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In This Issue
This Summer: Volunteer with CRYP!
CRYP's Sponsor Enrichment Activities
Sponsor a Birthday Cake at The Main
Meet Our Board of Directors
Support CRYP with Amazon Smile, GoodSearch & GoodShop, and Capital One
Check Out Our Needs List
Our Mission
RedCan Hosts RedCan, Receives NEA Our Town Grant
Winyan Toka Win Garden Evolves into Micro Farm
RASDak Ride Raises Nearly $18K for CRYP
Partner of the Month: Keith & Ann Brundin
July Hall of Fame: Khalid Garreau
NOW HIRING: Deputy Director
Quick Links
  News

 

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




 

Sponsor Enrichment Activities for CRYP Youth

 

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. 

 

CRYP works hard to introduce the youth who attend our centers to the fundamentals of a healthy lifestyle. As part of these efforts, we will be offering weeklong lacrosse workshops in the upcoming months for both children and teens. In order to hold these classes, we will need to purchase lacrosse balls, sticks, padding, and goal sets.

 

The art program at CRYP is also looking to expand in the upcoming months. We are looking to introduce kids to many different forms of artistic expression, including graffiti art, pottery, and painting.  To allow the kids to experiment with these new art forms, we will have many diverse needs including canvases, paint, paint brushes, clay, glazing supplies, pottery supplies, acrylic paint, spray paint, exterior paint, and sealant.

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 


Sponsor a Birthday Cake at The Main!
Main Birthday Party 1
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 in 2014-15! Every dollar makes such a difference in the lives of Cheyenne River's children.




Meet Our
Board of Directors
VICE PRESIDENT
Jeremy Patterson

TREASURER
Guthrie Ducheneaux

DIRECTORS
Peggy Gallipo
Jeffrey Meyer
Karla Abbott
Lonnie Heier

For more info and bios, click here!



Support CRYP When You Shop Online!
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.

Needs List
Three girls

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!
Our Mission


Spanish Class at The Main
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.
 
Join Our Mailing List
July 2015 News

CRYP Hosts RedCan, Receives
$100,000 NEA Our Town Grant

It's been a thrilling month for the Cheyenne River Youth Project. Not only did the 26-year-old, not-for-profit, grassroots youth organization host the groundbreaking RedCan graffiti jam and graduate its first cohort of teen art interns, it earned a $100,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
   
According to NEA Chairman Jane Chu, CRYP was one of 275 applicants for this year's Our Town awards, and it's one of 69 award recipients nationwide. The grant program is designed to support creative place-making projects that help transform communities into lively, beautiful and resilient places - with the arts at their core.
   
It's a perfect fit for CRYP. In just one year, the innovative youth project has launched an ongoing teen arts internship program; dedicated its 3.5-acre Waniyetu Wowapi ("Winter Count") Art Park, which is open free to the public; and created the nationally recognized RedCan graffiti jam, in which acclaimed artists from around the country converged on South Dakota's remote, 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation for an unprecedented merging of graffiti culture and Lakota culture.
   
RedCan took place on July 8-9 in Eagle Butte and on July 11 in Rapid City's Art Alley. Participating artists included East Foster from Denver, Kazilla from Miami, Meme from California, Siamese from Rapid City, and Daesk, Biafra Inc. (pictured at top, working in downtown Eagle Butte) and Wundr from Minnesota's Twin Cities. The artists painted at various sites around the community as well as in the Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park, working alongside native and youth artists and eliciting powerful support from community members.
   
"It's difficult to describe, the magic that happened on Cheyenne River earlier this month," Garreau said. "I'm still stunned by it, from the boundless creative energy to the spirit of camaraderie and fellowship among so many different people from different walks of life. Beautiful work was created, yes, but more importantly, RedCan inspired and lifted up an entire community. It was extraordinary, and it was the most powerful demonstration of the healing power of art that I've ever seen."

Learn more here! And take a peek at some of the remarkable work created during RedCan.


Daesk and East, at Eagle Butte's old bowling alley.


Kazilla, near the Eagle Stop.


Wundr, working on the side of the bowling alley.


Meme, working in the Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park.


Siamese, at the old bowling alley.

Photos courtesy of Richard Steinberger Photography.
Winyan Toka Win 2

Winyan Toka Win Garden Evolves Into Veritable Micro Farm

When CRYP first began its organic garden in 1999, staff members at the 26-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization scarcely could have imagined where that little garden would take them. Now, 16 years later, the thriving 2-acre Winyan Toka Win ("Leading Lady") garden is the beating heart of the youth project - and it's quickly becoming a veritable micro farm.
   
Today, sustainable agriculture at CRYP supports nutritious meals and snacks at the Main youth center for 4- to 12-year-olds and at the Cokata Wiconi teen center. It provides fresh ingredients for the farm-to-table Keya ("Turtle") Cafe, and merchandise for the Keya Gift Shop null and seasonal Leading Lady Farmers Market. To continue pursuing its long-term vision for the initiative, CRYP has invested in a new irrigation system, a garden redesign, and a composting system.
   
Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director, said she hopes the new planting areas and water system will allow the youth project to increase its yields by 50 percent, and also increase outdoor-classroom use among teen interns who wish to become gardeners and farmers.
   
"Our garden is now the size of a community garden or micro farm operation," Garreau said. "By providing valuable education and real-life work experience, our operation hopefully will encourage self-sufficiency on the Cheyenne River reservation, and empower the next generation to rely on their own abilities and on the land. We strive to achieve real food sovereignty, security and safety for our communities."


Annual RASDak Ride Raises Nearly $18,000 to Support CRYP   

This month, nearly 200 people from 29 U.S. states and Canada rode their bicycles 480 miles across South Dakota, from the Black Hills to the state's eastern glacial lakes. The 198 riders, ranging from 8 to 78 years old, were taking part in the weeklong Ride Across South Dakota, an annual event that supports charitable organizations across South Dakota- including CRYP.
   
In the 2015 RASDak, not only did riders spend the night at CRYP, they raised nearly $18,000 to support the venerable youth organization's ongoing mission on the 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
   
"RASDak raised roughly $12,900 for CRYP, which incorporated $10,000 directly from RASDak and the remainder from individual donations," said Kasey Abbott, one of the ride's lead organizers. "If you include the $5,000 that was anonymously donated, then we're nearing the $18,000 mark. I wouldn't be surprised to see some additional donations come in."
   
On June 8, RASDak participants rode 102 miles from Union Center to Eagle Butte and spent the night at the CRYP campus. The youth project's farm-to-table Keya ("Turtle") Cafe provided dinner and breakfast, as well as lunch along the 71-mile route to Gettysburg on June 9. Riders also were be able to enjoy a bull-riding competition, a local Lakota drum group, and much more.  

Partner of the Month:
Keith and Ann Brundin
 
As so many of you already know, this month marked the kickoff of a new annual event for CRYP: the RedCan graffiti jam. RedCan is one of our many arts initiatives here at the youth project, which include the Waniyetu Wowapi ("Winter Count") Art Park, the art internship program, and a variety of ongoing classes and workshops.

With Waniyetu Wowapi, we sought to create a free, public art space where community members and visitors of all ages could gather and share their stories, life experiences, and unique identities  and voices in a safe, positive environment. We dedicated the park last September, and now, we're finding that it's resonating with people in ways we could not have expected.

Some of these supporters are artists. RedCan has attracted acclaimed graffiti artists from Denver, Rapid City, Minneapolis, Miami and southern California, as well as native artists, dancers and drum groups from across Indian country.

Others are community members who see a new hope for their children. One mother told us she drove 80 miles each way from the Takini community so her son could paint in the park.

Then there are those supporters who seek only to make a contribution to ensure that the art park, and our youth project, will be here for generations to come. These are people like Keith and Ann Brundin of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Read more about these special members of our extended CRYP family here!



July Hall of Fame:
Khalid Garreau
 
When CRYP opened the doors to its Cokata Wiconi ("Center of Life") teen center in August 2006, its mission went beyond simply providing a safe place for teens to socialize, enjoy meals and snacks, do homework, watch movies and play sports. The center also was designed to provide a venue for learning valuable job and life skills.

That vision became a reality with the CRYP internship programs. Today, nine years after Cokata Wiconi's dedication, the youth project offers art internships as well as internships in the 2-acre, naturally grown Winyan Toka Win ("Leading Lady") garden and in the farm-to-table Keya ("Turtle") Cafe. And it turns out, the kids are as excited about their opportunities as we are.

Meet Khalid Garreau, a Rapid City, South Dakota-based teen who has family on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. The son of Sonny Wayne Garreau and Heather Taken Alive, Khalid was a frequent visitor to CRYP's The Main youth center as a small child, as he says the fun activities and interesting people always kept him coming back. Then he found out about the internship programs at Cokata Wiconi.

Khalid completed his first internship in the Winyan Toka Win garden at age 13. This year, the now 15-year-old decided to make the leap into Keya Cafe. Learn more about Khalid's story here!



NOW HIRING:
Deputy Director (Focus: Development)
 
The Cheyenne River Youth Project® has announced that it is seeking a deputy director to join its staff full time. The salaried position will include benefits, with salary dependent on the select candidate's qualifications.
 
"For us to continue pursuing our mission and long-term vision for CRYP as a holistic wellness facility for youth and an authentic gathering place for our community, we need a deputy director with a specific focus on development and growth activities," said Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director.
   
For a complete, downloadable position description, click here. And for details regarding the application process, visit our Employment & Internships page.

 

Thank you so much for your interest in our youth project, and for your ongoing support as we pursue our mission in the community.

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, follow the youth project on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.



Sincerely,
 
All of us at the
Cheyenne River Youth Project