For nearly 13 years, the little youth center known affectionately as “The Main” has provided children ages 4-12 on South Dakota’s remote Cheyenne River reservation with a safe place to play, study and learn. Approximately 300 children come through its doors on East Lincoln Street in Eagle Butte 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. That’s why the Main’s parent organization, the not-for-profit Cheyenne River Youth Project®, is launching a special Main Rehabilitation Fund Drive this month.
“It’s time,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “That building has been used so heavily, it needs more than routine maintenance. Certain items need repair or replacement, and given the economic climate since the recession started a few years ago, we simply haven’t had room in our budget.”
Until now.
Running Strong for American Indian Youth has provided CRYP with a $25,000 matching grant that is good through September 30. That means every dollar donated to the Main Rehabilitation Fund is automatically doubled, as long as it is received prior to that deadline.
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 and other arts/craft projects 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, go camping, 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.
To support CRYP’s new Main Rehabilitation Fund Drive, 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.
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.