Starting this Wednesday, April 3, we’ll resume hosting “brown-bag” lunch meetings with fellow community organizations on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. This week’s meeting will start at noon and run for approximately one hour.
Our goal is to host community lunch meetings once per month, organized by Julie Garreau, our executive director. During the spring months, Youth Programs Director Megan Guiliano and Wellness Coordinator Tammy Eagle Hunter will be arranging weekly meetings.
“It’s really to get the ball rolling,” she explained. “We’ve hosted brown-bag lunch off and on for some time; in fact, a couple of years ago, Cheyenne River’s community organizations really pulled together to to arrange a special Family Day here in Eagle Butte. It was a great success, and we all were proud of what we accomplished together.”
At the time, participants included the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s Youth Diabetes Prevention Program, CRST Youth Affairs, the Indian Child Welfare Act office, the Sacred Heart Center and Four Bands Healing Center. This year, CRYP staff members are hoping to engage even more groups and individuals who are dedicated to youth services on the reservation.
“We’d like to resume these meetings so our community leaders and organizers have the opportunity to share ideas and event plans in person,” Garreau said. “So, bring your lunch, and come enjoy an hour of fellowship and brainstorming here at the Cokata Wiconi teen center!”
Garreau emphasized that no one organization or person is responsible for leading the meetings. Anyone can host a meeting at any location.
“Again, we’re simply trying to get the process started,” she commented. “We’re a small community, and if we put our heads together and join forces, there is so much we can do for our kids and our families.” Guiliano and Eagle Hunter will be spearheading the Cokata Wiconi lunch meetings. Eagle Hunter observed that this week’s timing is perfect for program kickoff.
“With summer just around the corner, it’s a great time for Cheyenne River’s youth-services groups to share their plans and events,” she said. “That way, we’ll all know what everyone is doing and when, and we can do our best to have our schedules complement each other. Together, we can make this a fun, exciting summer for our children.”
The brown-bag lunch meetings are part of a larger CRYP initiative to make its Cokata Wiconi facility a resource for the entire Cheyenne River community. The idea, Garreau said, is to be a true gathering place.
“We’d like to work with our community partners to share ideas, share programs, share facilities and even conduct outreach with the outlying reservation communities,” she explained. “Our hope is that these lunch meetings will serve as an excellent foundation for building stronger, long-term partnerships. In the end, we all have the same goal — to have healthier young people, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And we can accomplish so much more together than we can alone.”