Spirit Lake Families Show Holiday Spirit

The spirit of the holiday season is unmatched, and when parents have adequate resources, they can make it a magical time for children. Unfortunately, it’s often a stressful time for parents living on remote reservations due to a lack of jobs, few retail stores, and high prices. Native children are more than three times as likely to experience significant poverty compared to their White counterparts. Partnership With Native Americans^® (PWNA) helps put the magic back into the season with the Sioux Nation Relief Fund (SNRF) program and its Santa Stop service.

Program Partners like Cherilyn C. on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota use the Santa Stop service to distribute stockings full of helpful products for kids up to 4 years old. Cherilyn works for the Head Start program at Cankdeska Cikana Community College, where kids are learning the basics needed to begin school on the right track.

This year, the staff held a big holiday event and turned the facility into a winter wonderland with each hallway hosting a different theme. They welcomed families with an opening prayer, a pancake breakfast, and a visit from Santa himself! Thanks to SNRF’s Santa Stop service, they also sent parents home with stocking items like baby bottles, clothing, and wipes.

Cherilyn expressed, “It really means so much to help families out a lot. People struggle to get necessities like hygiene and cleaning supplies. Working in this program, it’s shocking how big the need is. All thanks to [SNRF] for putting in good work to help our families provide for themselves.”

Sisters Treasa and Dorothea brought their children to the event and conveyed their gratitude to SNRF donors. Dorothea told us, “Thank you and we appreciate everything.” Teresa shared, “It’s amazing, thank you so much! It actually helps a lot of families that can’t afford it. It made a lot of families happy.”

Shirley of the Spirit Lake Tribe brought her 3-year-old daughter Blakely to the celebration. She told us that the stockings help “especially this time of year when you have to find money for gifts.” The wipes will be useful in wiping her toddler’s nose, and she appreciated the soap, shampoo, and body wash.

A single mom, Shirley supports her daughter by working for the Tribe’s housing department. She also receives federal aid with her electric bill to heat her apartment.

Shirley is looking forward to spending time with family this holiday season. She just hopes that the weather will cooperate, explaining that “the last few years, there have been pretty icy roads.”

Thanks to SNRF donors, 210 children received full stockings this year. Spread magic this holiday with a donation to SNRF that will help more children like little Blakely.