There’s Still Time to Help! Join a Nationwide Movement That Has Included Fully Loaded Christmas Trucks from Communities in Virginia, Missouri and Colorado
EAGLE BUTTE, SD (December 17, 2012) — With just a week to go until Christmas, preparations have kicked into high gear at the Cheyenne River Youth Project® in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Staff and volunteers at the nearly 25-year-old not-for-profit youth organization are working for 12 hours or more each day on this year’s Christmas Toy Drive, making sure that approximately 1,200 children in communities across the remote, 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation will have a holiday to remember.
And they are receiving much-needed help from around the country. Already, a large truck has arrived from Running Strong for American Indian Youth in Alexandria, Virginia. Another truck has arrived from Chesterfield, Missouri, home of the affectionately named “St. Louis Chapter of CRYP,” and a third will be departing Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, this week, bound for Cheyenne River.
Jennifer Counts and Nita Holt have co-chaired the Missouri group’s Christmas Toy Drive efforts for four years; prior to that, Joyce Smith led the local drive. And for 14 years, more than 20 members of the St. Charles, Missouri-based SWAT team, led by Lt. Tom Koch, have volunteered their time to load the truck with donated gifts bound for Cheyenne River.
Counts estimated that Missouri families fulfilled the Christmas wishes in roughly 600 “Dear Santa” letters, and they included plenty of extra toys and new clothing. She also said the Christmas Toy Drive has proven to be especially meaningful for her, on a deeply personal level.
“I lost a son in the fall of 2005,” she reflected. “He died in a car accident. That first Christmas held little joy. I knew I had to change things up.”
In 2009, Counts visited Eagle Butte on a mission trip with Messiah Lutheran Church. Although she spent most of her time rehabilitating a church in Green Grass, she did get to participate in CRYP’s annual carnival at The Main youth center.
“The time I spent with the kiddos was life-changing,” she said. “I’ll never forget one little boy. He came and showed me the four Beanie Babies he’d won, pulling them out one by one, saying ‘This one is for my mom, this one is for my dad, this one is for my sister, because they couldn’t come.
“He then spent the rest of the day learning how to make balloon shapes with us,” she continued. “He was a joy. He just wanted to spend some time helping… and feeling needed. He touched my heart. When Nita and I were offered the opportunity to assist with the Christmas Toy Drive, we were moved to accept the challenge.”
Far to the west, in the picturesque university town of Boulder, Colorado, students at Fairview High School have led the community-wide charge to fulfill the “Dear Santa” wishes of roughly 500 children. The school’s student council has been a valuable CRYP Christmas Toy Drive partner for more than a decade; each year, teacher Darrell Billington and a student coordinator make sure that gifts for hundreds of Cheyenne River children are assembled at the school and loaded onto a delivery vehicle in time for the holidays.
This year, the Fairview High School delivery truck is going to be even bigger than usual. Joining the gifts from the Boulder community will be 10 bicycles, generously provided by Doug Emerson at University Bicycles in Boulder; gifts collected by the Louisville, Colorado-based law firm Fredericks Peebles & Morgan; and gifts for an additional 138 children provided by organizations, families and individuals in the Denver and Colorado Springs metro areas.
Deborah L. Smith supervised the Denver and Colorado Springs collections. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Smith and her husband, Steven, have been involved with CRYP for years, providing funds, food, cleaning supplies, school supplies, arts and crafts supplies, winter coats, hats, gloves, boots, dress clothes and even prom dresses for Passion for Fashion. This is the first year, however, that they’ve gotten involved in fulfilling “Dear Santa” letters.
“I’m the first generation born off the reservation, an urban Indian who is trying to help my community,” Smith explained. I’m also one of six children whose father never learned to support his family off the reservation. I can empathize with the kids and families living on the reservation who are struggling with income; we were lucky if we got a Christmas present.
“I was raised by my grandmother to believe that, as an Indian, I am rich by what I give away, including my time to my community,” she continued. “I’m trying by example to raise my children and grandchildren to understand and maintain the same values. We must all give back to have a future in Indian country.”
Smith acknowledged the generous support of the employees of Colorado Architectural Millwork Supply in Colorado Springs; the owners of that company, Darryl and Debbie Brant, who also got a group from Woodmen Valley Chapel involved; the congregation of the Eastside Church of Christ; Coral Cornish and the Full Spectrum Art & Glass Supply & Gallery; Pikes Peak Christian School; employees and friends of Stephanie Smith, Deb Smith’s daughter, who works for LINCARE DME; Jared Galleria of Jewelry; Cheyenne Mountain High School; Taylor Elementary School; and the Ladies of Harley, Pikes Peak Chapter No. 405, all in Colorado Springs. Smith also recognized the employees at the CBOPC Veterans Administration Center in Denver, where she also works.
“My family had no understanding of what is possible to achieve,” she reflected. “Next year, we want to attempt an even larger circulation of ‘Dear Santa’ letters!”
Christened Rudolph One, Rudolph Two and Rudolph Three, the trucks from Virginia, Missouri and Colorado are making an enormous difference in CRYP’s Christmas Toy Drive. But there’s still more to be done — and there’s still time to help.
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.
There are several ways to help CRYP with its 2011 Christmas Toy Drive:
Make a tax-deductible donation by sending cash, a check or a money order to: The Cheyenne River Youth Project, P.O. Box 410, Eagle Butte, SD 57625.
Make a tax-deductible donation via PayPal on the CRYP Web site at www.lakotayouth.org.
Donate a gift. Click here for the most-requested-gift list or, to request a specific “letter to Santa,” contact CRYP Family Services at (605) 964-8200 or via e-mail at familyservices@lakotayouth.org.
Donate gift cards, gift bags, wrapping paper, tissue paper, tape or anything else that might assist in toy-drive preparations.
Consider donating a Santa suit, as CRYP’s existing suits are getting somewhat dated.
Spread the word. If you have friends or family members who might like to make a donation, please let them know how they can help.
Click here for a list of the most-requested gift items.