If you were following my Facebook today you know it was a crazy morning.  I had planned to shovel sand today.  We are taking 2 of those molded plastic kiddie pools to the Rez along with a lot of sand left over from a project here at our house and making sand boxes for the little ones.   So after 3 cups of coffee (it was a short night) I got to work putting the sand into bags and when the strong bags were filled I filled garbage bags inside 5 gal. buckets.  I'm still not sure how to load them onto the truck since the buckets do not have lids.  Someone suggested duct taping them but we can't stack them that way ... so I'm not sure but I am sure we'll figure something out.   

 I got almost all of them finished when I got a call from Walmart ...

I've been buying school supplies from Walmart for Backpacks For Pine Ridge for 8 years now.  I have asked many, many times if they would let me order the supplies since I buy so many but until yesterday, never found anyone there willing to help me out. 

Yesterday I was there and happened upon a lady putting tissue on an endcap near the school supplies ... so I figured, "why not ... doesn't hurt to ask again", and what do ya know ... she not only was willing to help me but she went the 3rd and 4th mile to do so.   She got on her computer and found out that they had 6000 folders in the back (they usually tell me there aren't any back there) and that a truck was coming in later with notebooks on it.  She wrote down what I needed and then stayed after her shift - on her own time - and pulled 2400 folders and put them on a skid with a note for no one to touch them.  Then today was supposed to be her day off ... but she went in and pulled 2400 notebooks for me and then gave me a call to make sure I got them.  Amazing!  Its hot here today.  The heat index is up over 100 degrees and she was supposed to go swimming today but instead went in to take care of our school supplies.  Wow .... Yeah, her boss is going to get a letter from me telling him to do whatever he has to do to keep her. 

Since plans changed so fast I posted a request for help picking up the 4800 notebooks and folders, but then had to run out really fast because some folks at Walmart were giving my friend there a  hard time about holding them till tomorrow.  So off I ran...

And after Brian and I loaded one load into his car and my Jeep, Dewayne Hitsman showed up with his SUV to help load the rest.  THANK YOU Dewayne!! 

 

1st load

WooHoooooo!!

Be sure to check out this post at Backpacks For Pine Ridge for some really cool news!! 

Delivering 611 Backpacks

On Friday morning we delivered backpacks to the Wounded Knee school and to the Calico Community on Pine Ridge Reservation. Friday afternoon we distributed backpacks to the kids in the village of Allen.

While in Calico we again talked with Dawn Frank, president of the Calico Community. She explained how they distributed the backpacks we took out last year. What a fantastic lady! Be sure to check out the video below to hear what she had to say.

A Big Part of What We Do ....

A very big part of what we do on the Rez is providing backpacks and school supplies to the children on the Rez. While Backpacks For Pine Ridge is a separate non-profit charity through The Community Foundation and is not limited to any one church or denomination, it is very closely linked to us because it was born out of these mission trips and it continues to be a part of it because we deliver the backpacks when we are out on a mission trip.

Our ultimate goal is to be able to give every child on the Reservation a backpack with school supplies each year. We're a long way from that goal but we are getting closer to it each year.

This year we will be taking 600 backpacks out to 3 villages.

To help raise awareness, support, and funds for this endeavor we hold a community wide music fest each year. This year we are also introducing a 5k walk run. In addition to those the Cincinnati Teamsters Motorcycle Association will be doing a charity bike ride and will be raffling off a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle. You can check out all of these events on the Backpacks web site. We are always needing volunteers for both events. You can also see pics on the Backpacks Blog from last weekend when we got some volunteers together to stuff and pack the backpacks.

The thing that makes this so unique is that it draws people from all walks of life. We work with businessmen, community leaders, rock bands, bikers, church people, and even everyday ordinary people like me. For us as believers, its an opportunity ... to let the world see what we're made of.

Joining Forces!

I'm excited to announce that a team from the Hamilton First Church of God will be joining us as we head to the Pine Ridge Reservation this year! I just love it when churches work together and am looking forward to building relationships with our "mother church". Yes, that's right. Winton Rd. was a home missions project by the Hamilton First Church of God several years ago so it only seems right that we work together now on missions!

We also have the privileged of working with the Hopewell Church of God in West Chester, OH each year when we do the REZonate Music Fest to benefit Backpacks For Pine Ridge. That is an awesome church and the people there come out and give 110% to the cause never caring who gets "credit".

