CRP Banner
In This Issue
Cokata Wiconi Gift Shop: New Items for Fall 2013!
Sponsor a Birthday Cake at The Main
Meet Our Board of Directors
Support CRYP with GoodSearch & GoodShop
Check Out Our Needs List!
Our Mission
CRYP to Host Holiday Artist Market, Youth Parties
CRYP Wins NIEA 2013 Community Service Award
CRYP Welcomes 166 People to Harvest Festival
Two Free Community Gardening Classes Were a Great Success
Fall Semester of Main University is Under Way
CRYP Welcomes Jerri LaPlante, Keya Cafe Manager
Quick Links
Check Out Our Cokata Wiconi
Gift Shop!

***NEW ITEMS*** 
null
For those seeking memorable gifts that will support a worthy cause, check out CRYP's Cokata Wiconi Gift Shop, located within the teen center. The shop is overflowing with homemade food items, created with produce from the 2-acre naturally grown Winyan Toka Win Garden. These include raspberry jam, strawberry jam, strawberry rhubarb jam, corncob jelly, jalape�o jelly, mild and spicy salsa, pickled onions, pickled jalape�os, sweet and dill pickles, dried corn, apple butter, dried jalape�os and dried chili peppers.

Making use of traditional Lakota foods, the gift shop also features wild plum jelly, wild grape jelly, chokecherry jelly, chokecherry syrup, sand cherries and dried turnips.
 
NEW THIS FALL: Coffee mugs featuring CRYP's colorful new Keya Cafe logo!

Also available are CRYP T-shirts and sweatshirts, including shirts that were screen-printed on site at Cokata Wiconi, and special prints of "Four Horsemen of the Lakota," a painting by renowned artist and Rosebud Sioux tribal member Lynn Burnette Sr. The prints are available in three sizes.

Every dollar goes to benefit our youth programs and services. To place an order, call (605) 964-8200 today. 

Or, if you'd rather order online, simply call us so we can determine your shipping costs, and then make your payment via the "Help CRYP" link at  www.lakotayouth.org! 

Sponsor a Birthday Cake at the Main!
Birthday Party 2009
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 2013! Every dollar makes such a difference in the lives of Cheyenne River's children.



Meet Our
Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Holly A. Annis

VICE PRESIDENT
Jeremy Patterson

TREASURER
Guthrie Ducheneaux

DIRECTORS
Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy
Betsy Mitchell
Peggy Gallipo
Jeffrey Meyer

For more info and bios, click here!



Support CRYP with
GoodSearch.com & GoodShop.com!
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?

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.

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
November 2013 News
From the Executive Director:   

Julie Garreau - August 2012 Dear Friends,
 
As the fall harvest season slowly transforms into the rush of the holidays,  "Dear Santa" letters are already starting to flood into our offices here in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. The CRYP team is earnestly soliciting funds and in-kind donations from individuals and organizations around the world so they can fulfill all of those special holiday wishes. They will match the Santa lists with just the right gifts and deliver beautifully wrapped packages to eager children and their grateful families, whether the families come in to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus on Christmas Eve at Cokata Wiconi or await a special visit from Santa and the elves on Christmas Day.
   
To our children here on Cheyenne River, the annual Christmas Toy Drive means everything. And for us, Christmas is a hard and fast deadline that absolutely must be met. It's a tremendous undertaking, one that requires substantial resources as well as time. CRYP Christmas Toy Drive - Fairview HS would not be able to provide a happy Christmas for so many children without the financial contributions, gift donations and volunteer time provided by supporters around the country, and even around the world.
   
Over the last decade, important Christmas Toy Drive partners have included Christian Relief Services Charities; Running Strong for American Indian Youth; the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community; the Spirit of Sovereignty Foundation; the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation; the St. Louis Chapter of CRYP;
"A Christmas Star," a hand-crafted Lakota star quilt.
Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, which is pictured above; and Fredericks Peebles & Morgan in Louisville, Colorado.

