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In This Issue
Volunteer with CRYP in 2015!
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
Christmas Toy Drive Serves 1,350 Children
Passion for Fashion Dress Drive is Under Way
Winter Book Club Starts February 5
CRYP Offers Innovative Art Internship Program
Annual Heat Assistance Program Starts February 2
January Partners of the Month
Quick Links

 

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
January 2015 News

Christmas Toy Drive Serves 1,350 Children Across Cheyenne River   
 
In partnership with a broad range of individuals, schools, businesses and nonprofit organizations, CRYP was once again able to bring Santa Claus to South Dakota's 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation during the 2014 holiday season.
   
Thanks to the overwhelming support of these invaluable partners, not to mention the hard work and dedication of a small army of volunteers, CRYP's 2014 Christmas Toy Drive served 1,350 children in 20 communities. Their "Dear Santa" letters came from 325 families, regular attendees at CRYP's Cokata Wiconi teen center and The Main youth center, and children who live in local shelters and foster care.
   
"We're absolutely thrilled that we were able to bring Santa to more children than ever before," said Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director. "For the past few years, we've served approximately 1,200 kids. Not only did we reach about 150 more children this year, we eased the burden for about 50 more families. We are so grateful to the many donors and volunteers who helped make this Christmas miracle happen."

The Cheyenne River Youth Project's 2014 Christmas Toy Drive
The Cheyenne River Youth Project's
2014 Christmas Toy Drive




2012 Passion for Fashion
CRYP's 2015 Passion for Fashion
Dress Drive is Currently Under Way

It's a brand new year. The holidays are over, and young people everywhere are already nurturing thoughts of spring and that all-American rite of passage - the prom. They're eagerly anticipating shopping trips with family members and friends, where they can try on colorful shoes, accessorize with just the right jewelry, and find the gowns of their dreams.
   
Unfortunately, this fun and excitement can be in short supply on South Dakota's remote 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Teens have to grow up fast here. Comprising two of poorest counties in the Passion for Fashion 2010-5 nation, with roughly 75 percent unemployment, most families cannot spare the funds for that dream dress, much less the accessories to go with it.
   
Enter CRYP, which started its Passion for Fashion program in 2001 to ensure that every teen could make her prom dreams come true. Passion for Fashion is one of the organization's most popular and long-running programs, and it does much more than provide all the prom essentials. It fosters intergenerational exchange, bonding, self-esteem, and positive body image.

This year's Passion for Fashion event will take place on Saturday, March 14 at CRYP's Cokata Wiconi ("Center of Life") teen center. This year's theme: "Graffiti and Street Art."

If you'd like to contribute dresses, shoes, accessories, or gift cards, click here to learn more. If you'd like to make a financial contribution, simply click the link below and then click the "Donate" button on our home page.




Winter Book Club Kicks Off on Thursday, February 5

On Thursday, February 5, CRYP will kick off its annual Winter Book Club in the Cokata Wiconi ("Center of Life") teen center's library. Youth Programs Director Tammy Eagle Hunter and Youth Programs Assistant Floyd Braun will lead club sessions through late March, also offering three milestone celebrations and a special spring field trip to Harney Peak in the Black Hills.
   
For the first time, participants will have two Winter Book Club programs from which to choose. In the "Education & Culture" program, the teens will read My Indian Boyhood by Luther Standing Bear. The book will be broken into chapter groupings, and at the end of each grouping, participants will write a single-page, three-paragraph essay.

Teens who complete the entire Winter Book Club program will travel to Harney Peak in the Black Hills for the "Welcome Home Wakinyan Oyate" ceremony in late March.


CRYP Offers Innovative New
Art Internship Program 

CRYP has announced that it is recruiting teen applicants for an innovative new art internship program, which will provide 10 Cheyenne River teens with the opportunity to build their skills in a variety of artistic disciplines, including traditional art, graffiti art, and street art.
   
During this four-month internship, the young people also will engage in leadership development workshops and explore the many available career opportunities for artists. According to Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director, the internship program is a natural extension of the 26-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization's Waniyetu Wowapi ("Winter Count" in the Lakota language) Art Park initiative. Waniyetu Wowapi was formally dedicated in September 2014 and is garnering acclaim throughout the region.
   
"Our art park is a free public space where community members and visitors can express their own unique voices and life experiences in a positive healthy way," Garreau explained. "Our interns will receive firsthand instruction from acclaimed local and regional artists, and they will have critical roles in further developing the art park as they collaborate to create new murals."
   
Each month, the interns will participate in both training opportunities and open studio time. They will be responsible for planning community events to promote the art park and all related arts activities, and to formally unveil their own work within the public space when it's ready.

The teens must complete 80 hours of instruction during February, March, April and May to complete the program. Upon successful completion in May, they will receive a $500 award for their time and commitment.

Winter at Cokata Wiconi
Annual Heat Assistance Program Starts Monday, February 2 

CRYP has announced that it will launch its Heat Assistance Program for the 2015 winter season on Monday, February 2. Through this program, local families who are members of CRYP's Family Services may request matching grants up to $100 to help cover the cost of propane or alternative fuels when they most need it.
   
The 26-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization processes community members' requests and works with local providers to ensure that each family receives assistance as soon as possible. During the bitterly cold 2014 winter season, the Heat Assistance Program's matching funds provided much-needed aid to 1,318 community members, 795 children among them, on South Dakota's remote, 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.


January Partners of the Month:
Our Christmas Toy Drive Champions!
 

This month, instead of highlighting just one partner, we'd like to take our hats off to a very special group of CRYP supporters: the champions of the 2014 Christmas Toy Drive. With their help, we served 1,350 Cheyenne River children this year.

 

In the weeks prior to Christmas, donations and financial contributions poured into Eagle Butte from around the country, and around the world. In December, big trucks pulled into CRYP's East Lincoln Street campus from Virginia, Missouri and Colorado, bearing the precious fruit of local toy drives spearheaded by Running Strong for American Indian Youth, the St. Louis Chapter of CRYP, and Fairview High School in Boulder.
     

Many other supporters took part in this massive movement: the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the staff at the American Indian College Fund, Amert Construction Inc., the Sioux Falls-based rap group Black Mask Armada, the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, D&R Propane, Elevation Cycles, Four Bands Community Fund, Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLC, The Gitlin Foundation, the Larson Family Foundation, the Rapid City Woodworkers Association, Rotary clubs in Rapid City and Fort Pierre-Pierre, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Six Points Inc., the Spirit of Sovereignty Foundation, the State Bank of Eagle Butte, student volunteers at CU-Boulder's business and law schools, and Western Dakota Bank.  

Please click here to learn more about these worthy organizations, each of which has demonstrated the true meaning of Christmas with its generosity, friendship, and love.

 

Pilamaye.

Thank You. 

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