Okiciyap Quilt 2013
Our
DK Quilt Guild has created a strikingly beautiful
quilt (detailed image at link) for the DK Okiciyap group to auction as a fundraiser for
Okiciyap (we help) the Isabel Community—a food pantry and youth program on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Isabel, South Dakota. This quilt is a work of art, and the bidding reflects its value as such.
The current high bid is $6000 $6200. New goal is $7000!
As group bidding continues to drive up the price for the quilt, I want to take this opportunity to highlight some statistics and shift our focus for just a moment (emphasis mine throughout):
A few months ago, Ojibwa posted statistics regarding Reservation Poverty:
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota covers 11,447 square miles and has a population of about 8,500.
Two out of five of the reservation households (42%) live in poverty and 15% are in extreme poverty [defined as less than half of the poverty threshold]. The official unemployment rate is about 8.6% with 43% of the reservation adults out of the labor force. About one third of the reservation adults (33%) have at least a high school education.
This is why Okiciyap is working not only to ensure that no one in their community goes hungry, but also toward youth and adult programs that will lead to more and better opportunities. Here's
Okiciyap's Mission:
Our mission is to provide and coordinate services with courtesy and respect for each other and for the well being and protection of the residents in our community. These services are provided through partnerships that help people move towards independence, maintain pride and dignity and realize their potential.
Our community organization is dedicated to improving the health, educational attainment, human welfare, and opportunities for youth, adults and families in Isabel, as well as overall nutritional welfare.
If you'll bear with me for a second, I'd like y'all to know where I'm coming from here. I'm a first-generation college student from a working class family. My parents' generation was the first to all graduate from high school, and I was the first in my generation to get a scholarship to a university and to graduate with a college degree. I attribute that to many things, but mostly to my love of reading. I loved checking out books from the library or from the bookmobile. I read and re-read books: children's books, fairy tales, folk tales. Books about horses and dogs. Mysteries. Classics. And when I went to school, I continued to enjoy reading the books my teachers assigned.
So I would like for us to focus today on helping Okiciyap's youth to realize their potential, by helping to fulfill Okiciyap's Wish List for a Youth Library (I've added links to Amazon where possible, but feel free to shop at your local bookseller):
These are the authors of many books native:
1. Cynthia Leitich Smith (mostly children's books) Jingle Dancer etc. (HarperCollinsPublishers: Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, Rain Is Not My Indian Name)
2. Joseph Ele Joubert (translation) The First Council Fire
3. Carol Dana (poetry) When No One Is Looking
4. Alice Azure, Along Came A Spider
5. Joseph Bruchac (any of his books)
6. Zitkala-Sa (Sioux) Interpreted By Charles Eastman and Luther Standing Bear
7. Mourning Dove (Colville) Coyote Stories
8. Pamela Greenhill Kaizen (Dakota) Lakota and Dakota Animal Wisdom Stories (The Greenfield Review Press)
We have gotten somewhat of a start with these books but always need more.
Challenge: According to their site, Okiciyap serves 75 youth, so I am setting a goal of one book for each. I will donate 5 books regardless. And for every 9 books donated by others, I will donate the 10th. Just announce in comments or send me a message by this Sunday.
Please note: Hardcover, school, or library binding is preferable, but in some instances only paperbacks are available.
OKICIYAP QUILT AUCTION RULES 2013
1) Auction begins on Wednesday, March 27th. Bids will first be accepted in the diary published that day by GreyHawk. The final day of the auction is Sunday, April 7, 2013, at approximately 7:00 p.m. CT. The last two+ hours of the auction will be held online from 5:00 p.m. central until 7:00 p.m. central in the DKQG diary. If no higher bids are posted by 7:10 p.m. the best bid before 7:00 p.m. central will be declared the winner.
1.1) The auction will end as soon as no higher bids are posted within 10 minutes of the highest bid received. Final bids will be decided by the time posted on the message. The decision of the judges on winning bid is final.
1.2) After the final bid is decided and the successful bidder notified, the donation to the pantry will be made, and once confirmed, BeadLady will send the quilt to the lucky winner! The pantry is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; this donation will be tax deductible.
2) Bids will be accepted by making comments in diaries, as well as by kosmailing weck at any time to make arrangements for anonymous or absentee bidding.
2.1) If you wish to remain anonymous, you may set that up with weck in advance, and we will use a number when we post your bids in a diary. (example = Anon-02)
2.2) If you want to leave an absentee bid, you may do that with weck. We will need to know the highest amount you are willing to bid, and we will place those bids for you in 10 dollar increments as the bidding progresses throughout the auction. If the bidding goes higher than you first authorized, you may contact the same person again with a new top limit, or bid in the diaries. Absentee bids should be placed with weck as far in advance as possible.
3) Bidding by groups, businesses or organizations is allowed, as long as only one contact name is used. Please let us know the details of your group, business or organization and who is the official spokesperson for the group or organization.
4) Bidding is in minimum increments of $10.00. You may bid in higher increments that can be divided evenly by $10.00.
4.1) Bids must be in U.S. funds.
5) weck and Pam from Calif will do their best to inform all bidders of the newest high bid. To receive this information in you Kosmail box, please ask weck to join Daily Kos Quilt Guild Auction Alliance group.
5.1) We will send groupmail to everyone. (Each member will be made an editor for the duration of the auction.) Reminder A groupmail won't show up on your main page; you will have to check for messages manually.
6) A PayPal link will be included for other donations to Okiciyap. While we cherish the thought that you may choose to donate to Okiciyap during the auction, there is no advantage in the auction to doing that. It is not necessary to donate through the PayPal to Okiciyap to participate in the auction. To use the PayPal link, click on the link that goes to the Okiciyap Pantry's new website. http://okiciyap.weebly.com/...
6.1) There is also a new widget to replace ChipIn. It should be available sometime during the auction. We will miss Chipin, but it has been retired.
6.2) The new widget is WePay. Click on the green Donate button at Okiciyap (we help) the Isabel Community.
7) The winning bidder can make payment arrangements that are not through PayPal with weck. We know that some folks don't use Paypal.
8) The winning bidder will have 48 hours to confirm their success. After 48 hours, the judges may, at their discretion, offer the second highest bidder the opportunity to redeem the quilt. The decision of the judges is final.
Mailing address for donations:
Okiciyap (we help) Food Pantry
P.O. Box 172
Isabel, SD 57633
Or donate thru the Okiciyap site
Or click on the WePay button below the Okiciyap logo => |
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1:08 PM PT: From belinda ridgewood in the comments:
I hope that we can send enough books, and the right books, to encourage these children to believe that they can dream, and have hope of realizing their dreams.
2:28 PM PT: Challenge from NMRed in the comments:
Already have $500 pledged, and if we raise another $3k before Sunday night, I'll donate $500 more to the general fund and $500 to the library as well. Now get out there and hustle to make me write the biggest check I have written all year too e organization, will ya?