Backpack Food Program
“These are new coats and hats with the tags still on! They are not second hand coats that someone else has already worn like we always get? This is the best gift we’ve gotten.” Native YouthOklahoma The Menominee Indian School District, Keshena, WI: “Our school district suffers from a high rate of poverty. As a […]
New School Supplies Make A Difference
Testimonial Thank you Running Strong and the people who work there, tell Billy Mills thank you. Now I have a brand new backpack with everything I need for school. My mom don’t have enough money to buy everything I need. But now I have everything and I am happy and my mom is happy. She […]
At the End of the Rainbow…There’s a Greenhouse!
Growing Hope: Can Wigmunke’s Impact on Pine Ridge Reservation Testimonial It’s so wonderful to have fresh vegetables and the native wild fruits available right here. I’m tired of people having to buy food from convenience stores and gas stations. Your market, the gardens and this greenhouse you all did is such a gift. It’s great […]
Moving Forward the Healing Paths for Families and Communities
Testimonial A new generation of girls and young women in Indian Country must now be educated within, and renew for ourselves, ancient ways of thinking so that the powers of their womenhood can be better utilized to move forward the healing paths of our families and communitites. Reproduction is not just about reproducing bodies but […]
Spring Food Boxes Bring Nutrition and Assistance
Testimonial These are new coats and hats with the tags still on! They are not second hand coats that someone else has already worn like we always get? This is the best gift we’ve gotten. Native Youth Oklahoma Our spring food boxes arrived in Indian Country in April. In addition to the menu of ham, vegetables, […]
2,300 Summer Food Boxes Sent to Indian Reservations!
Providing Hope and Nourishment: Impacting Native Youth and Families Testimonial These are new coats and hats with the tags still on! They are not second hand coats that someone else has already worn like we always get? This is the best gift we’ve gotten. Native Youth Oklahoma Thanks to the generous support of our donors, […]
Keeping Our Youth Warm
Testimonial These are new coats and hats with the tags still on! They are not second hand coats that someone else has already worn like we always get? This is the best gift we’ve gotten. Native Youth Oklahoma During the cold winter we all strive to keep warm. A hefty winter coat is definitely a necessity […]
Gardening Classes Begin at Oyate Teca
The Oyate Teca Project is getting back to work after a successful holiday season from Pine Ridge and preparing for the upcoming spring schedule. The Medicine Root Gardening classes, one of the Oyate Teca Project’s most highly anticipated programs of the year, returns February 1st. Students will attend eighteen classes over the next nine months […]
Exciting Updates from Our Dreamstarters
JEREMY DENNIS AT SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE Jeremy Dennis, 2016 Dreamstarter, has just been awarded a residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute. The Institute gathers artists, innovators, and creative types from across America to consider what vitality, prosperity, and sustainability might look like beyond profit; to envision new systems for “making a living” that […]
Welcome to the Newest Members of the RunStrong Family!
This January the RunStrong family grew by two members as Fox River Mills welcomed Joseph Gray and Christian Gering to their team of trailblazers in the running community and proud wearers of RunStrong socks. Joseph Gray is a world class elite athlete with 19 national and world championships in mountain running, ultramarathons, trail, road running, […]
Beat The Drum. Be Counted! Update on Census Campaign
For many Americans, the 2020 Census won’t matter until the last week of March. But for residents of Toksook Bay, a small village of 661 people in western Alaska, the census began counting today by boat, plane, and ATVs. The Census Bureau is taking advantage of the still-frozen ground to make contact with households that […]
Smart Sacks: Providing Children with Healthy Meals Over the Weekend
The spring semester has started, and students of Takini School District in South Dakota and Menominee School District in Wisconsin will go back to class ready to focus on learning free from hunger thanks to Running Strong for American Indian Youth’s Smart Sacks. The Smart Sacks program was developed in 2011 to provide students at […]
Running Strong for American Indian Youth Launches Major Push for 2020 Census
Beat the Drum. Be Counted! You have read about the challenges faced by so many on Native reservations. You have supported programs to help Native children and their families, and built sustainable programs that will help communities for generations. So you will understand what we are about to share is so important. We are excited […]
CNN Visits Running Strong On Pine Ridge
Bringing Hope Through Water: Transforming Lives on Pine Ridge Reservation “They bring that glimpse of hope… of change.” Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has the lowest life expectancy of any region in the United States. For many residents on the reservation their daily reality still involves a multi-mile or multi-mile trek to access water for […]
Navajo Hopi Honor Riders Distribute Turkeys for the Holidays
Starting around October each year, Running Strong partners can apply for small holiday grants for community gatherings, seasonal operations, or use at their discretion for the local population in the name of holiday cheer. Some organizations host Christmas celebrations or youth activities. This November the Navajo Hopi Honor Riders used their Running Strong holiday grant […]
Road to Tokyo: Arriving at Camp Pendleton
