It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about the needs students will have when they head back to school around the 3rd week of August. Many families do not have the finances to provide school supplies or adequate clothing for their children, but the schools would like to see their students dressed nicely so they can feel good about themselves and not worry about being teased. Parents also like their children to look nice as they feel it reflects poorly on them if they’re not. Some parents will even delay sending their children to school until they can afford a decent outfit for them. People across the US are feeling the strain on their finances with inflation affecting the price of everything from food and gas to rent and utilities but those living on Indian Reservations deal with poverty every day and inflation just adds more to their daily struggle. SFK, our partner organizations and Lakota Friends Circle want to make sure students have the school supplies and clothing they need so they can proudly begin school on the first day with the rest of their class.
Wild Horse Butte CDC/Sacred Shawl Society
Carol recently spoke with Maria Cruz who oversees needs in the community at Wild Horse Butte’s community center and Sacred Shawl’s domestic abuse shelter in Martin. Maria said they are planning a “Back to School Bash” with the park district on August 1st where they will give out school supplies and celebrate the positive aspects of going back to school. In conjunction with this event they will be educating the community about child abuse. Children in Martin may attend the local school, which is right next door to the community center, or they can attend other tribal or public schools in the area or another district as long as it’s within their busing route.
Head Starts are not opening in the Fall, at least for now, as many younger children are not vaccinated. This puts an added burden on mothers who want to work or attend school as they must find and pay for child care. There are some daycares that are open and home daycare is a possibility if the home meets the requirements needed for tribal and state certification and they can afford the insurance. Oglala Lakota College (OLC) is watching local Covid numbers to determine if they will open or provide online learning. Kids staying at Sacred Shawl with their mothers attend school so they have a more normal routine and keep up to date on their studies. Moms can attend GED classes or classes at OLC but most are busy dealing with the issues that brought them to the shelter and are not ready to study. Clients are encouraged to begin classes whenever they can as part of their healing process.
The shelter’s supply of blankets, sheets and pillows is dwindling and those they do have are showing signs of wear and need replacing. Most of their extras were sent home with clients during the Covid outbreak. Making pillowcases and quilts are great projects for sewers and knitters and crocheters can share their creative talents by making afghans and blankets in bed sizes. ( queen, double , twin and 2 cribs ) Maria sends her thanks for all the wonderful packages she’s received the past few months. Clients visiting the office and the homeless in the area loved receiving the toiletries and continues to be some of the most requested items, especially by teens. Some of the toiletries were given out at the parade held in May.
This is a list of the current needs at the CDC and women’s shelter. They need our help for the entire list but the school supplies need to be there in time to distribute at the “Back to School Bash” on August 1st.
Current Needs
- Bedding – Sheets and blankets for twin, full and queen beds. Pillowcases and pillows (new only)
- Towels – Bath size and washcloths
- Toiletries, etc. – Shampoo, deodorant, soap, body wash, sanitary items, laundry detergent pods, electric lice combs, nit combs
- Baby Formula – Prosobee (soy based) and Enfamil gentlease only at this time, they have plenty of the regular for now.
- Baby Needs – Baby wash, diaper cream, disposable diapers size 3 or larger, wipes, clothing size 3 months plus, baby toys, board books, diaper bags, etc.
- School supplies – Backpacks, pens, pencils, colored pencils, paper, sharpeners, erasers, glue sticks, markers, pencil cases, notebooks, folders, etc. Backpacks and pencil cases can be purchased or sewn.
- Clothing – Jeans, pants, shorts, capris, leggings, skirts, dresses, t-shirts, tops, light jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts.
- Socks and Underwear – New only please. Sizes to fit kids in kindergarten through middle school, 5/6 to adult S/M. Girls also need sports bras sizes S-XL (gently used are fine).
- Shoes – Athletic type shoes and sturdier leather shoes, new or gently used and clean with no wear on soles. Sizes 12Y to adult 10.
Maggie’s House
Carol received an email from Pauletta, Director of Maggie’s House, which we’re sharing below. Although the physical building still isn’t open due to staffing issues they are working with clients.
“We are still open but not for residential placements. We are operating on a homeless grant and have 16 clients and families we are working with providing diapers, the donations of hygiene products we get, socks, underwear, etc.”
“We are doing street outreach next week in Kyle, Wanblee and Allen. We are also doing booths at the powwows on sexual violence prevention”.