That's what its all about folks!

Part 2 of the Interview @ Communitas Collective

Part 2 of the interview can be found here.

A Record Has Been Set

Click here to see how it went at the Backpack Packing Party and see some pics of who was there!

Backpack Packing Party

Its that time again ... time to fill and pack the backpacks for the kids at Pine Ridge.

Friday, April 3, 2009

At the Buriff's home.

7 pm - 9ish??

We have 500 backpacks to fill and pack this year and will need your help.

Anyone can help regardless of age. We cannot take more than 12 people so email Amber amberburiff@aol.com if you want to be a part of giving to the kids on the Rez.

Click it for the Kids

Got a minute? Here is a quick and easy way to help us help the kids at Pine Ridge and it won't cost you a penny. Click here to go to the DoSomething.org site and then click on the Projects page. Type in Backpacks For Pine Ridge in the "find a project" box and then vote for us!
Easy as can be and it can help us get the word out ... and that means more help for the kids.

Our Friends

Check out some of our friends on our MySpace page. Some of them are going out of their way for us.

It's Here! The Backpack Packing Party

We will do the Backpack Packing Party on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 at the Buriff house. We will get started at 7PM and it will probably take a couple of hours. In the past we've knocked it out in an hour but this year we have more backpacks to fill and pack.

We are going to do it different this year to allow people who are not going with us in '08 to be a part of the trip if they want to. I am going to open it up to the church and will take the first 15 people who sign up. Crew members are welcome to sign up too, in fact, we'll need some of them, but this way some who are not able to travel to the Reservation with us can still have a "hands on" experience in helping.

So, if you want to come - let me know so I can add you to the list.

By the way, we are still collecting money, backpacks and school supplies. We currently have enough for 3 villages but if we get more, we will take more - we'll just have another backpack packing party to get them filled and packed.

Another God Thing

It continually amazes me how God leads in these trips. It seems sometimes we have little to go on other than a desire and a hunch but we move ahead only to see that God was behind it all the whole time.

That is really how these trips came to be and each year there are several instances where that kind of thing happens.

I just spoke to Shelly a few minutes ago. I called to check on the electric problems they are having and to see how everyone is doing. I also wanted to talk to her about the possibility of taking backpacks and school supplies to a 3rd village.

Our supporters have been very generous this year. We had originally hoped to expand the backpack project to include the village of Allen and Wounded Knee, but it is only September and we already have enough backpacks and school supplies to expand to include a 3rd village! I needed to find a contact in a 3rd village where we can distribute them. I wasn't sure where we would take them or how it would work but I knew there were plenty of children on the Rez that needed them and that we would figure out a way to get them to them. I had been thinking of taking them to Kyle but I wasn't sure. I don't know anyone in Kyle and was not sure how many kids were there and I wasn't sure if maybe there was another village that would need them more. So I called Shelly and told her we had enough backpacks for Allen and Wounded Knee and that we still have 100 more that could go to another village. She immediately suggested - you guessed it - Kyle.

So many times that's the way things go. It has been my philosophy to just collect all we can and we'll figure out where to put it and how to get it there. I have no idea what will happen but we move on. I rarely have clear "leading" from God on a matter but I don't want to limit what God may be trying to do so we just move on and then figure out the specifics as we need to. And every single time it is crystal clear that He is really in control and has been leading all the time. Some may say that we're getting ahead of God. Maybe so, but I assure you we've not had that happen yet.

Besides, I think I'd rather be out there doing something, even if it's making mistakes, than to sit around wondering what we're supposed to do and end up doing nothing.

Backpacks 2008

I've been shopping for backpacks today. So far here is what we have:

• ALL of the school supplies for the village of Allen!!
  


• 64 Backpacks for the village of Allen
  


• We still need 86 more backpacks and then we will have all of the backpacks AND schooll supplies for the village of Allen
  


• ALL of the Folders for the village of Wounded Knee!
  


• ALL of the crayons for the village of Wounded Knee!
  


• ALL of the notebooks for the village of Wounded Knee!

Of course, we still need $ to finish purchasing backpacks and school supplies.

This is Cody's old room, now the "Backpack Room". Brian came in today and took a look inside and said, "That's a LOT of school supplies ... oh look, we have labels on the walls".

