PINE RIDGE HELP ADDRESSES FOR RELIEF SUPPLY SHIPMENTS
AIM RELIEF CENTER - SUPPORT CONTACT - ADDRESS - PINE RIDGE
For deliveries, UPS, mail etc.
CONTACT US VIA GUESTBOOK FOR THIS INFORMATION
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NAAICE - PINE RIDGE
Pine Ridge Reservation in the SW corner of SD is home to 38,426 Lakota
(Sioux), 35% of them under 16 years of age, according to the March 1998 BIA
populations & employment census. It's close to the Badlands & Wounded Knee
is a part of it. It's the poorest 2 counties in the nation with 85-90%
unemployment vs. the 4.6% national average. A high suicide rate exists among
teenagers & there are few jobs, nothing to do. Diabetes & alcohol/drug abuse
are also present. Many times residents move to cities, find nothing & return
to the reservation. Families live in overcrowded substandard conditions--no
insulation, no central heat. 50% have no running water or sewer & an often
changing 50% have no electricity. Some sleep on dirt floors. (Reservations
preserve the cultural heritage of the Indian.
Even tho the land is held "in trust" by the Dept of the Interior vs. individual ownership,
the Elders have much to re-teach as the US forbade Indians the use of their languages
& all related to their heritage.) Winters are bitterly cold (-60 (wind chill) Jan
97 when Clinton declared it a disaster area) while summers are extremely hot.
Vashti Apostol-Hurst & Dr. Andrew Hurst, a reservation doctor, co-founded The
National Association for American Indian Children & Elders (NAAICE) Each year they
collect & donate layettes for newborns, 453 in 1998, (hat, booties, sweater & blanket)
They're always in need of disposable diapers (all sizes), baby food & formula, quilts &
other baby items. 550+ Head Start kids (ages 3-5) need blankets for naps & hats,
mittens/gloves, scarves, winter coats, boots (shipped Sept-Mar). You are encouraged to
personalise your donations with notes for the recipients.
NAAICE runs camps for children, a reading program always in need of picture books,
tries to make life @ boarding schools more like home sending a child off with a new
stuffed animal or dark-haired doll, new underwear & socks, personal care
items, nightgowns or pajamas, bedspreads & items that you as a parent would
want to give your child. They are requesting new items for the children &
the only used items they can accept are baby clothes--unstained, clean &
folded. They work with the Elders & have numerous other programs including
helping with utilities & a Christmas drive. They see hundreds of homeless
families each year, renovate as many homes as they can (10 in 1996), helped
set up household gardens, distributed 40,000 lbs. of potatoes to each of the
9 districts in 1997 & help pay gas & living expenses in Rapdid City when
family members are hospitalized. They can always use monetary donations:
NAAICE, POB 1906, Pine Ridge SD 57770, phone: 605-867-2000 & can provide you
with a 501.C3 tax-exempt form.
Circle of Children is a sponsorship program for Lakota children on the
reservation where sponsors commit to keep the relationship til their child
reaches the age of 18 (over 55 Lakota kids are looking for sponsors/penpals
right now). They also run a Cmas toy drive (donations of $5-10 are a great
help), a blanket drive & give Camps Scholarships to Lakota kids 12-15 years.
They can always use money for the Elders' emergency propane fund (They try to
give a $100. coupon to each Elder each winter.) Shivani Baker is director &
can be contacted for info @ Circle of Children, 110 Brickyard Rd.,
Southampton MA 01073, 413-527-4875 or by e-mail @
Bobby Sullivan, Box 21, Buffalo Gap SD 57722; Marian White Mouse, Box
182, House #246, Wanbli SD 57577; Theresa Perkins, 60 Main St, Wounded Knee
SD 57794 & Martha Dubray, 100 Main St. #532, Allen SD 57714 all collect new &
GENTLY used clothing (NOT rummage) as well as articles listed later. Kids
can use games, sports equipment, new stuffed animals, toys, books, dolls
(dark hair please) & school supplies. In winter they need electric heaters
when propane runs out. They ask for holiday food donations @ T'giving, Cmas
& Easter. Each tries to fill over 1000 Easter baskets & Cmas stockings/paper
bags. Marian can use Girl Scout items--she is a troop leader. She's also
formed a sewing group & can use everything from sewing machines, notions,
etc. They need toilet paper, laundry & bar or liquid soaps, flashlights &
batteries, etc.
Sonja Hernandez, a probation officer in the domestic violence unit of
Cangleska, Inc. can use everything for displaced women & children--bedding,
household items, toys, etc. Send to her @ E. Highway 18, Wolf Creek Park,
Pine Ridge SD 57770.
