Testimonial
Julie Garreau is a renown leader in her community and the Executive Director of the Cheyenne River Youth Project. This year CYRP has held many successful events but the one event that Running Strong for American Indian Youth would like to highlight happens at the end of the year. Toys for Tribes program is a huge help for Native communities on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. This year CRYP was able to give gifts to 260 families, 1,250 children in 19 different communities on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Many families aren’t able to give their children gifts for Christmas. The CRYP Toys for Tribes program allows the youth in the community to have gifts for the holiday.
One parent said “A lot of items we can’t do as much for our kids as we’d like to but it’s really nice to have them wake up on Christmas morning and have an abundance of gifts. It really makes us feel good.”
When Santa came to deliver presents to an 8 year old girl in another family, the family said they didn’t think they would be able to afford Christmas for their family that year. They thanked CRYP for making Christmas happen for their little girl.
Running Strong has helped other communities with holiday parties and different needs during the financial burden of the holiday season. The youth in our Native communities deserve to have some gifts at the end of the year and also is an option for many of our programs to give coats as Christmas gifts as well.