But there's still so much to be done, and there's still plenty of time to help! If you would like to support CRYP's Christmas Toy Drive this holiday season, please visit our website to learn more and to view the "Most-Requested Gifts" list. You also can purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win the beautiful "A Christmas Star" Lakota star quilt, which is pictured above.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will ensure that Cheyenne River's children receive what all children should have: a holiday season filled with joy, magic, and most of all, hope.

 

Pilamaye, 

Julie Garreau
Executive Director






CRYP Will Host Holiday Artist Market, Holiday Parties in December        

Although December is still a month away, CYRP's staff and volunteers are already planning the flurry of activity that will descend on the Cokata Wiconi teen center and The Main youth center in the last weeks before Christmas. This week, they started making preparations for CRYP's 3rd annual Holiday Artist Market, which will take place at 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, December 8 at Cokata Wiconi.
   
That means Cheyenne River artists, vendors, craftspeople and chefs should contact the youth project, which is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, to reserve spots.
   
"If you're interested in selling your artwork, crafts or food at the artists' market, we encourage you to call us at (605) 964-8200 and book your spot now, as space is limited," said Tammy Eagle Hunter, CRYP's youth programs director. "Booths are $15 apiece, and all booth fees benefit our youth programming and services. Vendors keep all their own proceeds."
   
In addition to the vendor booths, which will include CRYP tables loaded with produce, crafts and other goodies from the Keya Gift Shop, the Holiday Artist Market will feature dazzling Christmas Toy Shop decor, visits with Santa Claus, photo opportunities and plenty of warm smiles and great company.
   
"We truly want Cokata Wiconi to be a gathering place for our community, and we feel the annual Holiday Artist Market is a beautiful way for our friends, family and neighbors to come together, celebrate the season and perhaps even earn a little extra income along the way," said Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director. "We look forward to this event every year, and this one is particularly special as we're in the midst of celebrating 25 years of service to Cheyenne River."
   
Also in early December, CRYP will be hosting Christmas parties for the children and teens it serves throughout the year. At 4-7 p.m. on Monday, December 9, 4- to 12-year-olds can celebrate Christmastime at The Main; the teens will have their own party at Cokata Wiconi on Tuesday, December 10, at 5-8 p.m.



National Indian Education Association's Community Service Award Goes to CRYP!

On Friday, November 1, the National Indian Education Association presented the Cheyenne River Youth Project� with its 2013 Community Service Award. The special awards luncheon took place during the 44th Annual NIEA Convention & Trade Show at the Rapid City Civic Center in Rapid City, South Dakota.
   
During the luncheon, the not-for-profit, grassroots youth organization was recognized for its positive impact on native student academic achievement. According to the NIEA, the award recognizes the youth project itself as well as all who are involved in its success.
   
"We're so touched that our work is being acknowledged by the National Indian Education Association as we celebrate 25 years of service to the Cheyenne River Lakota nation," said Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director.

Learn more about the NIEA and about CRYP's ongoing mission in the community here.



CRYP Welcomes 166 Community Members to First-Ever Harvest Festival

Last month, CRYP was proud to welcome 166 members of the community to the Cokata Wiconi teen center on for its first-ever Harvest Festival. This special celebration was the first in a series of 12 monthly events to commemorate the grassroots, not-for-profit youth organization's 25th anniversary.
   
The evening's festivities included a formal dedication of the Morgan Yellowhead Gymnasium, which now features official scoreboards thanks to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Special Projects grant. The highlight, however, was the Harvest Feast, which boasted fresh produce from CRYP's 2-acre, naturally grown, pesticide-free Winyan Toka Win ("Leading Lady") garden. The scrumptious menu thrilled guests, staff and volunteers alike.
   
"We offered roast beef with veggies, scalloped potatoes, ham with jalape�o jelly glaze, chicken in poblano sauce, stuffed green peppers, baked acorn squash, spaghetti squash casserole, corn, bread, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate zucchini cake," said Tammy Eagle Hunter, CRYP's youth programs director. "We wanted the meal to be a celebration of the 2013 growing season, and it absolutely was. We were able to join with family, friends and neighbors to pay our respects to the garden and share our joy in a bountiful harvest."
   
