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OPERATION
“WINTER RESCUE”
The bitter Northern Plains winter hits the Dakotas with fierce blizzards every
year, and the arctic wind blows from
September into May. Many Indian extended families - often with 10 or more people in the household, including children and the elderly
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have no heat at all in their paper-thin, un-insulated homes.
"In January 1999, a Sioux grandmother literally froze to death on the Rosebud Reservation because
she couldn’t afford to pay for fuel (see
article)."
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NAHA has purchased small heating stoves and propane fuel for hundreds of families on the Rosebud
and Reservation who have no heat in their homes. These stoves can bring the temperature in at least one room of the home up to
a livable 50-degree temperature.
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And in response to an urgent plea from the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, NAHA in the winter
of ’99-00 began providing stoves and fuel for families on the Pine Ridge Reservation, too.
In addition, for families with wood stoves, NAHA trucks firewood from the Black Hills to both
Reservations, and makes chain saws and log splitters available to reservation communities.
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“WINTER
LIFE-GUARD” PROGRAM
FOR SCHOOL-AGE NATIVE AMERICANS
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When “back-to-school”
time comes for the children of the Sioux Nation, winter weather systems
are already descending on the Northern Plains. Yet many Indian
school kids don’t even own a warm coat or even a decent pair of shoes.
That’s why when Labor Day
comes each year the Native American Heritage Association pays for the “Winter
Life-Guard” program for hundreds of the neediest Native American
school-aged children.
Today, needy Native
American families on the Reservations receive
$75 “Winter Life-Guard” purchase orders to buy warm winter
clothes for their children from the Rapid City Wal-Mart. Often,
this donor-supported program helps families buy coats, blankets,
sweaters, shoes, pants, mittens, or other warm protective
clothing. Besides keeping Native American children from freezing
during the winter months, this program ensures that all Native American
children will be attending school. |
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 Without
proper winter clothing to dress their sons and daughters, Native American
parents fear for their safety and refuse to send them out in the cold to
attend school. The risk of getting pneumonia or worse from the
freezing temperatures is too great.
Thanks to the help of
caring friends all over the United States, Native American Moms and Dads
can now redeem purchase orders like the one above for warm clothing for
their school-age children each year.
If you are interested in participating in this program or others,
please go to our Personal
& Secure Donation Page.
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