Sue Melcher visits the reservation as well as some of the Lakota living
just off it & asks for donations of food, clothing & household items. She
tries to include as many Cmas gifts as possible, noting many children don't
ask for a toy--they ask for pants, a shirt, shoes. Many just want hats &
mittens. She collects blankets, sponsors Indian children for Cmas (750+ in
1997) & has set up a company to help Elders & families with utility & grocery
bills (you can write a check directly to her company). She & her husband
fill U-Haul trailers for the reservation to ease the suffering of the
residents.
Contact her @ White Feather Relief, 3 N. Court Street Suite B224,
Crown Point IN 46307. You can phone her Fridays ONLY @219-663-8872.
Anne Rogers formed Strait to the Heart, 6410 Lemon St., East Petersburg
PA 17520-1134, 717-569-1031, (fax: Attn: Anne 7l7-898-7909), e-mail
ARogers626@aol.com & collects yarn & unfinished knitting projects in any size
& amounts, matches them with volunteer knitters & crocheters & sends finished
garments/afghans etc. to Vashti Apostol-Hurst, Bobby, Sonja, Marian, Theresa
& Martha. Please contact her as storage space is @ a premium--donations have
exceeded knitting & crocheting time & volunteers are always needed. Baby
yarns, wools & cottons are especially welcome but worsted-weight wool &
acrylic can go to Marian White Mouse as a successful knitting/crochet circle
was held in Oct 98 when 9 women from across the US went to the reservation
for a cultural exchange. Yarn is not available in their area.
There are a number of schools, grades K-12 on the reservation. Send
pencils, paper, school & art supplies, toys & sport eqt., anything one would
associate with a school to the above distributors. School libraries serve
the districts (pre-school thru adult). Please send books for all ages to
Norma Rendon, Porcupine School, 100 Main St., Porcupine SD 57772. Also
contact her about sending magazine subscriptions for the libraries (include a
SASE).
She also collects Campbell's Labels for Education & if you need a
list of what to save send a SASE to Anne Rogers.
Sally Loos of Piecefully Yours collected fabric & unfinished patchwork &
matched it with volunteer quilters, then organised a bee in her area & sent
68 quilts to the reservation. Carolyn Pavlovic, 10330 Ave. "M", Chicago IL
60617, e-mail: MilenkP@aol.com has taken over the project. Check with her
before sending items--donations have exceeded sewing & quilting time &
volunteers are always needed.
Laura Starr founded the UFO-rphanage for quilters & takes all quilt & sewing related
cast-offs & donations to make into quilts to warm children, Many go to Pine Ridge.
Volunteer to piece & quilt! For info send a SASE to POB 27062, San Antonio TX 78227
or contact her @ starminx@cris.com or her website: www.mindspring.com/~panin/UFO-rphanage/
Talk with everyone you know about this. Some have inherited yarn,
fabric, etc. & are at a loss as to what to do with it. One person came from
a dental exam with items donated by her dentist. Some tuck magazines in with
donations & otherwise creatively fill cracks in boxes. Think of the things we
take for granted, the things you would like & give as generously as you can.
These are on-going needs. Often if a family has $1.25 they need to buy food,
not a spool of thread. Lack of job opportunities is a BIG factor. The
Appalachian area was helped & is now more sufficient. If you have a skill,
feel free to donate it. Someone sent 50 peeps to an individual on the
reservation PLUS feed. The tribal office is located @ POB H #468, Pine Ridge
SD 57770, 605-867-5821. The level of need is dramatic & the above groups
struggle to cover postage & transportation costs so donations in any amount
are sincerely appreciated. Several coordinators can connect you with
individuals or an individual family so you can contribute to their needs.
Several books that give a picture of life on a Lakota reservation in
this area would be Mary Crow Dog's LAKOTA WOMAN (born in 1953), the
continuation of her story in Mary Brave Bird's OHITAKA WOMAN, Russell Means's
WHERE WHITE MEN FEAR TO TREAD (born in the 1930s) & Marla Powers' OGLALA
WOMEN. They also contain photos of current life on the rez. Dee Brown's BURY
MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE tells of the genocide of these people who shared
what they had & Peter Matthiessen's IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE shows
current prejudice & judicial treatment.
Please do not send neckties, as they aren't worn. Don't send items with
questionable logos or sayings, incl. sports equipment mentioning team names
relating to Indians.
Copyright free article, updated July 1999 (by Anne Rogers). Please copy
& distribute. If each of us would help one person, the world would be a
better place. Thanks for your care & concern.
