Volunteer with CRYP
This Fall!
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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.
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.
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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 in 2014-15! 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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Support CRYP's 2015 Christmas Toy Drive!
It's not yet Halloween, but for the staff and volunteers at CRYP, the holidays are right around the corner. The hard-working team at the 27-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization are gearing up for their largest program of the year: the annual
Christmas Toy Drive, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
In 2014, CRYP made sure that 1,350 children in 20 communities across South Dakota's remote 2.8-million-acre reservation received personalized gifts. This year, it hopes to serve 1,500 with the help of donors, volunteers and other supporters.
According to Julie Garreau, executive director, the personal touch is what makes this annual toy drive so unique.
 "Mother Teresa once said, 'It's not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving,'" she said. "On Christmas morning, children all over the world delight in receiving the gifts from Santa Claus for which they hoped and dreamed. It's part of the magic of the holiday, and we strongly believe that our kids deserve that magic too. So, when we first started the Christmas Toy Drive in 1990, we were adamant that our kids weren't going to just receive gifts that were listed for 'girl, age 3' and 'boy, age 10.' The gifts are addressed to them personally, and they come directly from the children's 'Dear Santa' letters.
"That's so important," she continued, "because for those kids, the personalized gifts mean that someone really does care about them. They will know how special they are, and that they are treasured."
Click HERE to find out how you can help with this year's drive!
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#LyftCheyenneRiver: CRYP Will Welcome Lyft Drivers in December
Each year, volunteers from around the country, and around the world, converge on the CRYP in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, to support the annual Christmas Toy Drive. Each year, CRYP seeks to bring Christmas joy and magic to 1,500 children in 20 communities on the remote, 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
This year, the volunteer corps will be larger than usual, thanks to Lyft, a San Francisco-based company whose culture celebrates altruism, community and family.
Lyft is a peer-to-peer ridesharing app that connects nearby drivers with passengers who are in need of a friendly, affordable ride. Co-founded in June 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer, Lyft is the fastest-growing rideshare company in the United States. Available in 150 cities, Lyft is preferred by drivers and passengers for its safe and friendly experience, and its commitment to bringing about positive change for the future of America's cities.
Roughly a dozen Lyft drivers are making plans to travel from around the country to volunteer their time with CRYP, and corporate employees are planning to volunteer as well. Learn more
here!
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Winyan Toka Win Garden Continues to Grow and Evolve
This month, CRYP is closing out another successful growing season in its 2-acre, naturally grown
Winyan Toka Win ("Leading Lady") garden. Despite a few challenges, the garden is continuing to thrive and expand, thanks to a South Dakota Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant, a Native Agriculture and Food Systems grant, additional garden grants from Honor the Earth, Running Strong for American Indian Youth, the Wellmark Foundation and the J.R. Albert Foundation, and generous contributions from a variety of individual supporters.
In 2015, CRYP harvested thousands of pounds of crops that staff members can incorporate into daily youth meals and snacks, regular and specialty menu items in the Keya Cafe & Coffeehouse, and dried and canned food items for sale through the Keya Gift Shop. The 27-year-old youth project also has been able to hold its weekly Leading Lady Farmers Market throughout the summer and fall seasons, and it recently hosted more than 60 community members at its annual
Harvest Festival dinner.
Learn more about this year's growing and harvest seasons, CRYP's record-breaking crops of tomatoes and peppers, and the youth project's plans for 2016,
here.
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Fall Semester of Main University is Under Way at CRYP
On September 28, CRYP kicked off its fall semester of Main University, one of the not-for-profit youth organization's most popular and enduring programs. Recipient of a "Champion for Children" award from the South Dakota Coalition for Children, Main University is designed for 4- to 12-year-olds who attend The Main youth center; it was founded by former long-term volunteer Tracie Farrell in 2002.
Main University allows participants to take short courses that mimic those offered in a college setting, giving Cheyenne River children a chance to study subjects that may not be offered in school. This fall, the CRYP staff has created lesson plans for four hourlong courses: Baking, Collage, Beadwork, and Stenciling & Painting.
"Having the ability to express yourself is incredibly powerful," said Tammy Eagle Hunter, CRYP's youth programs director. "Through art, our children learn to tell their stories, share their life experiences and express their own unique identities in a positive, healthy way. I love art in all its forms, and I'm passionate about its ability to transform lives - and to heal, which is so important in our reservation communities. It's such a privilege to be able to teach these skills and share an artistic journey with our kids through Main University."
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Partner of the Month:
SWAMP-IN
This month, we're going to do something a little differently. One of the leaders of our featured Partner of the Month, SWAMP-IN (Saints with a Mission Purpose - Indian Nations), will be sharing her group's CRYP story. We're honored to introduce our longtime friend and supporter Debra Wills, and to express our heartfelt gratitude for her St. Louis-based group's many years of dedicated service with our not-for-profit, grassroots youth project.
"Looking back over the last 13 years, since SWAMP-IN was formed, I can come up with many reasons why my family was first drawn to the Cheyenne River Youth Project and the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation," Wills says. "I don't believe in coincidence. God always has a purpose beyond what I can see.
"In 2002, my husband Mike and I were teaching our sons about American History from an indigenous point of view. While reading the local paper, I saw an ad to adopt 'Dear Santa' letters from a reservation in South Dakota. We took three letters from children who were the same ages as our sons. The gifts were to come from them, not Mike or me; each letter was fulfilled, and that should have been the end of the story. Little did I know it would be just the beginning."
Read more of the SWAMP-IN story here!
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October Hall of Fame:
Xzanndria Norris
Xzanndria Norris, 14, has been participating in programs and activities at CRYP since she was a little girl. She says she loves how CRYP provides two centers that are geared toward young people, The Main youth center for 4- to 12-year-olds and the Cokata Wiconi ("Center of Life") teen center, and she definitely has some favorite programs.
"The new art internship program and Midnight Basketball are two of my favorite programs," Xzanndria says. "Both have allowed me to gain experience and become better."
The teen also acknowledges the important role CRYP staff members have played through the years. Read the rest of Zan's story
here.
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WE NEED YOU!
Volunteer Positions Are Available Now
Now we are into the fall months, CRYP staff members at the are facing a critical shortage:
VOLUNTEERS!!!
CRYP needs to staff its Main youth center and Cokata Wiconi teen center, operate the Keya Cafe and Keya Gift Shop, stage the weekly Leading Lady Farmers Market, manage Family Services distributions, and harvest the Winyan Toka Win garden. The youth project's staff is simply too small to manage the entire East Lincoln Street campus without volunteer support.
Most people may not be aware that CRYP relies heavily on volunteers to keep its doors open, its programs running, and its services flowing to the Cheyenne River community. The youth project welcomes individuals and groups for short- and long-term stays.
"In the beginning, it likely was more obvious," said Tammy Eagle Hunter, CRYP's youth programs director. "When the youth project began in 1988 in a run-down former bar on Main Street, it was 100-percent volunteer-run. Although we've expanded to include The Main, Cokata Wiconi, Family Services, Winyan Toka Win garden, Keya Cafe and Coffeeshop, Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park, and full-time staff, we still depend on volunteer support. We simply couldn't continue with our mission in the community without our volunteers."
Learn more about our volunteer program, and how to apply, here!
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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.
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, Instagram and Twitter.
Sincerely,
All of us at the
Cheyenne River Youth Project
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