The 2022 Lost Dutchman Days Committee met recently to present checks totaling $165,000 to the organizations that helped make the rodeo a success while helping local youths.

The money was raised during the 2022 Lost Dutchman Days, which marked the rodeo’s 58th anniversary.

The weekend of activities, Feb. 24-27, included a rodeo, dance, rodeo royalty pageant, carnival, parade and brat party.

The Lost Dutchman Days Committee is a partnership made up of two primary entities: Superstition Mountain Promotional Corp. and the Apache Junction Mounted Rangers.

This year’s donation to nonprofits is $25,000 more than donated two years ago.

“(I)n 2020 we raised $140,000, which had been a new record for the Lost Dutchman Days Committee. This year we raised $165,000 that went back to several children-serving organizations in Apache Junction,” according to a Facebook post @LostDutchmanDays. “Back to the organizations that are the bones of this event and make it what it is today.”

Proceeds from the community event are put back into the community as donations to those youth-serving organizations that make Lost Dutchman Days a success. In doing so, the committee helps fulfill its purpose of “Putting smiles on kids’ faces,” the focus of the committee.

“Thank you Apache Junction for letting us put smiles on kids faces. This is what we are all about. A huge thanks to the following organizations for their continued efforts in making Lost Dutchman Days possible: Elks Lodge No. 2349, Apache Junction High School Booster Club, Country Kickers 4-H Club, Apache Junction Little League, Superstition Mountain Promotional Corp., Apache Junction Mounted Rangers, Apache Junction Parks and Recreation Department, Southwest Arizona Sisters Inc., the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Apache Junction Kiwanis Club and Boys & Girls Club.

For more information about Lost Dutchman Days, go to lostdutchmandays.org.