IDEAS FOR HELPING PEOPLE OF PINE RIDGE
People & organizations have asked what they can do to help the Lakota, short
of going out as work parties. But if that interests you, contact Anne Rogers
& she can give you names of organizations OR who to contact on the
reservation if you have organized a group so you'll have accomodations & will
be helping those most in need.
A college in NY recently organized a faculty/student volleyball game &
admission was personal care items for the reservation. A sorority then
packed & shipped the articles.
Sue Melcher & Anne Rogers can also match organizations or individuals with
families or Elders on the reservation so you can meet particular needs.
(Remember some of the Lakota do have TV & those who see it or have seen
sponsors' gifts to other kids want brand name clothing. It's all right to
tell them you cannot afford to send it. There may be times when the list of
things they would like simply overwhelms you, tell them you "will see what we
can do".) Lakota, Dakota, Nakota & Navajo family ties are strong & there is
much love but in terms of material goods, we are wealthy. Think of things
you can't do without, think of things you'd like & send what you can.
If you want to write checks for propane fuel (to the company & specify who it
should be delivered to) contact Shivani Baker, Sue Melcher or Anne Rogers.
All of us on the previous pages work with individual distributors on the
reservation who know who needs what. We also do it this way to preserve the
dignity of those we share with.
Food is always in short supply. Many are diabetics & those are the foods
that cost more in grocery stores. "Luxury" foods that are expensive are
instant coffee, hot cocoa mix, 100% juice, etc. (Remember half of these
people do not have running water, sewer or electricity. Water may come from
a tap a mile away, carried home in a bucket.) Non-perishable foods are
always welcome. Any food we eat, the Lakota eat (well, maybe not all of them
like broccoli!) & T'giving, Cmas & other holidays are often celebrated with
the entire community eating the same traditional foods--canned hams,
cranberries, pumpkin pie filling, stuffing, etc. Easter baskets & Cmas
stockings & appropriate candies can be sent--this may be the only time some
of the kids get candy. Just as mail order companies ship citrus, apples,
pears, etc. @ certain times of the year, you can carefully pack boxes of the
same & ship UPS. Incidentally, some UPS counters will tell you they do not
ship to a Box #, which may be all you have for a family or organization. On
Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River & the Rosebud Reservation there are box numbers &
the UPS driver delivers to the house--just tell them when you ship & be firm
about it, they will take the package or have them call Rapid City
distribution center, which will confirm it.
Personal care items:
warm socks, slippers, shoes
new underwear (training pants to sizes XXXL)
nightgowns & pajamas
washcloths, wet wipes, towels
tissues & toilet paper (always needed)
soap, shampoo, conditioners, deoderant
waterless soaps, lotions
toothbrushes & toothpaste
combs & brushes
manicure items
bobby pins, hair dryers & curlers (for Elders)
bandaids & other medicine cabinet items
please check expirations
Household items:
couches, chairs, folding chairs, lawn chairs
blankets, bedspreads, comforters, quilts
sheets, pillows & pillowcases
kitchen & bathroom towels & washcloths
afghans, sleeping bags
electric heaters (with outdoor extension cord)
for emergencies when propane runs out
candles (any & all kinds) & matches
cooking pans & skillets (cast iron & electric)
kitchen utensils, can openers, spoons, et al.
silverware, stoves, tables
curtains, clocks, coffee makers, radios
dishes, glasses, mugs, flatware
dressers, washers & dryers, end tables
refrigerators, rugs, sewing machines
lamps (table & floor), lightbulbs
dish & laundry soaps, bleach
cleaning supplies
paper towels
trash bags, wastebaskets & liners
a mending basket with threads, needles, pincushion,
pins, sm scissors, tape measure, extra buttons, several
yards of velcro, elastic, zippers & anything else you'd
like to send)
adult backpacks, duffle bags
complete bedframes (tape parts together)
box springs, mattresses
School supplies:
The kids have to supply everything:
backpacks, chalk, finger paints, scissors
lined, unlined & quadrille ruled paper
notebooks, rulers, pencil pouches
pencils & erasers (could you send a sharpener
--a big one for the family or an individual
one), pens, markers, crayons,
colored pencils, etc.)
Compass & protractor, calculators
Stapler & staples, paper clips, glue,
art supplies incl. construction & tissue paper,
stickers, paints, etc.
