I offered to host a diary for the Okiciyap School Supplies drive and it got me thinking about my time in school. I was lucky to grow up in a community with well-funded schools. It was a time in suburban California before chronic budget shortfalls and the crippling of the state budget process brought about by the passage of Prop 13 in 1978. I never sat in an overcrowded classroom.
We went on field trips throughout the school year to many types of places, but my favorites were trips to dig for fossils, explore tide pools or (my most favorite) explore the Huntington Library in San Marino. And field trips were paid for from the school budget so there were no PTA fundraisers needed for students to enjoy school activities, including the performing arts and music programs.
Today fewer kids in America have what they need to succeed in school. And some of the children on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota served by Okiciyap have gone without school supplies and other necessities.
As many dKos readers know, Okiciyap is a food pantry on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation supported by this community. This year we are continuing with a school supplies drive, which provided school supplies for 50 middle and high school students and 90 K-6 students in Isabel and the surrounding communities.
Kossacks have already sent Okiciyap a lot of supplies, but we still need more, particularly 3 and 5 subject notebooks, scissors, pens and pencils, and crayons (see the list below).
The pantry receives regular shipments of food from Feeding South Dakota, and some food and but mostly other items such as shampoo, soap, and toothpaste, from National Relief Charities. On the third Friday and Saturday of each month they have "pantry day," when people can come and pick up the food they need. People in need of emergency food supplies can also call the pantry and the volunteers will open it for them. It has received so many donations that the pantry had to build a storage room!
Give yourselves a round of applause! This all got started because of Georgia Little Shield's determination and the Daily Kos community's generosity.
Below is a list of supplies needed and an update on what has been pledged. In addition to supplies, this community has already donated more than $250 to help them fill in any donations gaps. You can add to this total here:
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