Volunteer with CRYP This Year!
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CRYP is actively seeking volunteers to work in our Cokata Wiconi teen center and The Main youth center.
If you are interested in applying for our volunteer program, please visit our website and click on the volunteer link for more information.
You also can read our recent article about our volunteer program here.
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| Sponsor Enrichment Activities for CRYP Youth
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The Main youth center and Cokata Wiconi teen center are looking for sponsors to support art and athletic enrichment activities for our after-school and summer programs.
We are actively looking for people willing to make monetary or in-kind donations to fulfill these needs. You can donate online by clicking the link below or by mailing donations to the Cheyenne River Youth Project, P.O. Box 410, Eagle Butte, SD 57625.
If you'd like to see a Needs List for our enrichment programs, please contact us at (605) 964-8200 or send us an email at [email protected].
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Sponsor a Birthday Cake at The Main!
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Few days in a child's life are as precious as his or her birthday. Unfortunately, for far too many underprivileged children, that day passes with little celebration - if any at all. CRYP wants to make sure that the young children who attend The Main youth center have the birthday festivities they deserve.
Each month, The Main hosts a birthday party for the children whose birthdays fall during that month. To offset the cost of each party, CRYP seeks monthly sponsors to contribute $40 for the birthday cake. Please consider sponsoring a birthday cake this year! Every dollar makes such a difference in the lives of Cheyenne River's children.
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Meet Our
Board of Directors
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PRESIDENT
Jeremy Patterson
VICE PRESIDENT
Karla Abbott
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Jeffrey Meyer
DIRECTORS
Guthrie Ducheneaux
Peggy Gallipo
Lonnie Heier
For more info and bios, click
here!
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Support CRYP When You Shop Online!
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What if CRYP earned a donation every time you searched the Internet? Or, what if a percentage of every online purchase you made supported our cause?
Amazon, for example, will donate 0.5% of your purchase price to CRYP when you shop at smile.amazon.com. To make shopping even easier, you can add the AmazonSmile 1 Button to your web browser.
Then there are GoodSearch and GoodShop.
GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up.
GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall that donates up to 30% of each purchase to your favorite cause. Hundreds of great stores have teamed up with GoodShop so that every time you place an order, you'll be supporting your favorite cause.
And, if you download the
"GoodSearch - Cheyenne River Youth Project - CRYP toolbar," our cause will earn money every time you shop and search online EVEN if you forget to go to the GoodShop or GoodSearch sites first! Click here to add the toolbar.
While you're online, you even can make a secure donation with your Capital One credit card. Simply click here. You even can add an easy-to-use widget for future contributions.
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| Needs List |
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CRYP relies on in-kind donations as well as funding to continue our mission. If you'd like to help, please check out our
Needs List. You also may contact us at (605) 964-8200 if you'd like a copy of our most up-to-date list and price quotes for particular needs. Thank you for your support!
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| Our Mission |
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The Cheyenne River Youth Project is dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities, ensuring strong, self-sufficient families and communities.
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WE NEED YOUR HELP:
Please Consider Supporting Our 2018 Passion for Fashion Event!
Just two weeks remain before CRYP's annual
Passion for Fashion event, scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 10. We're expecting up to 100 young Lakota women, and we still need new and gently used dresses, shoes, jewelry and other accessories so they can find just the right combination for their high school prom.
Although we love pampering the teens and helping them prepare for this American rite of passage,
Passion for Fashion is about much more than prom.
"Our role in this community is to provide opportunities for our kids, and to plant seeds for a more secure and vibrant future," says Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director. "Through Passion for Fashion, we provide a meaningful opportunity to learn from other Lakota women, enjoy intergenerational bonding, and find personal empowerment through positive body image, improved self-confidence, and the knowledge that one person absolutely can do her part to create a stronger community-and a better world."
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Gina Still Smoking, keynote speaker for our 2018 Passion for Fashion event.
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Fashion designer and public speaker Gina Still Smoking, an enrolled member of the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe), will be CRYP's keynote speaker for this special day.
In addition to her work in fashion design, Still Smoking also is an event producer, artist, photographer, actor, comedian, mentor and business owner. In her life and career, she uses multiple platforms to give back to native communities, delivering a high-energy and engaging message to which all ages can relate.
"It is a message coming from experience," she writes, "dealing with obstacles but rising up to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of others."
The theme for this year's Passion for Fashion is "Empowering Your Inner Lakota Wonder Woman." When the movie "Wonder Woman' premiered last year, girls of all ages promptly made the title character their new hero. Most critics applauded the movie as well, with USA Today noting, "(Diana) didn't grow up in a world that told her she couldn't do things because she was a woman. She simply does what she thinks is right... and it's so uplifting to see her do it."
This resonated with the staff at the Cheyenne River Youth Project. At the heart of this theme is the critical notion that each young woman can lean on her Lakota values and heritage to, as Gal Gadot's Diana put it, "fight for the world I know can be."
When the teens arrive at Passion for Fashion on Mar. 10, they'll first take part in icebreaking activities, followed by a sit-down luncheon in the Keya (Turtle) Cafe and Still Smoking's keynote speech.
From there, the young women will move on to the gymnasium, where they will receive manicures, pedicures, makeovers and hair styling; find their dream dresses, shoes and accessories; and celebrate their transformed selves on a formal catwalk. They'll make memories and new friendships; they'll support each other as they work through difficult issues such as bullying, low self-esteem and poor body image; and they'll share this unparalleled life experience with multiple generations of Lakota women, from grandmothers and mothers to aunties, sisters and cousins.
"Ours is an incredibly rich culture," says Jerica Widow, CRYP's youth programs director. "Passion for Fashion gives us a chance to mentor to our young women, to help strengthen the connection they have to their Lakota heritage, and to celebrate the traditional values that will serve them well all their lives. Not only as individuals, but as members of their tiospaye and their larger communities."
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Jerica Widow is CRYP's New Youth Programs Director
The Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, has promoted Jerica Widow from the position of youth programs coordinator to youth programs director. Widow joined the nonprofit youth organization since 2013, and she has made a significant contribution to the growth of its programming-particularly the innovative teen internships.
"We're delighted that Jerica has accepted this position," said Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director. "In the last five years, she has built strong relationships-and an impressive degree of trust-with the youth programming staff, as well as with the young people we serve. They all understand that she is there to support and guide them, and they regularly see her go above and beyond the call of duty. Jerica is an exceptional asset for our organization."
Learn more here.
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The Cheyenne River Youth Project has welcomed children ages 4 to 12 since we opened our doors in 1988, long before the opening of our Cokata Wiconi teen center. Since the beginning, we've understood how important it is to reach our children while they're young-to provide safe spaces, positive role models, healthy meals and snacks, and hopefully inspire them for their own unique journey in this life.
Caylor Rivers, now 6, has been coming to The Main since she was 4 years old. She says she learned about The Main when her mother took her to a birthday party at the youth center, complete with "Frozen" theme and even an Olaf cake. She was sold.
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Order "Home" and Support CRYP!
One hundred percent of the proceeds from book sales benefit the nonprofit Cheyenne River Youth Project.
For more details about the project, and to order fine-art prints (100% of proceeds also benefit CRYP), visit cheyenneriverfineart.com and click "Photography."
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Thank you so much for your interest in our youth project, and for your ongoing support as we pursue our mission in the community.
Sincerely,
All of us at the
Cheyenne River Youth Project
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