It’s not surprising that hunger is an ever-present fact of life on the Sioux Reservations of South Dakota when you consider the reality of Reservation life . . .
- Unemployment on the Reservations is over 80%.
- 31% of Native American children under the age of 4 are obese due to lack of proper nutrition.
- The two poorest counties in the U.S. are on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation and Crow Creek Reservation, with over 90% of the people living below the federal poverty line.
NAHA provides food to the Native Americans through our “Food Program”. NAHA works in partnership with Feeding America® to obtain healthy, nutritious food to deliver to Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River and Rosebud Reservations all made possible by our generous donors. Many times, without the food deliveries from NAHA, Native American families wouldn’t have anything to feed their children or elders.
NAHA delivers on average approximately 350,000 pounds of food each month. This is the same food that you and I would purchase at the grocery store. 
However, for many Native American families, they have no money to go to the store or transportation to get there.
The ever present issue of hunger goes way beyond malnutrition. Poor nutrition is attributed to diabetes, heart disease and children not performing well in school. In order to end the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger on the Reservations, NAHA offers a helping hand and hope to many families that see their situation as hopeless. Better education offers an end to Native Americans suffering from medical conditions and diseases caused by poor diet.
If you would like to help with our food program, please consider making a tax-deductible donation – either a one-time donation or something more permanent such as a monthly donation.
Please visit our NAHA Food Program Chart to view an accounting of the food that we distribute each month to the Reservations.
Also, please read the letter below from Toni Wells of the Lower Brule Reservation:
Letter from Toni Wells of the Lower Brule Reservation
