I've been dreaming and I've also been crunching some numbers (those who know me will cringe at that). It's my goal to provide backpacks and school supplies to as many children on the Reservation as we possibly can. Ideally, I would love to provide backpacks to each child on the Reservation. It would take at least $65,000.00 each year to do that. That's not a lot of money but when you have nothing at all, it's a mind boggling figure. To think of raising that even one time seems out of reach, but we do have a big God and last time I checked, He was not short of cash. So, I believe this is doable.
As I've researched what it would take to pull this off, my heart has been broken all over again. Reading the statistics about Pine Ridge will do that to you. If I didn't know the Lakota people, their sense of humor and their incredible ability to survive, I would be tempted to despair.
I've often said that the Pine Ridge Reservation is the "poorest place in America". Here is what Wikipedia says about it, and particularly about Allen, the village we go to.
Allen, SD is considered to be the Poorest place in America About 95.9% of families and 96.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 97.1% of those under age 18 and 100.0% of those age 65 or over. Only Haiti has a lower life expectancy anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
Like I said, it's heartbreaking.
