The children are back in school on South Dakota’s remote, 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River reservation, and thanks to the Cheyenne River Youth Project® in Eagle Butte, 530 of them have backpacks overflowing with essential school supplies. The annual School Supplies Drive is part of CRYP’s Family Services program, which was founded in 2002 to manage the 25-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization’s influx of in-kind donations throughout the year.
Supplies included backpacks for grades 1-12, protractors, compasses, calculators, mechanical pencils, writing tablets for preschoolers and kindergartners, fat pencils, fat crayons, folders, pencil cases, notebook paper, kid-friendly scissors, erasers, glue sticks, pencils, pens and rulers. April Bachman, CRYP’s finance manager, said the School Supplies Drive is the equivalent of that all-important, back-to-school shopping trip that’s eagerly anticipated by children across the country.
“Every child wants to be the same as all the other kids,” she explained. “For so many kids in America, heading back to school means shopping for school supplies — all the fun, exciting, colorful things for a new year. Imagine facing that first day of school empty-handed, without the tools you need to be successful. Each year, we work hard to make sure that our children don’t feel different or disadvantaged and that they have a happy first day of school. That’s how it should be.”
Bachman said that key organizational partners and a variety of individual donors made this year’s drive possible.
“Running Strong for American Indian Youth provided 350 elementary backpacks and 50 junior-high and high school backpacks, which were all filled with school supplies,” she reported. “They also sent bulk supplies for another 100 elementary students and 100 junior-high and high school students, so those kids could match backpacks with the supplies they wanted. The Billy Osceola Memorial Library in Okeechobee, Florida, also donated supplies.
“We’re deeply grateful to both organizations, as well as to the many individuals around the country — and even the world — who made contributions to this year’s School Supplies Drive,” she continued. “Thanks to their steadfast, generous support, more than 500 Cheyenne River children had a great start to the 2013-14 school year!”
To participate in CRYP distributions like the School Supplies Drive, a local family can simply join the Family Services program for a $30 membership fee. That one-time payment covers all members of that family for the entire year, and it includes all the annual distributions, from school supplies and winter clothing to the long-running Christmas Toy Drive. It also includes much-needed household supplies and baby items, as well as a heat-match program and assistance with home improvements.
Surveys have shown that most member households use Family Services once per quarter, although a sizable group does come in once per month. Within the last few years, most households have participated in the organized distributions — including the School Supplies Drive.
“The goal of our Family Services program is to make life a bit easier for our kids by helping their family members,” Bachman said. “Many of our families here on Cheyenne River don’t have room in their household budgets to purchase school supplies, so we want to do our part. Each year, more than 500 children rely on us to help make sure they’ll be ready for the first day of school.”
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, LinkedIn and Twitter.