Funding Will Offset Summer Utility Costs & Help Meet Youth Programming Needs
The numbers are in, and they’re exciting: Not only did the annual Dairy Queen “Sweet Tooth for Youth” Fundraiser bring in $1,750 to support the nearly 25-year-old, not-for-profit Cheyenne River Youth Project® in Eagle Butte, the grand total comes to $3,500 thanks to a generous matching grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community in Minnesota.
“This past February, the Shakopee tribe gave us a $25,000 grant to support our operations during a very difficult time” explained Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “In addition, they said they would match donated funds up to $75,000 through February of next year, so when we received this check from our local Dairy Queen, it was immediately doubled.
“We’re deeply grateful to the Shakopee community for its support, which came at just the right time for us,” she continued. “But we’re truly overwhelmed by the support from our own Cheyenne River community. In such a difficult economy, it’s hard for families here to make their own ends meet, yet our friends and neighbors turned out in droves last month to show us how much they care about us and the services we provide.”
The community certainly did rally around CRYP. During the weeklong fundraiser, scheduled for May 13-20, the local Dairy Queen franchise in Eagle Butte donated $1 from every Blizzard, shake and malt to the youth project. That means 1,750 people purchased sweet treats during that week; according to the 2010 census, Eagle Butte’s population is slightly more than 1,318.
As Garreau observed, it wasn’t just the usual Highway 212 passers-by and regular Eagle Stop customers generating those numbers.
“Our kids’ families, and our kids themselves, made special trips to the Dairy Queen at Eagle Stop to buy dessert that week,” she said. “We think this is such a popular annual fundraiser because it’s easy to help, regardless of your age or circumstances. Our kids were really proud to tell us that they’d made their own contributions.”
She also noted that the fundraiser couldn’t have come at a better time. This past winter, CRYP launched the “Keep the Lights On” fund drive to help address the mounting costs of utilities; with a 26,000-square-foot teen center and nearly 5,000-square-foot youth center, those bills can come to more than $55,000 per year. That’s a huge budget item for a grassroots not-for-profit.
“These funds will help pay the electric bills this summer, which can be high if we need to use our air-conditioning system quite a bit,” Garreau said. “We also will use some funding to assist with youth programming needs; we offer more regular programs as well as special activities and events when the kids are out of school, since they spend much more time with us. Especially on the hot days!”
Garreau said she is thrilled that local Dairy Queen owners Lonnie and Jackie Heier have been willing to tackle the “Sweet Tooth for Youth” fundraiser each spring on CRYP’s behalf.
“They’ve always been happy to show their support, which honors us,” she said. “Community partnerships are so important, because they demonstrate how Cheyenne River pulls together to support its children. And this is more than a partnership — it’s a friendship.”
To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project® and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call (605) 964-8200 or visitwww.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, visit the youth project’s Facebook “Cause” page. All Cause members will receive regular updates through Facebook.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.