“Sharing is essential to the heart of Sioux culture,” notes Running Strong for American Indian Youth® co-founder and Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills this Thanksgiving season.
“Thanksgiving has always reminded me that our greatest blessings are meant to be shared,” says Billy, who grew up orphaned and impoverished on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on the Great Plains of South Dakota.
Today, “A full table, surrounded by my loved ones, makes my heart happy. I look forward to the laughs, stories and memories that we share when we all come together.”
However, adds Billy, “This Thanksgiving, while so many of us are celebrating, thousands of Native American children will be anxious and worried – wondering where and when they might receive their next meal.”
On Pine Ridge, a lack of jobs and hunger are all too common. Some homes lack electricity. Suicide and addiction rates are at staggering levels.
“For far too many families, finding affordable, healthy food is a daily struggle,” says Billy.
This is especially true on Pine Ridge, where much of the reservation is considered a “food desert” because healthy food is difficult to access and often expensive when available.
“This is by design,” Billy points out.
“The U.S. government’s genocide and land theft against tribal nations has left their communities confined to reservations, and to coerce the Lakota into surrender, the U.S. government starved them out by destroying their food sources.
“This was followed by the boarding school era, which inflicted irreparable harm on tribal communities when it attempted to erase tribal culture, community, and sovereignty.”
“This happened a long time ago,” acknowledges Billy, “However, the lasting consequences of this endure today.
“Today, there is only one full-service grocery store on the reservation, forcing far too many families to rely on grocery stores located 80 miles away, food pantries, and limited government commodities to feed their children.”
Since 2022, Running Strong’s Oyate Ta Kola Ku Community Center on the Pine Ridge Reservation has operated our food pantry, distributing healthy food to Native communities.
Our food boxes each contain 25 pounds of healthy and nourishing food, including dairy products, frozen meat, fresh produce, shelf-stable essentials, grains, juices, and more.
And for just $64, you can provide one of these food boxes, with enough food to help feed a family of four for an entire week.
This Thanksgiving, thanks to Running Strong supporters, 250 Thanksgiving food boxes will arrive at the Oyate Ta Kola Ku Community Center. Each box will contain a frozen turkey breast sourced locally through our partner, Feeding South Dakota.
Along with each turkey breast, weighing approximately seven pounds, families will receive a Thanksgiving “dry kit”, a prepackaged box containing shelf-stable food items typically used to prepare a Thanksgiving meal, such as canned vegetables, stuffing, gravy, instant mashed potatoes, and similar items.
Each dry kit weighs approximately 10 pounds, does not require refrigeration or freezing, and is intended to serve a household.
“All this work takes on special urgency as Thanksgiving approaches,” comments Billy. “We can’t do this critical work without your help.”
Billy adds, “There are no easy answers to the systemic injustices faced by families on Pine Ridge every day.
“But together, you and I can make sure that they have healthy food on the table.
“The fact that Thanksgiving was established to celebrate national ‘sharing’ makes your gift especially touching in these troubled times.
“Please help me make sure every Native family has food on their table this Thanksgiving. You are in my prayers. Happy Thanksgiving!”
