High School Youth Service Trip
Registration will go live with a form at the bottom of this page on Wednesday, January 15, at 8:00 p.m.
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We are excited to announce a new opportunity for the annual High School Youth Service Trip!
This year, from June 28 to July 4, we will be partnering with the Indigenous Oglala Lakota Tribe and spending a week at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Not only will we be assisting with providing basic needs for families, but we will also be invited to listen to lessons from the Lakota Elders and build relationships with the broader community through their Re-Member Volunteer Program.
Located in the southwestern corner of South Dakota, the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately 100 miles from Rapid City. Surrounded by rolling prairie, the Badlands, and the Black Hills, the Pine Ridge Reservation is home to the Oglala Lakota Nation.
The statistics regarding life on Pine Ridge Reservation speak of intense material deprivation; the officially reported poverty rate for American Indians living on Pine Ridge is 53.75%, while the United States average is 15.6%. Much of the work that we would be doing while we are at Pine Ridge Reservation would be attempting to meet those material needs—by building bunk beds, cutting firewood, and assembling wheelchair accessible ramps. Our service will be directed by members of the Oglala Lakota Tribe themselves, as they assess what is most needed in their community.
An essential part of the Re-Member Volunteer Program focuses on immersing volunteers in Indigenous tradition and culture, challenging participants to see beyond poverty and stereotypes and instead become familiar with its resilient community.
"We believe that in addition to providing direct, tangible support to the Oglala Lakota people through construction, firewood delivery, farming, and other projects, the strongest way to promote positive exchange in one of the poorest areas of the United States is to build relationships. Through relationship building, our volunteers become advocates to stand in solidarity with the Oglala Lakota people."
-from the Re-Member Website
We hope that you will join us in supporting this new service opportunity.
Registration will go live on this page on Wednesday, January 15, at 8:00 p.m., and will be limited to twelve youth. If you have any questions, please email Anne Halloin.