Posted on 10/19/2002 2:02:33 PM PDT by jwalburg
Children to receive coats, supplies
Some South Dakota children who need a pair of gloves or a new coat to protect them from the winter cold or even a new toy may easily turn to their parents.
But on South Dakota Indian reservations the average annual family income hovers around $4,000, according to the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairman's Health Board.
With such a low income, many Indian children don't receive winter clothing, blankets or even toys.
But if it's up to Barbara Johnson, the wife of U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., life for these youths will change.
She came to the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairman's Health Board, 220 S. Main St., Friday bearing good news for children on South Dakota's Indian reservations.
"Today's a day. . . when a dream comes true," Barbara Johnson said.
She officially announced
the beginning of the distribution of $250,000 in supplies for children on reservations across the state donated with the help of Kids In Distressed Situations Inc.
The list of goods includes blankets, gloves, coats, hats and toys.
"The faucet is on," said Mark Gelber, president of Kids In Distressed Situations. "It will continue to flow."
The New York City-based Kids In Distressed Situations, also known as KIDS, is a not-for-profit organization that assists needy children through the generosity of manufacturers and retailers.
The idea to bring the help of KIDS to South Dakota originated on the Pine Ridge American Indian Reservation.
"We had a vision," said Frederick Cedar Face, program manager with Northern Plains Healthy Start on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Cedar Face said the idea first began when Indian officials were searching on the Internet for assistance and found the KIDS organization. Then, he said, they contacted KIDS and Barbara Johnson.
Many speakers in Aberdeen on Friday attributed the success of bringing the program to South Dakota to both Tim and Barbara Johnson.
Cedar Face was enthusiastic about bringing the coats and toys to the children on the reservations.
"I'm touched, I'm honored," Cedar Face said. But "more especially it's for the betterment of our people."
Before the much needed supplies could come to Aberdeen, which will act as the state's supply headquarters for the donations, $25,000 was needed to cover the shipping expense.
Barbara Johnson said she got on the phone and contacted several organizations and companies, such as Wells Fargo Bank, seeking donations.
"Essentially, every person I called came forward and said, 'I want to be part of this program,'" she said.
Gelber said the easy part of the project was sending the supplies.
"Then, the really fun job of getting the products to the kids takes place," he said.
KIDS started in 1985 sending $600,000 in clothes, shoes and toys to children in Ethiopia and mud-slide victims in South America. This year $50 million in help was distributed.
"The fact that we actually pulled this off and had the coats here today is a total miracle," Barbara Johnson said.
Plantation INDIANS.......Idiots.
"Daddy, are we democrats because we are poor, or are we poor because we are democrats?"
Now does that sound like a Democrat, or what? Give away something that was never personally theirs in the first place!
KIDS started in 1985 sending $600,000 in clothes, shoes and toys to children in Ethiopia and mud-slide victims in South America.
Well, if there's another natural disaster somewhere in the world, I guess the children will have to wait. The Democrats need the votes. Besides, Democrats think they all should have been aborted anyway.
Into tribal coffers.
Tribalism ensures no one does better than any other member of a tribe. It is the ultimate form of communism; each according to ability, each according to need, all suffering equally.
To find personal success a Native American must leave the reservation, period.
LOL! Great comment!
"K.I.D.S. Partners with Great Plains Food Bank to Distribute Clothes & Toys to Needy Children
By Helmut Schmidt, Summer 2001
The Great Plains Food Bank already feeds the hungry throughout the region. Now it’s aiming to warm children’s bodies and souls.
Working with K.I.D.S., a New York-based charity, Sen. Byron Dorgan and four corporate sponsors, the Great Plains Food Bank announced that it will distribute new clothing, toys, shoes, books, beds, car seats and other products to needy children in North Dakota and part of western Minnesota.
Steve Sellent, program director of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota’s Great Plains Food Bank, said about $200,000 worth of materials — more than a semi trailer load — has been received. Some $500,000 in goods is expected to be arrive at the Food Bank this year. “I don’t think it took us a second to decide to get involved in the program,” Sellent said. “We think it’s going to be fun.”
K.I.D.S. stands for Kids In Distressed Situations. K.I.D.S. President Mark Gelber said the organization takes donations of products from about 300 manufacturers and retailers and distributes them around the nation and the world.
K.I.D.S. started in 1985, focusing on the nation’s largest cities.But as is has grown, it has shifted some of its focus to rural areas. Gelber said K.I.D.S. figures there may be 50,000 children living in poverty or near poverty in North Dakota who could use the donated goods.
“There’s no seconds. There’s nothing damaged. It’s the kind of thing that would make a child or a parent happy,” Gelber said. Both Sellent and Gelber credit Dorgan with making the partnership possible. Dorgan said the program will be a great help for American Indians on reservations in North Dakota and other children around the state.
Dorgan said having good clothing can increase a child’s sense of self-worth. A toy can bring “a measure of joy.” Dorgan praised local sponsors Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, Community First Bankshares, MDU Resources Group and Alerus Financial. “This represents the best of our country,” Dorgan said. “Children are all of our responsibility ....."
Shame on Daschle/Johnson!!! These poor little South Dakota Indian children should have gotten their share of the hand out over a year ago!!
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