need. By providing the care, encouragement, and skills development needed for a lifetime of success, they’re breaking down barriers, rewriting stories, and empowering families to thrive together.

Ellipsis impacts more than 800 families in Central Iowa every year. In 2023, they supported 357 kids in residential programs and served more than 78,000 meals. Their impact ranges from ensuring kids’ basic needs for food, shelter, education and caring social interaction are met, to facilitating immeasurable, trajectory-changing personal changes — the impact of which ripples across our communities. Often this work takes place over the course of years, but even on a case-by-case and day-by-day basis, their goals remain the same: to encourage the sort of long-lasting physical, mental and emotional well-being that keeps kids and families together, lifts our community and helps youth understand who they ultimately want to be.