Running Strong for American Indian Youth is Providing $25,000 Matching Grant
Until September 30, 2012
Just four weeks remain to help the Cheyenne River Youth Project® as it seeks to renovate its beloved “The Main” youth center on East Lincoln Street in Eagle Butte. Since May, the nearly 25-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization has been conducting a Main Rehabilitation Fund Drive, and now the deadline for a critical matching grant opportunity is looming.
“Running Strong for American Indian Youth generously offered us a $25,000 matching grant,” explained Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “To secure those funds, we have to raise $25,000 by Sunday, September 30. If we can do that, we’ll have $50,000 to support The Main.
“To date, we’ve raised approximately $7,300,” she continued. “We still have $17,700 to go, but I know we can do it.”
For nearly 13 years, the little youth center known affectionately as The Main has provided children ages 4-12 on South Dakota’s remote, 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River reservation with a safe place to play, study and learn. Approximately 300 children come through its doors each month, ready to participate in innovative, fun programs, enjoy special events and parties, savor hot meals and healthy snacks, and simply hang out with friends.
In addition, The Main has been home to more than a decade’s worth of long-term volunteers from around the world. They live in The Main’s dormitory, prepare meals in its commercial kitchen and spend their off-hours in a cozy living area near the dorm rooms. It is, indeed, their home away from home.
Between all the kids and all the volunteers, the little youth center has seen a lot of use — and a lot of love. More than a decade after its proud dedication to the community, The Main now needs more than routine maintenance.
“Quite a few items need repair or replacement,” Garreau said. “Unfortunately, we simply haven’t had room in our budget, given the economic strain of the last few years. That’s why this matching grant opportunity is so important to us. We need to seize it so we can give The Main the attention it deserves.”
Funding will be used to replace The Main’s front doors, as well as all other interior and exterior doors. CRYP will repair and replace windows, replace light fixtures, replace locks and other critical hardware, and replace appliances such as the freezer and dishwasher. In addition, the youth project will continue its ongoing project to replace aging carpet with new tile.
“We already completed that work, with volunteer help, in the library and volunteer quarters last year,” Garreau said. “But much more needs to be done.
“We’re encouraging all of our many friends and supporters to donate to CRYP now, knowing that their contributions will be used to rehab The Main through this matching grant,” she continued. “In particular, we’re reaching out to what we call our ‘volunteer diaspora,’ all the generous, dedicated, hard-working people from around the world who gave their time to us, and to our children, over the years. Together, we can reach $25,000 by September 30 and secure the Running Strong matching grant, for which we are so deeply grateful.”
Now an essential part of the community, The Main began in a former bar on Eagle Butte’s Main Street. It was open seven days a week and run by an all-volunteer staff. In 1999, CRYP partnered with Running Strong for American Indian Youth to build the new youth center on East Lincoln Street. Still known as The Main despite the changed location, this 4,560-square-foot facility includes a recreation room, library, commercial kitchen, counselor’s office, staff offices and volunteer living quarters.
Some of the organization’s ongoing activities include Main University, Garden Club, a literacy program, Recyclable Arts, Arts & Crafts and wellness/outdoor programs. In addition, children attending the Main receive healthy meals and snacks daily, receive homework help from volunteers, take field trips to movies and museums, enjoy lock-in sleepovers, attend annual basketball and dance camps, celebrate holidays with special parties and carnivals, receive gifts from Santa through the Christmas Toy Drive and even earn new bikes through the youth volunteer program.
Remember: Just four weeks remain to help CRYP secure the Running Strong matching grant. To support this critical fundraising effort, simply visit www.lakotayouth.org and click the “Donate Now” button. Checks also may be sent to the Cheyenne River Youth Project, P.O. Box 410, Eagle Butte, SD 57625. Make sure to specify in your online note or on your check that you wish to support the Main Rehabilitation project.
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, 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.