Winter is particularly cold with wind chills
of -60 common:
Work gloves (remember men & boys are
outside splitting & hauling wood)
Warm socks & boots
Hats, mittens/gloves, scarves
Warm coats, blankets, shoes
Flannel shirts (up to size XXXL)
Newborns arrive home from Pine Ridge hospital with one package of disposable
diapers. Parents need disposable diapers (remember half the homes have no
running water & most Indians go to the laundromats) for the period before the
children are potty trained. Parents need everything any baby would need for
all stages of growth: baby clothes may be sent if clean, unstained & neatly
folded. Of course, new ones in all sizes are welcome, bibs, baby dishes &
spoons, non-perishable baby food & juices including formula, bottles,
nipples, etc. New pacifiers, teething items & baby toys are more than
welcome. You may even want to tuck in a disposable camera. (I send a letter
with the camera, a padded bag with correct postage back to me to get
developed--always 2 sets. Then I send one set back to the family with small
numbers on the back & ask them to identify the people & sights in the picture
so I get to know them too) If you'd like the family to write to you, send a
SASE, paper & a pen or pencil--some don't even have that & they need to buy
food long before they would buy a postage stamp. Of course, not all will
write back; some never send a thank you (because our cultures differ in those
areas. You can track UPS pkgs to know they've arrived.)
Children aged 3-5 go to Head Start & need warm clothing, boots, mittens or
warm gloves, hats & scarves, windbreaker jackets etc. They need pants &
shirts, underwear, socks & shoes--to go to school. Often there are toys @
Head Start (tho they are always in need of more--contact Anne Rogers re. Head
Start contact) & these are the ONLY toys a child has access to. These are
not their toys & must be left there. Any & all toys are welcome for all
ages--girls love dolls (dark hair & dark eyes if possible), stuffed animals
puzzles with all the pieces, books (be sensitive to the treatment of Indians
in history & geography books), games, sports equipment--balls, bats & gloves,
rollerblades, basketballs, etc. There are 38,000+ on Pine Ridge spread over
1,700,000+ acres & getting together involves a lot of travel. Basketball
hoops, badminton & volleyball sets, horseshoes, etc. are all welcomed. Kids
love craft kits & craft supplies--especially beads which are a part of their
culture.
Books for all age levels. Some of the Elders may not read English as well so
the step into reading books are great for them to read to grandkids or listen
to grandkids read them. There are others with college degrees living on the
reservation. If you work with an individual family you can send magazine
subscriptions OR you can send magazine subscriptions to any of the school
libraries listed.
Vegetable gardens & Maintenance
garden tools & hand tools, chainsaws
hoses, watering cans, extension cords
hammers, lawn mowers, rakes, rope,
shovels, fencing, posts & post hole diggers
rakes, wheelbarrows
seeds, esp. vegetables for their zone
Miscellaneous:
string, envelopes, rubberbands
household office supplies, shears
notepaper, pens & pencils
calendars
Sewing
see mending basket under Household
treadle & other machines in good working
condition, notions, etc.
garment length fabrics (contact Anne
Rogers for more addresses)
Quilting supplies: batting, thread &
quilting thread, threads for tying, fabric for
piecing & backing, quilting magazines & books
can go to Martha Dubray, Marian White Mouse
NAAICE June 1999 wish list (POB 1906, Pine Ridge SD 57770, Tel/Fax:
605.867.2000
30+ foot U-Haul truck
15 passenger van
collating copying machine
Funds, both to build a center & a 110' x 40' storage unit where a delivery
truck could unload
used pick-ups to haul wood
They need financial support for utilities, would love some part time help.
Need funding for wood, propane & electricity for the People, money for
building repairs. NAAICE can purchase many items @ 20% off @ K-Mart.
CHILDREN'S ITEMS
Needed June-Aug
bathing suits, sunscreen, summer clothes
Sports Equipment (Aug - May)
Baseball, bats, mitts, soccer equipment
Track uniforms, volleyballs & nets
Basketballs, backboards (& poles)
They would love money for teams to compete from different areas of the
reservation--baseball, basketball, volleyball
For SD State Dept of Child Protective Services NAAICE supplies the emergency
closet with
baby formula, bottles, diapers (all sizes), sleepers, strollers
For a children's home (1st-12th grade boarders)
Anything that would make them feel @ home
Aug-April: Mirrors, posters, radios,
single bedspreads, trinket boxes, videos
Christmas
needed in Oct.
Sponsors for individual children
Stuffed animals & toys - new
Babies in crisis
Needed year round
Baby clothing in great condition
formula, pull-ups, training pants
all sizes of diapers
new outfits, layettes, quilts, blankets
500 of each every year (to distribute
along with NAAICE baby baskets)
baby swings, baby cribs, strollers
toddler beds
Money for HeadStart Centers to purchase
(checks made out to NAAICE)
Sleeping pads for naptime
Kitchen play centers with tables & chairs,
dishes, pots& pans, etc.