“We work 3 days at the office and our staff does collaboration with other agencies to provide services. We anticipate our cycle to start September 1, 2022. We are taking applications starting August 15th. The baby blankets were a big help as was the bedding “.
Pilamayaye
Pauletta’s response when asked about the need for school supplies:
“We sure can use them. We give out bags or backpacks with snacks in them to our homeless youth across the rez and in Standing Rock”.
Marty Elementary Indian School
We’ve been working this summer with Peggy J, 3rd grade teacher at Marty, who will be managing the Feather Store along with 4th grade teacher, Deb H. The store is a room in the school where students shop for clothing, school supplies, toys, etc. with feathers they’ve earned by displaying Dakota values – wisdom, respect, generosity and courage. Members of SFK stock the store with these needs and gift items around the holidays. This year the store is being renamed and the kids will purchase items with “Buffalo Bucks” instead of feathers. Each Buffalo Buck will have one of the Dakota values printed on them. Bison/buffalo aka Tatanka in Dakota are incredibly important to the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people and they’re sometimes referred to as pte oyate, meaning “buffalo nation”. The kids will get to shop once a week and can purchase one item. They will be encouraged to pick up a book at the same time to build their home library and hopefully help them develop a love of reading. The store will be set up as an actual working store with a cash register and 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will take turns stocking and pricing items and checking out customers at the cash register. By taking a hands-on role in the store students will learn responsibility, organization, problem solving, and teamwork and use their math skills in an actual store setting. Hopefully we’ll get to see the kids working in the store via video and we’ll all help them to keep the shelves stocked.
Sew For Kids members have been busy sending items all summer with some beautiful clothing sewn by our talented ladies. Kids will still need summer clothing until the end of September as the weather will still be quite warm. At the beginning of October we will begin sending warmer clothing and outerwear to keep them warm through the winter. The room parent program will continue this year so we will be looking for new recruits for some classes. Ideally we like to have 2 parents per class but more works as well. Room parents help teachers get supplies for their class they might not otherwise get due to the cost and the limitations of the school budget. They might need a special book, materials for a science project, a craft or a special outing. And room parents provide items for those special occasions- Christmas, Thanksgiving , Valentines etc The parties are held in the individual classrooms.
Current School Needs
- First Aid/Medicine – Band-aids, Bactine, antibiotic ointment, acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen, antacids, electronic lice combs, tissue (Kleenex)
- School Supplies – Colored pencils, pencils, thick and thin washable markers, erasable pens, mechanical pencils, lead, erasers, whiteboard pens, pointed school scissors, composition notebooks.
- Other – sports top water bottles, laundry pods, dish soap.
- Clothing – Jeans, pants, shorts, capris, leggings, skirts, dresses, t-shirts, tops, light jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts.
- Socks and Underwear – New only please. Sizes to fit kids in kindergarten through middle school, 5/6 to adult S-L. Girls also need sports bras sizes S-XL (gently used are fine).
- Shoes – Athletic type shoes and sturdier leather shoes, new or gently used and clean with no wear on soles. Sizes 12Y to adult 10.
Wanblee
Jerome High Horse from the Wanblee Children, Family and Elder program said they too are accepting basic school supplies and backpacks for the kids. They could also use the same clothing, shoes, socks and underwear as in the above list.
These are the organizations we’re concentrating on for this drive. You are certainly welcome to send school supplies and clothing to White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society in Mission. The reason we aren’t listing their needs is a lack of communication with them on their part. It could be they don’t need our help at this time, but we have no way of knowing for sure. School supplies needed for the foster home will depend on the age of children residing there when school begins. The kids do attend school if they are there long term while either their parents meet the guidelines of decent housing, employment and have attended parenting classes from Child Protective Services or a suitable foster home can be found. Their goal is to reunite children with their parents but they must be serious about providing for their child before that can happen.
Many thanks for your help getting students ready for their new school year. Shipping addresses can be found here. New school clothes and a backpack filled with supplies means so much to kids and their parents that could not otherwise afford them. Many students will have an extra spring in their step and a bigger smile on their face when they start school this year due to your generosity. Thank you all!!
If you prefer to support program needs with funds you can donate them here . Let Lakota Friends Circle know of your wish for those funds. Thank you . And of course feel free to join us on our working group on Facebook