It is January 3, 1964 and I can’t get the St. Sylvester Midnight Run on December 31, 1963, (running out the old year and running in the new year) out of my mind. Running with a very bad cold, being tripped at the start of the race and losing a shoe was devastating to me. […]
Keeping Kids Warm over the Winter in Oklahoma
In Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the forecast is calling for a “wintry mix” with low temperatures in the low 20s next week. But thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth® 500 children and adults are prepared to withstand the coming frigid weather, next week and all winter long. “We were able to give […]
Running Strong in 2019
The new year is soon upon us, and to welcome 2020 we’d like to take a look back at all we’ve achieved with the help of our friends this year. We rang in 2019 with our annual Heat Match program, which ensured over a thousand Pine Ridge Indian Reservation families kept their propane and electricity […]
Billy Mills at Brave Heart Society 25th Anniversary
25 Years of Empowerment: Celebrating the Brave Heart Society December 16th, 2019 marked the Brave Heart Society’s 25th anniversary. Located in Lake Andes, SD, the Brave Heart Society has been one of Running Strong’s longest partnerships – dating back to 1994 when the Society was still the Yankton Sioux Women’s Society. The Brave Hearts historically […]
Yuchi Language Project Building a New Generation of Yuchi Speakers
Reviving the Yuchi Language: Preserving a Culture for Future Generations In addition to providing basic needs – food, coats and boots, school supplies, and more to Native people throughout Indian Country, a core mission of Running Strong for American Indian Youth® has long been to support programs that preserve languages and culture before they are […]
RS Field Staff on KILI Radio sharing about Food Distribution, Winter Wear, Heat Match and more!
In-kind and food distribution Winter is not just coming to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, it’s arrived with a vengeance. “We survived the winter onslaught that was too early,” reported Running Strong for American Indian Youth® field staffer Ken Lone Elk from our Pine Ridge warehouse, Tipi Waste Un Zanipi (Wellness Through […]
Update from 2019 Dreamstarter Joshua Smith about Ekowah Coffee, His Osage Owned and Operated Coffee
2019 Dreamstarter Joshua Smith is using his $10,000 Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter grant to create a coffee roasting company for the purpose of building tribal legacy, empowering his community and creating capital that can be used to lift others up. In addition to producing Native American, socially conscious and delicious coffee, Joshua […]
1,032 People Provided with Water on Pine Ridge, Navajo Nation in Past Five Years
Transforming Lives with Clean Water: Running Strong’s Impact on Native Communities Running Strong for American Indian Youth® was founded 30 years ago with the mission of helping Native people who struggle to get the simple basic necessities of life – which foremost includes water. Thanks to friends like you, we have been able to provide […]
Running Strong Supports Education Programs Children About Native American Traditions and Languages
This fall, thanks to people like you, hundreds of children have received education in their traditions and language so that their culture will not be lost to the ages. For example, in New York Running Strong for American Indian Youth® supports the Ohero:kon “Under the Husk” rites of passage ceremony where for the past 15 […]
Lots of Fresh Produce Available on Pine Ridge Thanks to Oyate Teca Project
Thanks to the supporters of Running Strong for American Indian Youth® and the hard work of the Oyate Teca Project’s staff, thousands of residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota had access to fresh vegetables and fruits, a scarce commodity on the reservation, and expensive when available. Since January, the participants in […]
Dreamstarter Hope Gamble Shares Navajo Creation Stories through Comic Strips
14-year-old 2019 Dreamstarter Hope Gamble’s dream, H.O.P.E. (Heroes Of Positive Endurance) began as a way to create new Navajo creation stories in the form of comics to be sold in local gas stations and grocery stores, but has expanded much more then she thought it would over the course of her Dreamstarter project. “The comics […]
Toys for Tribes Brings Big Smiles this Holiday Season!
All children deserve to make meaningful memories during this holiday season; time to be shared with family, friends, with fretting forgotten for the time being. Some of our favorite memories are receiving presents from any occasion – a gift, just for me, with no hand-me-downs? You never forget your first gift from Santa! Yet even […]
Agriculture as a Business Career: An Update from Year 5 Dreamstarter Taylor Eddie
Inspiring Future Farmers: Taylor Eddie’s Dreamstarter Journey Running Strong for American Indian Youth® Dreamstarter Taylor Eddie may only be 17, but she is making a big impact in her community by realizing her dream of introducing agriculture as a business career to the Nebo Title VI Indian Education program in her community of Spanish Fork, Utah. The […]
Save the Date for Giving Tuesday! #OperationSnowsuit on December 3!
Winter has already arrived in the Great Plains. On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the average low temperature is 13 degrees with the high barely above freezing – and that doesn’t account for the wind chill on blustery days. Winter is one of the most difficult times for families living in areas […]
Social Media Challenge: Native American History is American History
In 1990, November was declared Native American Heritage Month, dedicated to celebrating the rich and diverse cultures of the Native peoples who lived for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived on these lands that would eventually become the United States of America. At Running Strong for American Indian Youth® we recognize the contributions Native […]