Notebooks

I hit WalMart early today and bought all of the notebooks for the village of Allen for 2008. I also bought all of the erasers. All we need now are backpacks - about 124 of 'em. What we really need is CASH to get them.

After we have the village of Allen taken care of, we will start all over again and I'll be buying the same things for the village of Wounded Knee. It's our hope to provide a backpack and school supplies for the children in both villages in 2008.

12 Days and Counting

It's been an interesting morning. Here's the story ....

Back in January I reserved a 24 foot truck like we always do for the trip. That was to take all of our supplies, the backpacks, and our own sleeping gear and luggage. We also reserved a 12 passenger van which we would take along with the two church vans.

Then, sometime in May (I think) John had the excellent idea of contacting Matthew 25 Ministries to see if we could get pallets of product to take to the reservation. We had worked with them before on the Hurricane Katrina relief trip. We found out that it was going to cost $170.00 per pallet so we held the auction to raise money for the pallets. We were able to raise all that we needed for this project BUT we needed a truck. Again, thanks to a VERY generous man in the church, we were offered his business truck to take. And then yet another VERY generous man offered his 16 foot trailer to pull behind the truck. So the transportation was solved.

Last week we received confirmation that we were indeed getting 8 pallets of product. I contacted the place where we had reserved the 24 foot truck to see if we could drop it off out there as we would now have the second truck and trailer and there was no point in driving back an empty truck. I thought this would save us both rental money as gas money. BUT, they do not rent one-way.

SO, I got on the Internet and began searching for another 24 foot truck. The problem was that all of the truck rental places were charging more for one-way than Ryder was for 2-way.

SO, I got on the phone and began haggling. After several phone calls and many recordings I found a real person and going through that person's supervisor was able to talk them down to the same price as the Ryder truck. So we're good - a good rental rate plus we won't have to buy gas to drive an empty truck back home.

So after going from having a truck but no pallets, to having pallets but no truck, we now have both!

Now as far as backpacks for 2008 - we are really in need of MONEY.

I've purchased all of the school supplies for the village of Allen for next year. But our account is now almost empty and I still have to purchase 124 backpacks. Walmart has raised their prices over last year too. BUT I did find a place online where I can buy backpacks cheaper. Right now we need about $800.00 to purchase those backpacks.

That will take care of the village of Allen. I was really hoping to be able to purchase backpacks/school supplies for the village of Wounded Knee as well but at this point, that is not looking like it will happen very soon. A number of people have promised checks but I've yet to see any of them. We can always wait and purchase school supplies later - the only reason I had wanted to buy them now is that now is when Walmart has the REALLY CHEAP school supplies available. After August or so, they will be gone and we will have to pay a higher price for the same school supplies.

But hey, I've see God do bigger things before and I'm sure that if it's His will, He will provide for it. And if it's not His will, we have no business doing it.

Backpacks 2008!

I've begun shopping for backpacks and school supplies for the 2008 trip!

Today Brian and I found 24 backpacks for $6 each! We bought 3 boxes of them, 24 in total. Cody's old room is now officially the Backpack Room.

Be praying we get some good donations really soon.

In July school supplies are much cheaper so we need to be buying them this next month for the 2008 trip.

We only have $200.00 in our fund after buying these backpacks so we really need some donations soon. It normally takes anywhere from $1500 - $2000 to provide backpacks and school supplies to the village of Allen and we are hoping to be able to expand this project to include the village of Wounded Knee as well.

Here's a pic of the backpacks we got today!

Coming Soon

Soon you will be able to purchase Equal Exchange, Fairly Traded Coffee and Chocolate Bars at church and support our efforts at Pine Ridge at the same time. Here's the deal...

• You can buy the coffee and 48% of the money from your purchase will go toward purchasing backpacks and school supplies for the children on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

It's a situation where everyone wins and we have an opportunity to make a difference in many ways.

1. First, we will be making money to purchase school supplies and making a difference in the lives of children on the reservation.
   
   
2. We will also be helping the farmers who in developing countries by purchasing Fair Trade coffee.
   
   
3. And, we will be raising awareness about Fair Trade products.

That's 3 different ways we can make a difference!

