The Cheyenne River Youth Project announced today that it delivered holiday gifts to 232 families and 1,309 children on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in its 2025 Wo Otúh’an Wi (Moon of Giving Away Presents) Toy Drive. These children and families live in 19 communities across the 2.8-million-acre reservation, making the toy drive CRYP’s largest and most wide-reaching program.
The final numbers left the staff feeling overwhelmed and grateful, according to Chief Executive Officer Julie Garreau. With each child receiving multiple gifts from their personal wish list, a small team of just seven staff members and five youth trainees was responsible for wrapping and distributing many thousands of presents.
“This past year was a difficult one for so many people around the country,” Garreau said. “It’s not an easy economy, and families are feeling the pressure, but our donors and partners still stepped up in a major way.”
When supporters found out in early December that more than half of the children’s wish lists were still unfulfilled, they adopted extra wish lists. They spread the word, bringing new donors into the project, and they provided funding so CRYP could fill in any remaining gaps.
“I cannot overstate how much this matters, because our children are sacred,” Garreau said. “By lifting us up in this way, our supporters eased our heartache and worry, and they helped to level the playing field just a bit for our kids. They made dreams come true.”
With that extra donor and partner support, the CRYP team was able to go even farther this year, directly reaching out to families that might otherwise have been missed.
“When we unexpectedly made it to the finish line, our team decided they were willing and able to do more,” Garreau explained. “They continued reaching out to families through the Christmas holiday. They were so energetic and positive, and they worked really hard to make sure they connected with as many kids as possible.”
She noted that a community member recently shared with her that CRYP does such a great job with the toy drive, the program appears seamless. In actuality, that seamless program is an intense labor of love that begins each year during the summer months.
While the community sees the smiles, the treats, the gifts and the magic, they don’t see six months of planning, the logistical challenges, or the national and even global effort it takes to bring the Wo Otúh’an Wi Toy Drive to life. Garreau said she and her staff work hard to “keep the seams hidden.”
“We want the focus to remain exactly where it belongs: on the children,” she said. “I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the commercialization of the holiday season, but I am a fan of the joy it brings our youth.
“To our donors near and far, our dedicated staff, and our incredible community, wopila tanka. Thank you. You didn’t just give gifts this year. You gave these children—and all of us—a reason to smile.”
This year’s supporters include American Bank and Trust in Pierre; Black Hills Federal Credit Union; Block (Square); Columbia Sportswear/Roundhouse Foundation; First National Bank in Dupree, Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado; “Friends of CRYP” in St. Louis, Missouri; Good Chaos; Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP in Colorado, Montana and South Dakota; Lennar Custom Homes in Thornton, Colorado; Partnership with Native Americans (PWNA); Patterson, Real Bird & Rasmussen LLP in Louisville, Colorado; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community; Spirit of Sovereignty Foundation; and hundreds of individual donors worldwide.
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 visit www.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, follow the youth project on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, nonprofit 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.