The Cheyenne River community also was able to join CRYP staff and volunteers in celebrating 25 years of healthy living at the youth project, which has always been dedicated to holistic wellness for area youth. Not only were guests able to peruse information about personal health and diabetes prevention, they were able to enjoy photos, stories and favorite memories from a quarter-century of youth and family services at CRYP.
   
"It was a lovely way to bring people together and to launch our 25th anniversary," said Julie Garreau, CRYP's executive director. "Sharing a meal is an incredibly bonding experience in Lakota tradition, and in creating this meal with the fresh produce from Winyan Toka Win, we hop to set a powerful example of how our community can embrace food sovereignty and security - and how we all can take charge of our own wellness.

  



Two Free Community Gardening Classes Were a Great Success in October
 
On Tuesday, October 22, and Thursday, October 24, the Cheyenne River Youth Project� and the Intertribal Agriculture Council joined forces to offer two free classes for the Cheyenne River community: Modern Gardening Basics, and Advanced Gardening / Farming. Steven Bond, an ethnobotanist and technical assistance specialist for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, was on hand to teach both classes.
   
Bond taught Gardening Basics to six community members on October 22. Topics included permanent garden bed design, cold-season cultivation, local agricultural extension resources, poultry keeping, local microclimate conditions, and much more. On Thursday, he gave his Advanced Gardening lecture to four community members, covering such subject matter as tillage implements for the backyard gardener, backyard hoop house design and creation, heirloom vegetable varieties, advanced bed design, permaculture in the home garden and soil block production.
   
Staff reported that Bond's visit was a big success, noting that attendees loved the lectures and were hoping for "a refresher course in spring." To learn more, read the comprehensive article on our website!



Fall Semester of Main University is Under Way at The Main Youth Center

Last month, CRYP officially launched its fall semester of Main University, one of the 25-year-old, 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.
   
In this special program, participants may take short courses that mimic those offered in a college setting. The courses give Cheyenne River children a chance to study subjects that may not be offered in school. The program uses language from higher education, such as "university," "credits" and "valedictorian," to familiarize students with their options in and after high school.
  
 "Main University is exciting for our younger children, because they get to choose which courses they take based on their interests, which is how higher education works," said Tammy Eagle Hunter, CRYP's youth programs director. "We want our kids to learn the importance of taking responsibility for their attendance, their classroom work and their take-home projects. And we want them to see how learning can be interesting and fun."
   
This year, volunteers from Europe, Mexico, Colombia, the Sudan and the States are joining CRYP staff in teaching the hourlong courses, which include What Is Haiti?, Do-It-Yourself Projects, Zumba Fitness, European Geography, Lakota Culture, German Cuisine & Culture, and two special presentations focused on music.



CRYP Welcomes Jerri LaPlante, Keya Cafe Manager, to the Full-Time Staff

CRYP is excited to announce that Jerri Ellen Thompson-LaPlante was promoted to the role of cafe manager this month. LaPlante, who has been working as a youth programs assistant for the 25-year-old, not-for-profit youth project, will immediately begin preparations for the January "soft opening" of CRYP's new Keya Cafe.
   
In her new role, LaPlante will be responsible for all aspects of cafe operations, from finances, inventory and stocking to preparing meals, meal service and maintaining a high-quality, commercial-grade kitchen. She also will oversee cafe personnel, which likely will include area teens in their first formal job experience.
   
"When I saw that CRYP was looking for a cafe manager, I just knew it was the right job for me," LaPlante said. "I'm so dedicated to this organization and to our community, and I have a real passion for educating people about nourishing foods and healthy eating habits. I'm so excited to help make our dream for the Keya Cafe a reality!"

Learn more about Jerri here!
Thank you so much for your interest in our youth project, and for your ongoing support as we pursue our mission in the community.

Sincerely,
 
All of us at the
Cheyenne River Youth Project