Will it cost more? Yes. About $10.00 per pound of regular coffee and about $3.50 per bar of chocolate, but your money will be doing so much good on so many levels and the products are so much better

About Fair Trade

Fair Trade ensures that the farmers who grow the coffee in Third World countries are paid a fair wage for their crops, that they do not have to work in hazardous conditions, and that no child labor is used.

Some things you may not know ... The farmers who grow the coffee we drink are often paid less than it cost them to grow their crop, keeping them in a cycle of poverty.

With chocolate, the story is far worse. "While chocolate is sweet for us, it can be heartbreaking for the hundreds of thousands of child laborers that pick the cocoa that goes into some of our favorite treats. In 2001, the U.S. State Department, the International Labor Organization and others reported child slavery on many cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, source of 43% of the worlds cocoa. Subsequent research by the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture revealed some 284,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 working in hazardous conditions on West African cocoa farms. Of these children, it was reported that some 12,000 child cocoa workers that had participated in the study were likely to have arrived in their
situation as a result of child trafficking". - From The Global Exchange

In the very near future we will have a way of having our favorite treats and putting our money to better use.

Be looking for more information coming soon.

Just Some Updates

Things are rolling right along. Here are some updates on our projects.

John is gathering more items for the auction. You'll be hearing about that at church very soon. We are also looking into putting some things on Ebay. This fundraiser will help us to pay for the pallets of products we will be taking to the rez.

We are getting more backpack/school supply money. (thanks Chrissie for your help with this) I am also working on this by building our Backpacks for Pine Ridge MySpace. Check it out. God is so weird. That page has so many different kinds of friends - we've got Bikers, Indians, Rockers, Graffiti Artists. I don't know if this will help bring in any support but hey, it's worth a try. MySpace is pretty powerful so we may as well use it for good.

I've also got an idea that may help raise money for the backpack project. It's too early to say anything about it but I'm hoping to be able to let you all know about it soon. It will be a BIG deal and pretty exciting. And it will be in Fairfield - out in the community, not at our church.

Here is a graph that shows where we're at with the backpack money. Click on it to read it better.

Backpacks For Pine Ridge News

I spent the whole day yesterday on Pine Ridge "stuff". And I have some good news to report....

I "happened" across a web site called ONE Spirit which is a organization that seeks to help the Lakota people preserve their traditional culture while providing some practical assistance. I read about John DuBray's efforts with the Buffalo Children's Society in Allen. Some of you may know who John DuBray is. We've met him and in fact, he was at church last year in Allen. I emailed the director to see if they would link to the Backpacks For Pine Ridge site, and then spoke with her on the phone. By next week there should be a link to us up on their site. We will also be keeping our eyes open for any art supplies, computeres, printers, etc. that John DuBray will need for the Buffalo Children program. There is a link to them on the Backpacks For Pine Ridge page.

I also spoke to Tim H. last night and he told me that he and Debbie are going to Conerstone this year and have some connections there and will try to see if they can put a table up with information about the Backpacks For Pine Ridge project. Cool!

Meanwhile I've been adding as many "friends" to the Backpacks For Pine Ridge MySpace as I can. If you have a MySpace and would add us as a friend, we would really appreciate it. It will help to get the word out - especially if you add us to your "top friends'.

John L. and I talked yesterday as well. We are currently working on figuring out how we can purchase 7-8 pallets of product from Matthew 25 Ministries to take to the reservation. We will be having a silent auction SOON. We are thinking of also putting some of the items on Ebay. Stay tuned for more info. about how this will work. So far we have some really cool items which include:

• Diamond Tickets to a Red's Game (a $300 per seat value which includes all the food you can eat there)
  
• A baseball glove autographed by 4 professional players
  
• A ticket for a ride-a-long in a NASCAR at the KY Speedway
  
• A collector's edition NASCAR book

Other items are being considered as well.

And GREAT news - Fred H. is going with us this year!!! Fred is one of the most humble men I know and he's great with kids, a hard worker, and the youth all love him! This is a "God thing" (see post below)

Backpacks

I've created a new site in hopes of expanding the backpack project. I would love to see us expand this to other villages on the rez. If you have a web site or blog and would be so kind as to put the image link on it to help get the word out, that would be awesome! Just shoot me an email at TheMatt25Project@aol.com and I'll send you the html code. It will look like this (Cathy you can click on it to go to the site)


.