CALL FOR HELP

Shelly has been spearheading the development of a mission trip. She decided to make good on a quote that she read many years ago from Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

You see our family decided to sponsor a family through The Box Project, which is a charity started by Martin Luther King Jr's wife to help support families that live well below the poverty line in the United States. Our family was a grandmother and her children and grandchildren numbering 9 living in a single wide trailer in disrepair.

But with the very little she has, Grace (the grandmother) has used what we send her to help others that have less than she does. She feeds kids wandering the streets and freely gives away anything she has for anyone in need.

Over the past few years we have learned some shocking things about the reservation they live on in South Dakota. It is called the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and here are a few things we found out about a place that is near 11,000 square miles and is home to over 40,000 people.

97% live below poverty line
84% unemployment rate
Per capita income of less than $4000 a year
Life expectancy for women is 52 and only 48 for men
Infant mortality is 300% higher than national average
Teenage suicide rate is 150% higher than national average
33% lack basic water, sewage and electricity
Many families live in homes that have been considered condemned
Many homes are missing windows and doors where temps reach -50 degrees

So we are going to travel there on September 30th to see what we can do to help. But we don't want to go empty handed.

We are collecting some things that we can take with us in a trailer and will be giving them to around 90 people that Grace lives near and are in dire need of help.
Here is what we are looking for.

Coats of all sizes in kids and adults
Blankets, the warmer the better
Clear plastic sheeting to cover exposed windows and doors
Tarps or other material that can be used to patch or cover large holes in roofs
Plywood sheets that can be used for flooring
Anything else that can help keep people warm and dry this winter

Please send a message out to all your friends and family and let me know if you want to help in any way.

I will be posting again on this in a few weeks. Thanks for any and all of your help and showing God's love to people you don't know and please pray for us we are going to need it.

Below are a few websites and a video that will explain the plight of these people.

friendsofpineridgereservation.org

re-member.org